A Non-Toxic Cleaner Out Of Christmas Tree Scraps? Here's How!

Many of us like to bring home a fresh, fragrant-smelling Christmas tree to give our homes that extra touch of holiday festiveness. I know I sure do! However, I got to thinking that my Christmas tree may have more uses than just bringing more holiday cheer to my home. As an herbalist, I naturally began wondering about the different ways these lovely and fragrant trees could be used around the house and that's what inspired this DIY that I use every year around the holidays.

I love this non-toxic household cleaner for many reasons, but one standout reason is that it's so much cheaper than conventional store-bought cleaners. Plus, you probably have the base ingredients around your home already, especially if you have a fresh Christmas tree this year. Also, keep reading to see other ways to use this great household cleaner... they may surprise you!

One more thing before we get into this DIY... I tried to use longleaf pine the first go, but the needles were not fragrant enough for my liking, so I tried spruce for round two and it came out smelling so lovely. ⁣I think any kind of spruce will do. Usually, Christmas trees are a variety of spruce, pine, or fir trees and you can use any of these for this DIY, but some varieties are more fragrant than others. Also, This recipe is more of a concentrate so making one batch will last you a while.

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Ingredients:

-Spruce, Fir, or Pine leaves

-White Vinegar

-Air-tight jar

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Instructions:

1. Press leaves (you can just roll them around in your hands) to extract oils.⁣

2. Fill jar up with leaves.⁣

3. Cover leaves with white vinegar.⁣

4. Let sit for 2-3 weeks. ⁣

5. Strain the liquid out and dilute as needed for whatever cleaning product you are needing!

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*Remember, this recipe is more of a concentrate, so dilute with distilled water or more vinegar as needed.

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Main uses:

1. Multipurpose cleaner. I like to cut it in half with some water and a few drops of castile soap. I would not recommend using this on granite.

2. Fabric Softener (works well in HE washers!). Use as is, no need to dilute it for fabric softener.

3. Glass & window cleaner It smells great and is way healthier than pine-sol and other chemically-filled cleaners. Cut it in half with water and you can even add a tsp. or two of rubbing alcohol for extra pa-zazz.

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Happy holiday cleaning,

Chelsea Henderson

SBA Founder & Herbalist