vanilla air spray

Today's adventure is not as time consuming as the previous days have been, nor as cost effective. My house is in desperate need of some attention and I had to make this fabulous website. Not bad for a computer illiterate baby boomer. In the process of my house cleaning I made two things. The first was vanilla scented room spray. Air fresheners are not that expensive but they are full of chemicals and you spray them into your room and thus into your lungs. A common harmful ingredient of air fresheners is limonene. Limonene irritates the eyes, mouth and skin. It can also cause dizziness. I may also contain Petroleum distillates, cancerogenic benzene compounds, phthalates, methylformamide, terpinolene, methoxybanzaldehyde and butanoic acid. None of those things sound like something I want around my children or grandchildren. The air spray I made contains Vanilla (which has vanilla and alcohol in it) and water. Here is the recipe:

1-4 ounce clean spray bottle

1and 1/2 ounces of distilled water
1 and 1/2 ounces of clear vanilla extract.
Fill the bottle with vanilla extract and water, Let the bottle sit for one day before use. Shake the bottle prior to each use. Mist lightly in the room. Be careful not to allow the air freshener mist to fall onto furniture or into open beverages.

I sprayed the living room with the air spray and it smelled very good. It wasn't too overpowering like some air fresheners can be. My daughter came home from work, walked in the door and asked what smelled good. I think we have a keeper. No I didn't save any money but I did save my babies lungs from some chemicals.
The second thing I made today was homemade dish washing liquid. I use Ivory dish soap and when I found this recipe I was excited because I wouldn't have to change brands. My kiddos are allergic to detergents with perfumes in them.
Here is this recipe:
1 pint of grated Ivory soap
1 gallon of water
Place into a pot and stir over medium heat until it boils, stirring occasionally, until soap dissolves. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let liquid partially cool. Pour into a clean container and cover tightly. Use as you would any other dish liquid.
A bottle of Ivory dish soap is around $2.00. I use a bottle every two weeks making my total for a month to be around $4.00. The soap cost me around 1.50 so my savings for this month are only $1.00 bringing our total for the month to 26.54. Not too bad. See you folks tomorrow. :)