Animal friendly chemical alternatives.

[janedoe]

Between my allergies and chemical intolerances and my dogs' allergies, I have, over the years, collected a number of recipes for cleaners, disinfectant, weed killer, skunk repellent and urine odor neutralizer. They are basic, safe for animals and soil and very inexpensive. All of these recipes involve spray bottles.

Window cleaner: 1/2 distilled vinegar, 1/2 water, a couple of tablespoons isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol makes it dry and prevents streaks so the faster you want it to dry, the more alcohol you put in it.

Disinfectant / Mold killer: 1/3 bleach, 2/3 water. We noticed black dots forming on the ceiling above the shower and sprayed the area with this solution. It's been years and it never came back. I use the same solution in our chicken coops (remove chickens first and let dry thoroughly while venting).

General cleaner / Descaler / Stain remover: 1/2 distilled vinegar, 1/2 water. Let sit if you want to descale or remove stains.

Weed killer: Fill with vinegar, a couple of squirts of dish soap and about a tablespoon of salt. Let sit for a few hours so the salt dissolves. Spray on the leaves of the weed. It acts like Roundup and will kill anything so make sure your aim is accurate. There is very little salt in an entire bottle and a good rain will disburse it without harming the soil. The more salt in the solution, the faster it kills. I have to say that I hate Roundup and this is a fantastic alternative.

Skunk repellent: Cut an onion in half. Boil that and an 1/8th of a cup of cayenne pepper for about a half hour. Strain. I used a fine sieve but a lot of people like cheesecloth. Cool. Add a half cup or so of vegetable or other cooking oil. Let sit for a day so everything really gels. Spray around the house or, in our case, under the chicken coop because what was that baby skunk doing there anyway, freaking out our birds so that I had to relocate them at three in the morning? Reapply after rain if the it comes back but our skunk really, really didn't like it. This is a homemade pepper spray and can also be used for home defense or on walks if you feel threatened by, say, another dog.

Urine odor neutralizer (outdoor): I mix this one in a pot. Fill the pot with water with some dish soap like you're about to wash the pot then add a few glugs of vinegar. Fran pees on our stone porch and I pour this on it as a cleaning solution. If I leave it for a few minutes then sweep the solution off into the drain with a stiff bristled broom, it usually takes care of it.

Old cooking oil removal: Dish soap and a Dobie sponge to scrub it off.

If you have any of your own, I would love to know.

[Java]

I hate Roundup too. I'm going to try your weed killer formula. Thank you!

[Snowshoe]

That's a great list, thank you. It's nice to get this from someone you know, who has actually used it. I can add boiling water. If I'm blanching vegetables I take the pot of still hot water out to our gravel driveway and pour it on the weeds. Or on the back patio but if it spreads to the grass it kills the grass too.

[janedoe]

That's a great list, thank you. It's nice to get this from someone you know, who has actually used it. I can add boiling water. If I'm blanching vegetables I take the pot of still hot water out to our gravel driveway and pour it on the weeds. Or on the back patio but if it spreads to the grass it kills the grass too.

That's a great idea.

[Mr Kleb]

A co-worker makes some most amazing soaps. She recently gave me an insect repellent bar which includes essential oils including tea tree, eucalyptus, cageput, lavender. It seems to work fairly well.

[POPTOP]

For the mold killer, use vinegar. Bleach will kill the surface mold but it does have "roots" that the vinegar kills.

Thanks for the weed killer idea. Going to try that one.

[janedoe]

Just a note on the weed killer. I found some young pokeweed which is the bane of my existence. Tried the weed killer and it discolored some leaves but it hasn't yet killed it. I'm wondering if the difference in structure is the thing since pokeweed has a root ball instead of roots. I once tried to burn pokeweed root balls in a burn pile and they just slightly charred so I'm thinking that I'll have to keep digging them out.

[Jeff]

Weed killer: Fill with vinegar, a couple of squirts of dish soap and about a tablespoon of salt. Let sit for a few hours so the salt dissolves. Spray on the leaves of the weed. It acts like Roundup and will kill anything so make sure your aim is accurate. There is very little salt in an entire bottle and a good rain will disburse it without harming the soil. The more salt in the solution, the faster it kills. I have to say that I hate Roundup and this is a fantastic alternative.

For this, as you said make sure you aim is true. Just sharing what I do in this situation. Especially if I have an intermingling of some stuff. Fir example I had Virginia creeper in my lilac bushes. What I do in this scenario is I put this in like an old cool whip container, not much but enough. Then I go out there with a paint brush and paint both sides if the leaves of the offending plant one by one. Takes a little longer but you can easily kill the offending plant without damage to the plant your trying to protect.

[janedoe]

For this, as you said make sure you aim is true. Just sharing what I do in this situation. Especially if I have an intermingling of some stuff. Fir example I had Virginia creeper in my lilac bushes. What I do in this scenario is I put this in like an old cool whip container, not much but enough. Then I go out there with a paint brush and paint both sides if the leaves of the offending plant one by one. Takes a little longer but you can easily kill the offending plant without damage to the plant your trying to protect.

That's a really good idea.