Making your own cleaning products has made a comeback as many homemakers seek to save money and remove creepy chemicals from their homes. Most of the recipes involve vinegar, water and essential oils. The addition of essential oils encourages a sweet scent and adds a zest of cleaning power to your solution. However...
The oils can really add up! Instead of constantly dropping those expensive ingredients into your concoctions, why not create your own lavender based vinegar to clean with? All you need is a lovely lavender bush (or access to someone else's who doesn't mind a foraging hand) and white vinegar.
We are in love with lavender in our home! Candles, sachets and soaps… Anything infused with the intoxicating scent instantly becomes special. Dare I go a step further and say "housecleaning" products can make daily duties shine? Why not?
"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."
~ Louisa May Alcott
To make your own frugal and fresh scented, lavender cleaning products, simply snip into a clean jar, lots of lavender. This is honestly too easy to make a tutorial out of but since I have so many pictures, please humor me :)
I was short on the flowers due to a prior project so I added a lot of leaves to my mix though you will have a superior infusion with the purple flowers. (Edited to add: My second batch made with pure lavender flowers was nice but I actually preferred the fragrance with the blend of flowers and leaves. I think the addition of the leaves produced better results!)
Once your jar is packed full, cover the contents with white household vinegar. Make sure the lavender is submerged to keep it from molding.
Lastly, cap your blend with a plastic lid. Let this infusion sit in a sunny spot for three to four weeks. You can replenish the old lavender with a fresh supply after a few weeks to get a stronger product.
Once the month is up, strain and discard the lavender. The lavender infused vinegar is now ready for service and smells heavenly! The scent is absolutely superior than the counterpart recipe using the essential oils.
Make sure you use a fine strainer so that you don't have any particles in your cleaning solution.
Mine came out gold in color because I had so many leaves but it will be a lavender tint if you use more of the flowers.
Once the month is up, strain and discard the lavender. The lavender infused vinegar is now ready for service and smells heavenly! The scent is absolutely superior than the counterpart recipe using the essential oils.
Make sure you use a fine strainer so that you don't have any particles in your cleaning solution.
Mine came out gold in color because I had so many leaves but it will be a lavender tint if you use more of the flowers.
Ideas for Use:
Use a 50/50 mixture of lavender infused vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner.
Add a cup of this solution to a bucket of hot water to clean your floors.
For tough cleaning, use pure without diluting.
For tough cleaning, use pure without diluting.
Isn't it wonderful to create something from your own home that has value and a sense of aromatic beauty?
Here is a label you can apply to your spray bottle (just right click on image and press "save") which I think is half the fun! You may also be interested in What to Make and Do with Your Lovely Lavender {DIY List}.
"And the scent of the lavender—not lavender water, but the lavender itself, that puts you in mind of country churches, and old bibles, and dusky low-ceiled parlours on Sunday afternoons—the scent of the lavender was so pure and sweet, and lovely!"
~ George MacDonald
This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays, The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Coffee and Conversation, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Hearts for Home Thursdays, Home Acre Hop, Growing in Grace Thursdays, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Lavender label graphics are courtesy of Reading, Roses and Prose.
My lavender bush is ready to be harvested! I love this idea! Pinning it!
ReplyDeleteAwesome :) The smell is amazing!!! I am starting a new batch right now so that by the time this one is done, the next will be ready… Hope you likey!
DeleteWonderful idea for all my lavender, friend! Thanks and hope you have a lovely day!
ReplyDeleteGreat!!! And thank you :)
DeleteVery lovely idea! I like how frugal it is! I'll be featuring this next Monday on the Barn Hop! Be sure to stop by and get an "I've been featured button" if you'd like.... you'll find them on the right sidebar under "BUTTONS".
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Amy @ Homestead Revival
Thank you for featuring, sounds like fun :)
DeleteThis is interesting. I want to make my own products, but have not made the "jump" yet. I don't have lavender in my herb garden, but I do have Lemon Mint which smells so good. Do you think I could use this?
ReplyDeleteI sure do! I have seen that "flavor" in some dish soaps :) Let me know how it all turns out!
DeleteI don't have lavender at home, but i have lemon tree, can i use lemon for making it?
ReplyDeleteLemon peels are perfect for this as a substitute! Lemons boast antibacterial properties and because of their acidity, they are able to cut grease. We have a series on what to do with lemons that you may enjoy. It is found here: http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2013/01/introducing-citrus-series.html
DeleteHappy homemaking ~ JES
Lavender & lemon peels together... Mmmmmm :)
ReplyDeleteWhen done, discard the plant material into your garden... or compost :)
~Tess
I've infused vinegar with orange peels, rosemary and mint at different times for different uses. I've never infused with lavender and I've just harvested bunches of it since I love its scent. I just might give this a try. Thanks for sharing! (visiting from the Front Porch Friday hop)
ReplyDelete~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
HI, I just read this post. I think this is a great idea. Because it is winter now I on't have any fresh lavender but do have a lot of dried lavender. Would this work as well? I just want to say how much I love all your posts!! They are very inspirational. Thank-you for all of them. Janet
ReplyDeleteHi Janet, thank you for taking the time to comment :) Dried lavender will work fine! I would probably fill the jar between 1/4 to 1/2 way up with dried lavender since it is stronger than the fresh. Everything else would be the same... Happy homemaking!
DeleteDoes the jar top have to be plastic? Can we reuse any jar and lid? Will Saran-Wrap work?
ReplyDeleteAny lid will work! Just line it with saran wrap first if it is a metal lid to prevent corroding from the vinegar. Hope this helps! :)
DeleteHow much lavender essential oil do you use if you don't have fresh or dried lavender?
ReplyDeleteHi there, you will find the info on this post --
Deletehttp://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2014/08/restocking-cleaning-closet-wlavender.html
Hope this helps!
I am SO excited about this. I'm just harvesting the lavender now and I have all the ingredients to start soap-making, and I didn't want to have to buy oils when I have tons of bushes of lavender. :-) woot woot.
ReplyDeleteHow fun!!! Thank you for sharing :)
DeleteHey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you.
ReplyDeleteStädhjälp i Stockholm