Dishwasher Powder

• 100 grams Salt
• 300 grams Sodium Carbonate (Washing soda or Soda Ash)
• 250 grams Citric Acid
• 200 grams Borax
• 30 drops lemon essential oil
• Silicone Ice Cube Tray

Combine all the ingredients well

Pack firmly into silicon tray.

Allow to harden for around 48 hours (until dry)

Turn out of tray and store in an air tight container.

Oven Cleaner

Let’s face it, cleaning the oven is no ones favourite job!  So here is the easy, no chemical, no elbow grease way to do it.

(Sorry I didn’t take a before photo due to embarrassment over the state of my oven!  There was this fruit cake, it exploded….all very tragic…)

Place ½-¾ cup of baking soda in a bowl.

Mix to a paste with water.

Add a splash (about 2 tablespoons) of white vinegar

Liberally coat the inside of your oven using a sponge or a pastry brush.  (It should look something like the picture here.)

You can also coat your trays/roasting dishes et cetera.

Turn your oven on and bake at 100ºC for around 45 minutes.

Allow to cool.

You can use a nylon fish slice, or plastic scraper to remove the excess powder if you have a large buildup (it flakes off really easily).

Then with a bucket of fresh water simply sponge off the remaining mix.  Give it a good wipe over with water (you can add a few drops of dishwashing liquid) and you’re done!

DIY COTTON KNITTED DISHCLOTHS

Oven Cleaner

Let’s face it, cleaning the oven is no ones favourite job!  So here is the easy, no chemical, no elbow grease way to do it.

(Sorry I didn’t take a before photo due to embarrassment over the state of my oven!  There was this fruit cake, it exploded….all very tragic…)

Place ½-¾ cup of baking soda in a bowl.

Mix to a paste with water.

Add a splash (about 2 tablespoons) of white vinegar

Liberally coat the inside of your oven using a sponge or a pastry brush.  (It should look something like the picture here.)

You can also coat your trays/roasting dishes et cetera.

Turn your oven on and bake at 100ºC for around 45 minutes.

Allow to cool.

You can use a nylon fish slice, or plastic scraper to remove the excess powder if you have a large buildup (it flakes off really easily).

Then with a bucket of fresh water simply sponge off the remaining mix.  Give it a good wipe over with water (you can add a few drops of dishwashing liquid) and you’re done!

DIY Cotton knitted dishcloths

Easy peasy lemon squeezey home made dishcloths!  Below are patterns for knitted and crocheted cotton dishcloths.

For my knitted cloths I used 10 ply cotton and 4mm needles.

Abbreviations used here are:  inc – increase,  k2tog – knit two together, yo – yarn over

Waffle Knit Cloth

Large, medium, small (makeup remover size)

Cast on 54, (36), 16 stitches

Knit 5 rows garter stitch

ROW 1 and 2: Knit 3, *Knit 1, Purl 1*, Repeat *to* till last three stitches, Knit 3

ROW 3 and 4: Knit

Repeat these 4 Rows 16, (11), 5 times

Knit 3 rows garter stitch.

Cast off

Weave in ends.

Diagonal Garter Stitch Cloth

Cast on 3 stitches

ROW 1: Knit

ROW 2: Knit 1, inc in next stitch, knit 1

ROW 3: Knit 1, inc in next stitch, knit to end

ROW 4: Repeat ROW 3 (6 stitches)

ROW 5: Knit 2, yo, knit to end

Repeat ROW 5 until 65, (35), 17 stitches

NEXT: Knit 1, K2tog, yo, K2tog, knit to end

Repeat this row until 7 stiches

NEXT:  Knit 1, k2tog, knit to end

Repeat until 3 stitches

Cast off

Weave in ends

Burnt Pots

Place a dishwasher tablet and some water in the bottom of the pot and let soak overnight.

or

A sprinkling of soda ash and some water. Allow to soak overnight and wash.

Microwave

Place one teaspoon of Baking Soda in a bowl of water

or 1 cut lemon in a bowl of water

or 100mls of Homemade Spray and Wipe in a bowl of water

Microwave on high for 5 mins.

Wipe out

For extra dirty glass doors on microwaves – try wiping it over with Malt Vinegar.