Natural Leather Cleaning & Conditioning

I own a leather couch and chair. I love the look, feel, and comfort of leather but leather needs to be treated to prevent splits and cracks. Commercial wipes and cleaner can get expensive, so why not use an all natural blend you can easily make at home!

Leather Cleaning & Conditioning Blend:
- 4 Cups warm water
- 1 TBS Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Castile Soap (Lavender Castile would be another great choice)
- 1/2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 6 drops Lemon Essential Oil

Mix all the ingredients in a small bucket or bowl and use an old rag(s) to buff your furniture. Wipe off excess water, allow to dry and enjoy the clean smell and look to your leather. 

Here is a picture of two of my couch cushions side by side. You can notice a huge difference after the cleaning:

I recommend using this blend atleast once a month. My furniture was handed down to us by my grandma & since we have owned it 8 years. Before I created this blend my furniture was in a rough state and having 4 cats who love to scratch and run across it didn't help at all. Since cleaning / conditioning regularly I have noticed an improvement and it has helped keep this furniture going. Here's to a few more good years!! =)

DIY Soft Scrub for cleaning

I have read and tried several versions of DIY soft scrubs, mainly found on Pinterest. Some worked ok, some cleaned well but I didn't like the texture, some just used too many ingredients, and some mixed ingredients that I later found out shouldn't have been mixed (ex: castile soap & vinegar). So I decided to come up with my own SIMPLE mixture that cleans very well and is also antibacterial!!

SOFT SCRUB BLEND:
* Glass Mason Jar (I love my little half pint wide mouth jars)
* 3/4 Cup Baking Soda
* 1/4 Cup Dr. Bronner's Citrus Orange Castile Soap
* 1.5 Tablespoons Water
* 10 drops Melaleuca essential oil
* 5 drops Peppermint essential oil (optional but I love the smell)

I have used this soft scrub for cleaning my bath tub, toilet, bathroom sink, stainless steel kitchen sink, it even surprisingly cleans spaghetti stains from plastic tupperware!!

Some before & after pics:

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Lemony Fresh Dish Soap

I think I am one of the few who do not own a dishwasher, so needless to say I use my good ole hands for cleaning my dishes. I prefer to use Castile soap because is it biodegradable and non-toxic, making it a great alternative for you and the environment! This type of soap doesn't suds up like typical soap since it doesn't contain any foaming agents AKA sulfates but don't let this fool you, my dishes are just as clean, if not cleaner than when I used dawn.

Now trying to clean without the suds can make you think you need to use more soap. A solution I've found is to use a foaming pump bottle. I actually took this a step further to make my bottle look a bit prettier. I used a 1/2 pint glass mason jar instead of the plastic bottle and cut a hole in the lid just big enough to fit my pump in, you may need to trim the straw portion of the pump to fit. Then use some hot glue on the underside of the lid to secure the pump. Of course wait for this to dry before making the dish soap recipe. ;)

DISH SOAP RECIPE:
- Dr. Bronner's Citrus Orange Castile Soap
- 7 drops Melaleuca Essential Oil (added for antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral, & disinfecting properties)
- 9 drops Lemon Essential Oil (added for antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic & disinfecting properties)
- distilled or purified water

Fill the jar/bottle up 1/2 way with the Castile soap, add in the essential oils, then fill the rest of the way with the water, making sure to leave enough room for the pump. Give the bottle a good swirl to blend all the ingredients.  Now your ready to wash away!

Get your essential oils @ Spark Naturals and use coupon code: Nature to receive an extra 10% off!