This is a summary of the many cleaning formulas used throughout the book. We do advise, however, that you consult the detailed guidelines for dealing with your stain. Don’t rush in and create another stain by using the wrong solution!
Mix 8 tablespoons of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and 2 cups of 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide.
Put 1 cup of unprocessed wheat bran in a bowl and add white vinegar, 1 drop at a time, until the mixture resembles brown sugar—it should be clumping but not wet. Place the mixture into the toe of a pair of pantyhose and tie tightly. Rub the pantyhose across a surface like an eraser. This mixture can be reused again and again. Add drops of white vinegar to re-moisten.
Mix 3 cups of strong black tea, 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil, 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid in a 9 litre bucket of warm water.
Carpet steam-cleaning machines can be hired at supermarkets. They come with a bottle of chemicals but use only half the amount the manufacturer suggests and top up with 2 teaspoons of eucalyptus oil, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of bicarb and 2 tablespoons of methylated spirits. If you have mystery stains on your carpet, add 2 teaspoons of glycerine. This solution is also a great multi-purpose spot cleaner so leave it in a 1 litre spray bottle and use as required.
Mix 2 tablespoons of glycerine to 2 cups of water in a 1 litre spray pack and lightly mist over areas. Leave for 20 minutes.
Do not use on marble.
Combine 1 teaspoon of lavender oil, 1 cup of white vinegar and
1 litre of water in a spray pack, lightly mist over hard surfaces and wipe with a clean cloth.
Mix ½ cup of pure soap flakes, ¼ cup of cheap shampoo, 2 teaspoons of bicarb and 2 teaspoons of white vinegar in a clean relabelled detergent bottle. Add 2 litres of water, shake and it’s ready to use. Add fragrance, such as 2 teaspoons of lavender oil, but be careful adding eucalyptus oil because it strips colour and oils from fabric. Adding ½ teaspoon of tea tree oil is a good disinfectant and antiviral. For a regular size lightly soiled load, use 1 tablespoon of detergent for a top loader and ½ tablespoon for a front loader.
Combine 1 tablespoon of pure soap flakes, juice of 1 lemon and 2 tablespoons of bicarb in a large jar. Add 2 cups of warm water, mix well and label the jar. For a regular size lightly soiled load, use 1 tablespoon of detergent for a top loader and ½ tablespoon for a front loader.
Add 1 kg of non-iodised salt to a 9 litre bucket of water. Add item, soak, remove from salt solution but don’t rinse or wring the item. Hang in sunshine until dry and scrub off the salt crust—the mould will come away with it.
Mix ¼ teaspoon of oil of cloves in a 1 litre spray pack of water. Spray and leave for 24 hours before respraying. Wipe with a clean cloth.
Cook white rice in plenty of boiling water, drain and reserve the water. Add 1 cup of the reserved rice water to 2 cups of water and stir. To starch items, add ½ cup of rice starch to the rinse cycle of your washing machine.
Place an opened carton of milk in the sun and leave until it forms solids. The time it takes to rot will vary—up to a few days. Place the solids over biro ink stains and the ink will be absorbed into the solids. Wash normally. Warning: the rotten milk does smell and you might have to block your nose when using it. But once it’s washed out, the smell disappears!
Surfaces can be sealed with varnish, polyurethane, shellac or wax. To work out which sealant has been used, take a pin or needle, hold in a pair of pliers and heat on the stove. Touch the pin or needle to an inconspicuous part of the item and work out what smell it creates. If it smells like burnt plastic, it’s coated in polyurethane. If it smells like an electrical fire, it’s an oil-based varnish. If it smells like burnt hair, it’s shellac. If it smells like a snuffed candle, it’s wax. To repair polyurethane, apply a little Brasso with a lint-free cloth and rub swiftly over the mark in the direction of the grain. It will look worse before it looks better. Brasso partially melts polyurethane and allows it to refill the tiny air holes that create white water marks. Shellac, varnish and wax can be repaired using beeswax. Warm beeswax in a bowl in the microwave until it just softens and apply with the skin side of a piece of lemon peel. Rub in the direction of the grain using speed, not pressure.
Add 4 teaspoons of crushed maiden hair fern leaves to 3 cups of boiling water. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, then strain. Combine 1 tablespoon of this mixture with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and use to wash your hair.
Place 4 teaspoons of chopped rosemary leaves in 3 cups of boiling water. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, then strain. Add 1 tablespoon of the rosemary mixture to 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and use to wash your hair.
Mix 2 tablespoons of bicarb (absorbs odours and moisture), 2 tablespoons of talcum powder (absorbs moisture and keeps a silky feel), 1 drop of tea tree oil (kills tinea), 1 drop of oil of cloves (kills mould spores) and 1 drop of lavender oil (adds fragrance and deters insects). Place the mixture in the centre of a small piece of muslin or cotton voile and tie with string or ribbon to enclose. Pat in smelly shoes.
Chlorine-based bleaches burn silk and wool and turn them a yellowy brown. To repair burns, soak items in a 9 litre bucket of warm water with 2 cups of 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide and 8 tablespoons of washing soda. Immerse the items and cover with a plate to keep them in the solution. Leave for around 6 hours. Add 1 cup of white vinegar to a tub of warm water and rinse thoroughly. Hang in the sunshine to dry. If the fabric is too damaged, another option is to dye items with a quality silk dye in the colour of your choice.
Wipe 2 drops of lemon oil or the skin of a lemon over a broom head and sweep over areas where spiders lurk. Alternatively, mix ½ teaspoon of lemon oil with water in a 1 litre spray pack and mist over areas where spiders lurk. Lemon oil doesn’t kill spiders, it just deters them.
Before tackling a stain, take some time to work out its components. Use your nose, fingers and eyes. The colour, pattern, smell and texture will help you identify the stain. And remember: there could be several parts to a stain that will need to be removed in a particular order. That order starts with proteins and finishes with resins. The order is important because what you use affects the chemical signature of the stain. If you’ve applied the wrong solvent, you must remove it before using the correct solvent. Here are the five main types of stain:
Proteins—these have a dark ring around the edge and include blood, semen, seeds, nuts, meat, cheese, milk, dairy and fish. To remove the stain, apply cold water and a cake of bathroom soap. Whatever you do, don’t use warm or hot water or you’ll set the stain.
Carbohydrates—these stains are darker in the centre, lighter around the edge and feel stiff. They include sugar, fruit juices, cakes, biscuits, lollies, soft drinks, alcohol, honey and many plants. They also include starches, such as potato, rice, corn, ground corn, wheat-based products (pasta and couscous), floury grain foods and wallpaper paste. To remove sugar stains, use warm water and a cake of bathroom soap. To remove starchy stains, use cold water and soap. If in doubt, use cold water first.
Fats and oils—these stains spread evenly across a surface, feel greasy between your fingers and, when you wash the stained garment, they continue to spread—that’s why a greasy chip mark on your T-shirt gets bigger every time you wash it. Stains include cooking oils (lighter in colour) and mechanical oils (darker in colour and more viscous). To remove lighter oils, rub dishwashing liquid into the stain with your fingers until it feels like jelly. For darker or thicker oils, use mineral oil (baby oil) to dilute the stain before emulsifying with dishwashing liquid.
Pigments—these stains include ink, paint, dye, rust and oxide and each requires a different solution. For ink stains, place rotten milk solids over the stain and the ink will be absorbed into the solids. Alternatively, rub with white spirits on a cotton bud. Permanent pen markers contain their own solvent, so write over the mark and while it’s wet, wipe with white spirits on a cotton bud. For water-based paint, use methylated spirits on a cotton bud or cotton ball. For oil-based paint, use white spirits or mineral turpentine on a cotton bud or cotton ball. To remove rust, use CLR or Ranex. If a stain is vegetable based, wipe with white vinegar on a cloth. For an oxide stain, wipe with glycerine on a cloth and remove any remaining colour by exposing the stain to ultraviolet light. Protect the area around the ultraviolet light with cardboard.
Resins—these stains include sap, chewing gum, wax and glue and feel sticky to touch. For plant-based resins, such as tree sap, use a dab of glycerine or dab of tea tree oil. The solvent for shellac is methylated spirits. Glues used in children’s crafts are made of carbohydrates, so use warm water and a cake of bathroom soap and scribble over the stain. To remove silicone, cut it using a utility knife.
Mix 2 cups of strong black tea, ½ cup of white vinegar with warm water in a 9 litre bucket.
For a large top loader, add ½ cup of bicarb to the wash slot and ½ cup of white vinegar to the conditioner slot of the washing machine. For a small top loader, add 2 tablespoons of bicarb and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. For a large front loader, add 2 tablespoons of bicarb and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. For a small front loader, add 1 tablespoon each of bicarb and white vinegar.
Mix 2 bay leaves (deter moths), 5 whole cloves (kill mould spores and deter silverfish), 1 tea bag (kills dust mites), 1–2 heads of lavender (adds fragrance and deters flying insects), 2 cedar chips (deter moths), 1 tablespoon of bicarb (absorbs moisture and helps prevent mould) in a bowl. Place the mixture in the centre of a small piece of muslin or cotton voile and tie up with string or ribbon.
1 cup of methylated spirits or 1 cup of white vinegar in a 1 litre spray pack of water.
Add 2 tablespoons (dark colours) or 4 tablespoons (light colours) of fuller’s earth to 15 litres of blood-heat water. Immerse the garment for 15 minutes, remove, rinse in blood-heat water and gently wring out. Lay the garment on a towel flat in the shade to dry. As it dries, stretch back into shape.
Uses for Essential Oils
