E has come to grips with the fact that he married a hippie, in fact I have really done a pretty good job at converting him . . . Even so, he still gets a little concerned when he hears me say the words “guess what I saw on Pinterest …” or “Did you know you can make your own …”  While most of my home remedies or cleaning products have been a fantastic planet and money saving endeavor, I will admit there have been a few flops. However, when I told him that I had made fruit enzyme cleaner he was really excited and responded with “Oh, I have heard of that it is supposed to be amazing.”  Unfortunately, we wouldn’t know for a whole three months . . . Yep, that is right it takes THREE WHOLE MONTHS to ferment.

I originally got the idea to make this cleaner from a pin saw on Pinterest.  Besides the three month waiting period, it is one of the easiest and cheapest cleaners I have ever made and it has a ton of uses.  All you need is sugar, water, leftover fruit bits, and some sort of container.  I started making my cleaner while I was on maternity leave, but it wasn’t ready until May.  Since May here are some of the things I have used my enzyme cleaner for:

• Laundry: Sometimes our towels just don’t smell fresh so I tried adding a bit of the enzyme cleaner in the wash (about a 1/4 cup) and BAM no more smelly towels!
•  Greasy Stove Top:  I have a spray bottle that is 1 part cleaner and 3 parts water, I sprayed it on my stove and let it set about a half hour.  It came clean as a whistle, no scrubbing (squeee)!
• The Bathroom: I used my 1:3 mix on the whole bathroom, toilet, sink, shower, floors . . .  Not only was the whole bathroom sparkling, but it smelled amazing!
• Mirrors and Windows: using the same 1:3 mixture and microfiber has done wonders for my windows and mirrors.
• Carpets: I used it undiluted on some particularly set in stains and it worked like magic.  I was a little worried at first to try this, but there was no discoloration, yay!
•  Cat Accidents: One of our kitties had an accident on a blanket and I was able to throw 1 cup cleaner in the washer with the blanket and the smell was gone completely . . . This is a first!
• The Workshop: My husband recently used it to clean up after some animals got into our shed and it worked wonders!
• General Cleaning: For all-purpose cleaning I am fond of my 1 part cleaner, 3 parts water mixture that I made.  It has so far done the trick on everything I have tried it on   

Fruit Enzyme Cleaner

What You Need:

• 100 grams sugar
• 300 grams fruit scraps
• 1 liter distilled water
• Plastic bottle for fermenting
• Spray bottle

What You Do:

1. Measure your sugar, fruit scraps and water using a kitchen scale
2. Add the fruit to the bottle, I used orange and banana peels (try to use one with a wide opening)
3. Funnel in your sugar and water into the bottle
4. Close the bottle and shake until all of the sugar is dissolved
5. Every Day for the first month of fermentation open the lid on the bottle to release the gasses
6. Get you patience panties on and wait two more months
7. After the three months are up filter your mixture using cheese cloth or an old t-shirt
8. Mix you desired dilution in a spray bottle and clean your butt off
9. You can use the leftover bits in your next batch of cleaner

So there you have it a super easy super cheap non-toxic cleaner that smells amazing!  The original recipe and other ideas for use can be found here.  You will notice that I made a few slight adjustments, for instance, I didn’t use brown sugar, but that was because the sugar in our house is unrefined sugar. Until next time, have a very Happy Hump Day!

You Might Also Enjoy

• hippie hump day: vanilla clove oil for teething
• hippie hump day: on holiday
• hippie hump day: five great uses for coconut oil
• hippie hump day: natural cradle cap remedy
• cake made with pop?
• airing out some dirty laundry
• pinterest fail | baked cheese crisps (kind of)
• Giveaway Update: Summer Cloth Diaper Hop – Cloth Diaper Starter Package
• taking sloppy joes to the next level
• airing out some dirty laundry, revisited