by A Kairi

Created on: September 19, 2009

A dazzling array of cleaning products arae available on the market. Take a trip to your local grocery store and you will most likely find an entire aisle devoted to products designed for cleaning every room and surface imaginable. These cleaning products are often expensive, making it difficult for people to purchase them in this stressed economy. These products are not only expensive they also usually contain many toxic chemicals that end up not only in our homes but also go down our drains.

One way to achieve the goals of both saving money and becoming more Earth friendly is to make your own cleaning products with natural ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. One cleaning product that you can make at home both quickly and easily for a fraction of the cost you would pay for a commercial alternative is furniture polish. This recipe for home made furniture polish is also highly adaptable allowing you to tailor the finished furniture polish to suit your furniture.

The main components of a good furniture polish are an acidic substance for cleaning the wood and an oil to condition, moisturize and protect wood. Luckily, these components can be found in a number of different and inexpensive items.

My basic recipe for home made furniture polish is as follows:

1/4 cup of an acidic substance such as White Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Both substances meet the requirements for the recipe so feel free to use whichever one you like the smell of better. Lemon Juice adds a paticularly nice scent to the polish.

3/4 teaspoon of oil. Depending on the furniture you plan to polish you have many choices regarding the oil you wish to use. For everyday use on average furniture I use coconut oil. The oil is great for conditioning and has little smell. You can also use olive oil in place of coconut oil if you prefer since olive oil is often less expensive than coconut oil. For more expensive furniture, or furniture that is made of wood that needs a lot of moisture you can use jojoba oil instead. jojoba oil is not actually an oil, though it is often referred to as one. It is actually a light wax. It is great for moisturizing and protecting just about any surface so its great to use; however it is expensive so I only use it when I feel it is necessary.

After you have chosen the components you plan to use simply mix them up in a bottle; a spray bottle makes application easy. After you have mixed the polish apply it to your furniture just as you would commercial furniture polish and use a soft cloth to clean and shine your furniture. If you wish to add a scent just add a few drops of your favorite essential oil blend to the polish and mix well.

Learn more about this author, A Kairi.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.