The Self-Sufficiency Shoppe

Environmental Responsibility Begins in the Home

Simple, affordable, safe cleaning with  just 4 basic household items:

1.     Bicarbonate of Soda
2.     Vinegar (or Lemons)
3.     Pure Soap
4.     Eucalyptus Oil

These four items will replace the following commercial cleaning products with cheaper, natural and safer alternatives:

OVEN CLEANER  – DISH-WASHING DETERGENT  -  LAUNDRY DETERGENT  -  CARPET DEODORANT  -  SURFACE SPRAY  – FLOOR CLEANER  -  CARPET SHAMPOO  – WOODEN SURFACE CLEANERS  -  SURFACE SPRAYS & CLEANERS  -  ABRASIVE CLEANERS  -  BATHROOM CLEANER  -  MOULD REMOVER  -  DISINFECTANT  -  TOILET CLEANER  – DRAIN CLEANER  -  WINDOW CLEANER  -  WATER SOFTENER  – PRE-WASH STAIN REMOVER  ….  to name a few.

You’ll never have to walk down the supermarket cleaning lane again!

Recipe: Carpet Deodoriser in recycled jar

Three-quarter fill a clean medium-sized jar with bicarbonate soda. Add 6 drops eucalyptus or lavender oil. Apply lid. Shake well to blend.  Leave 24 hours for the perfume to permeate the bicarbonate soda.  Punch holes into the lid of the jar to form a sprinkle-top container.
To Use: Sprinkle onto the carpet area, focusing specifically on areas that require extra deodorising.
Leave 30 minutes – then vacuum or brush off.
(From e-Booklet No. 9 Amazing Bicarb!)

Recipe: Soap Jelly

Turn a bar of soap into 20 litres of washing mixture for less than 50 cents! Here’s how…..
Grate one bar of soap (commercial or homemade).  Put one half in one 9 litre bucket. Put the other half  in another same size bucket.  Add ½ cup washing soda and 2 litres of boiling water to each bucket. Stir both buckets until mixture has dissolved. Top each bucket up to full with cold water.

That’s All!  Easy, cheap and green.  Much cheaper and safer than detergents.

Approximately one cup of this mixture per wash (in the washing machine) will be sufficient for a full load of washing. Or use for dish-washing, hand washing, hair-washing.      (From e-Booklet No. 50 – Recycling Soap)

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For more information and recipes:

For a quick reference Green Cleaning chart with recipes: GREEN CLEANING Chart

e-Booklet Set:

Green Cleaning e-Booklet Set

All you need to know about safe, effective & economical Cleaning!
10 Booklets: No. 23 - Green Cleaning, No. 24 - Back-to-Basics Cleaning, No. 9 - Amazing Bi-carb, No.10 - The Humble Lemon, No. 33 - Versatile Vinegar, No. 51 - Uses for Eucalyptus Oil, No. 50 - Recycling Soap,  No. 47 - Making the Most of Your Soap-saver, No. 5 – Homemade Polishers & Cleaners, No. 59 – Caring for Natural Woods & Fibres.   Price: $69.00  (Available for instant download) ADD TO CART

Click here for information about other e-Booklet Sets.

Individual e-booklets containing information relevant to natural, safe cleaning:

No. 23 – Green Cleaning Price: $12.00.    No. 24 – Back-to-Basics Cleaning Price: $8.00.    No. 9 – Amazing Bicarb! Price: $8.00.     No. 33 – Versatile Vinegar Price: $8.00.    No. 10 – The Humble Lemon Price: $8.00    No. 51 – Uses for Eucalyptus Oil Price: $8.00.    No. 50 – Recycling Soap Price: $12.00.    No. 5 – Homemade Polishers & Cleaners Price: $8.00   No. 3 – Simple Soap-Making  Price: $12.00  No. 25 – More Soap-Making Recipes Price: $12.00  No. 47 – Making the Most of Your Soap-Saver Price: $8.00.
No. 58 – Old-time Oatmeal Price: $12.00.    No 59 – Caring for Natural Woods & Fibres Price: $8.00

Click here to order individual booklets for download or for more information about ’The Shoppe’ ebooklets

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Living in Harmony with the Planet Workshops

Green Cleaning Workshop@Home

Do all your cleaning with just four basic household items. Never walk down the cleaning lane of the supermarket again!  Safe, cheap and environmentally friendly.   34 pages

Recipes and procedures for making: deodorising powder, disinfectant, air-freshener, furniture polish, heavy duty cleaning powder, soap jelly, lemon dish washing soap, all-purpose surface cleaning/stain removal spray.

The Basics: To make all the products in this workshop you’ll need: bi-carbonate of soda, cheap vinegar, eucalyptus oil, lemons, bar of soap, washing soda, olive oil, food colouring, recycled containers.    33 pages of recipes, procedures and information Price: $25.00       Available for immediate download. ADD TO CART

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Pam’s Post

I never walk down the cleaning lane of the supermarket – I clean with just: bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, soap (turned into a jelly), eucalyptus oil and a little cloudy ammonia for extra cleaning (if required).  My house is clean, smells great and chemical free.  There is a slight aroma of vinegar after cleaning with vinegar – but this soon dissipates taking with it other smells (for this reason vinegar is a great natural deodoriser). For spot cleaning and stain removal I make up a solution of soap jelly, water and cloudy ammonia plus a few drops of eucalyptus oil (see recipe below). I pour it into a recycled spray bottle and use it to clean the stove top, ‘difficult to remove’ marks on walls and stains on the carpet. It’s excellent!  I also spray it on clothing stains before washing. I use one cup of soap jelly in a full wash tub for clothes washing.  I clean the shower alcove and tiles with bi-carb soda and water and for a bit of extra cleaning use my spray bottle mix. Floors: boiling hot water (from the kettle) with a ½ cup soap jelly and some homemade disinfectant (see Booklet No. 23 – Green Cleaning).

A word of warning about the soap jelly recipe: 20 litres is a huge amount of soap jelly that will take months to use – even in a large household! Finding storage space for such a large amount can also be a problem (if your home is compact – like mine).  I make about half a bucket (adjusting the ingredients accordingly) and find that to be sufficient to last 3 months.  Soap jelly has a long keeping time, but I do suggest it be used within 6 months of making.

- Pam Marshall

Recipe: All-purpose Grime/Stain Remover

Mix together 1/3 cup each of water, cloudy ammonia and liquid soap-jelly*.  Add 8-10 drops eucalyptus oil.  Mix and poor into a recycled spray container. Cleans everything: Stains on clothing (apply before washing) or spray onto surfaces to clean grime, grease and dirt from walls, vinyl, stove top, tiles, around light switches, etc.
*For soap jelly recipe see above or use bio-degradable dish-washing detergent.  Take care as cloudy ammonia has a very strong odour that could be toxic for some people

More recipes in: GREEN CLEANING Chart (PDF)