Tammy's Recipes

Great idea. I too have had less than perfect success with plain bicarb. soda so am looking forward to making up this recipe. Thanks.

Kate in Melbourne

Thanks for posting that recipe! As you know, I have been experimenting with homemade cleaners myself lately. I'll be sure to try this one soon! It is nice to know that it really works before you try it. = )

I am so glad to run across your post about this Tammy. I plan to try this scouring powder for sure! We have hard water and it leaves awful stains in my sinks. This is definitely worth a try.

I've wanted to try and use more natural cleaners too but haven't really pushed myself that way. I hate how some of the cleaners almost knock you out. :0

Do you think that solution would work mixed in warm water or do you just have treat it as a scouring mix?

Just remember that Borax is still toxic (even in small doses, ESPECIALLY to infants) so keep cleaners like this behind child locks!

Thanks Tammy, we'll be trying this too. We've
tried baking soda and like you, we've been a little unhappy. I'll try mixing it and see what we come up with. One more thing, my oldest daughter had the great idea of using an empty parmesan cheese container as a shaker for our homemade cleanser...it works great.

Thanks again for all your helpful information!

Blessings!
Tracy
www.LinesFromTheVine.com

I did this too for a while, then we moved to a house with such rusty water that nothing nontoxic worked.

Sometimes I would doctor my baking powder/borax mixture with cinnamon and orange oil. Mmmm, smelled so good! I found some large glass creamers with sprinkle top lids at a thrift shop and used them to store my homemade cleaners in so I could 'sprinkle' just like with scouring powder.
DeputyHeadmistress
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com

and I love it too! It works great in the bathtub (NOTHING else seemed able to get off the ring left by red South Carolina clay!) and it is wonderful at getting crayon off of nearly anything...I know this from experience... ;). I loved the parmesean container idea Tracy! I'll definitly keep that in mind as we empty our parmesean container :). I also use a homemade all-purpose spray cleaner:
1 tsp. Borax
1/2 tsp. Washing Soda
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. liquid soap (dish soap)
2 cups very hot water
Mix everything but the water in a spray bottle. Very slowly add the hot water and shake until all of the dry ingredients are dissolved. I also add several drops of mullberry scent to the bottle, it makes cleaning the bathroom something to look forward to ;), it smells sooo good! The store bought cleaners all give me a headache.
I make our laundry soap too (a powdered one) but I'm thinking of trying your proven recipe now that we're working on switching over to cloth diapers.

I read this yesterday and filed it away in my memory. Then I went home and saw a pot that I've been soaking for several days due to burnt cheese/milk on the bottom. I was planning on just boiling water in it to loosen things up, but I also threw in a generous amount of baking soda and salt as an abrasive - only about an inch of water. I boiled it (turning it down after it bubbled to the top - the baking soda makes it really bubbly and then turning it back up again).

After about 10 minutes, I rinsed it in cooler water (to cool it down) and then used the scrubber side of the sponge. It looks beautiful! I have stainless steel pots (non-coated) - don't use this method with the coated ones, I'm not sure what it will do to the non-stick coating.

I forgot to mention that I think undiluted vinegar works best for removing lime/calcium deposits. We get mineral build-up around our faucets and an old toothbrush or stiff scrub brush with some vinegar is still the best solution I've found for that problem. This homemade scouring powder may help but it would require a lot of elbow grease! :)

Also, I am not sure which sorts of stains this scouring powder will remove. I usually try something mild first and only resort to the harsher, fume-rich chemicals if there's a persisting stain or problem. Our tap water doesn't have a lot of iron, so I haven't tried this with iron stains.

Lindsey, I haven't really tried water with this, but I think the selling point is the abrasiveness. :) I know there are other recipes for non-toxic (or more natural) liquid cleaning solutions out there though. :) (Also, see Shelby's comment above!)

Catherine, thanks for the tip! :)

Tracy, great idea! I usually hang onto my parmesan containers for spices, but had thrown the last one away after having it for some weeks and not having a use for it. :) Now I'm just waiting on the next empty one! :)

D.H.-- Cinnamon and orange oil... sounds wonderful! Do you just drop a few drops of oil into the container of scouring powder? I have clove oil I could use. :)

Shelby, thanks for the liquid cleaner recipe! I will definitely be trying that one! :) Is your powdered laundry soap recipe similar (ingredients) to my recipe, or different? If it's different, I'd love for you to share that, also! :)

Anonymous -- After several days of soaking, I imagine you were glad yo get that pan cleaned!! :) Sounds like it worked well for you; thanks for sharing! :)

That stuff really works! Yesterday I went out and bought some Borax just to see what it would do, and I used the mix to clean our bathtub. Nothing else has worked as well as this. I was SO pleased with the result. I love the orange oil/cinnamon idea, and the parmesan cheese container. I will definitely try them.

We also had some pans that had stains we had despaired of ever getting out. They had been soaked, scrubbed, and put through the wash more times than should have been necessary -- and still the stains remained. But thanks to Borax/baking soda they are completely gone on two of the pans and *nearly* gone on the third. I'm sold.

I have a friend who has tried all sorts of cleaners in her guest bathroom shower.She has a white film that could be described as a crust on her bathtub and now matter how hard she scrubs it won't go away.She has used some very harsh cleaners and made herself sick using them to no avail.Anybody out there got any ideas?

If she's tried everything else, including vinegar, I would try baking soda and vinegar. I make my own cleaning spray with vinegar, water, and a small squirt of dish soap. The acid in the vinegar will react with the baking soda and make it fizz.

Sprinkle some baking soda on, spray with the vinegar until the baking soda is pasty. Wait until it is done fizzing (and maybe even let it sit for an hour or so.) Then try to scrub it off using plastic scrubbie. The fizzing is a physical reaction that might help; another trick is to put white uncooked rice in an old sock and use that as a scouring pad.

I've also had good luck using ammonia and baking soda (again, I make a diluted spray of ammonia/water, basically DIY windex).

You might also try a MagicEraser from Mr. Clean - just be aware that these can be toxic too and should never be given to children and wear gloves (it doesn't smell much but will give chemical burns).

If she gets the film off, to keep it from coming back, get Spray N' Wash and spray it on the sides of the tub (not the bottom! It's very slippery!) Just rub it in, let it set for an hour or so, and rinse. You'll never have to scrub a ring again, although you might have to reapply it every few months. I've heard JetDry will work also but I haven't tried that one. Been doing the Spray N Wash thing for 5 years now, though.

Mama Says

Anonymous, who liked the scouring powder -- yay! I'm glad it was a blessing to you! :)

About the white film/crust on the bath tub, I was going to suggest straight distilled white vinegar. If it's lime/calcium, vinegar will help. Mama Says, thanks for the suggestions of various things to try! :)

I tried the scouring mixture on my bathtub and love it. I was wondering if anyone had a natural solution to clean and disinfect granite countertops? Thanks for the advice.

I stirred up a batch of your powder this past weekend. It did wonders for the kitchen sink. Too bad I cleaned the bathtub before I made it! ;-) Oh well, I've got YEARS left to test it out! I was very pleased and it was so simple!

I just came across this post - I apologize for my late comment on it. But I had to share my homemade scouring powder that I'm really excited about! I use baking soda mixed with just enough hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. I have a cast iron sink that is horrible to get to clean - but this stuff works wonders and really makes it shine. Plus - it's really inexpensive!

- Brittany

Vinegar is acidic and eats the finish on granite. I would recommend rubbing alcohol with a few drops of dish soap (ex. Dawn).
Thanks for all the ideas!

I know this subject is older, but I just found it on the site and wanted to let everyone know a great homemade product I've found for scouring powder. Mixing baking soda with hydrogen peroxide until it forms a paste is great. I use it on my cast iron sink (which is incredibly hard to get clean!). It's the only thing I've found that works - store bought or other wise. It works well on soap scum and mildew as well. Oh, and also getting black marks off floors.

Brittany

Hi, I'm from Denmark so maybe my spelling is not so good.
I always use ordinary vinegar for the zink, bathtub and wc.
I just put in on a cloth, and whipe it on let it sit for
5- 10 minutes. rinse with water and just take a dry cloth and whipe it dry.
In wc I put some toiletpaper on the inside and carefully pour some vinegar over it until its soaked.
let it sit for 5-10 rinse and use the wc-brush
I once learned that when you scroub you strach and the dirt have a good place to stay...at last you won't be able to get it shiny.
I really enjoy reading your blog.

Kirsten:)

"Whoso loves, believes the impossible."~ Elizabeth Barret Browning
Heres a good tip for those with glass shower doors. Use a softner sheet to wipe down glass doors or walls and soap scum will NOT build up on them. My mom does it all the time. She has 5 bathrooms.