Castille soap and vinegar cleanser looks kind of curdled

[TwinFoxes]

Has this happened to anyone before? I'm sure it's because when I was mixing it, I put it all in my big measuring cup to pour into the spray bottle. Well, I put the vinegar, then the castille soap, then the water. When the castille soap hit the vinegar, it kind of curdled up. It looks pretty gross, and it's not dissolving.

It wouldn't bother me, because it's not like it's poison or anything. But I was hoping to convince DH to use it to clean. He's Mr. Chemical. He buys crap like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31D6S5TXMAL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


He's going to take one look at my curdled hippie cleanser and say no way.

I think I'll be starting from scratch. I just hope I can get the "curds" out of the bottle. But will it curdle no matter what, is that par for the course?

[MommyAllison]

I haven't used them together before - I have a castille soap/water/tto bottle, and a vinegar/water/peppermint EO bottle. I use the vinegar after the soap sometimes if there is any residue left behind, so I'm guessing the two together would react in a bottle. What recipe are you using?

[ThreeofUs]

Castille soap is a base, Vinegar an acid. Put them together and you have a neutral goop. Never put them together. It looks curdled when you do, and neutral goop isn't good for cleaning anything. :)

Use castille in water with baking soda for a great cleaner, then wipe off and spray with vinegar water to pick up all the soap (so your surface isn't sticky) and dissolve the baking soda (also a base) so your surface isn't gritty.

ETA: EEK on the spray! Yikes!

[fivi2]

I haven't used them together before - I have a castille soap/water/tto bottle, and a vinegar/water/peppermint EO bottle. I use the vinegar after the soap sometimes if there is any residue left behind, so I'm guessing the two together would react in a bottle. What recipe are you using?

This is what I do, except one of mine has eucalyptus oil in it instead of peppermint. :)

[mommymy]

This happened to me the other day when I was mixing up a cleaning solution. I threw it out. The time before I made the cleaning solution, I got from this board, I put water first (3 cups) then the vinegar ( 1 cup) mixed it and then added 1 tsp of castille and 1 tsp of dish washer soap and shook it up. It looks fine and worked fine. But I guess it's the last time I add the castille soap directly to the vinegar. It was a goupy mess.

[infomama]

Hippie cleanser...your funny. I'm with pp...never put them together.

[TwinFoxes]

Castille soap is a base, Vinegar an acid. Put them together and you have a neutral goop. Never put them together. It looks curdled when you do, and neutral goop isn't good for cleaning anything. :)

Use castille in water with baking soda for a great cleaner, then wipe off and spray with vinegar water to pick up all the soap (so your surface isn't sticky) and dissolve the baking soda (also a base) so your surface isn't gritty.

ETA: EEK on the spray! Yikes!

I got the recipe on this board about a week or so ago!

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=361941&highlight=Castille

I will try the baking soda. Allthough it looks significantly less goopy now.

Isn't that the scariest spray ever??? It doesn't even look legal!

[ThreeofUs]

Do you have Clean House Clean Planet? She has *great* recipes in there, and she gets the chemistry right.

Get it from your local library or buy it from Amazon. (It's really worth it.)

http://www.amazon.com/Clean-House-Planet-Karen-Logan/dp/0671535951/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277429449&sr=1-1




Isn't that the scariest spray ever??? It doesn't even look legal!

Seriously. This looks like something used in the military, like on covert operations. It's SCARY.

[TwinFoxes]

Do you have Clean House Clean Planet? She has *great* recipes in there, and she gets the chemistry right.


Thanks for the rec. It will be here on Monday. :)

Chemicals vs natural is the only serious disagreement DH and I have. He really thinks chemicals are better, and if they're being sold they're safe! :banghead:

[salsah]

i never thought to mix them. they both clean really well alone (just diluted with water).

[ThreeofUs]

Well, I sit corrected!

In CHCP, the author has "Alice's Wonder Spray", which contains a small amt of vinegar and soap with a whole lot of borax. She's careful to tell the reader not to mix them together - put one in first, the other in last. Because, of course, vinegar neutralizes soap or detergent.

Personally, as an old research chemist, I think you're compromising your cleaning power by having both in one, but Ms Logan did a great job researching the book and I haven't tested the recipe....

[nicoleandjackson]

Do you have Clean House Clean Planet? She has *great* recipes in there, and she gets the chemistry right.

Get it from your local library or buy it from Amazon. (It's really worth it.)

I second the rec for CHCP. Love that book! I love my "hippie"-esque soft scrub, LOL!

[hillview]

Do you have Clean House Clean Planet? She has *great* recipes in there, and she gets the chemistry right.

Get it from your local library or buy it from Amazon. (It's really worth it.)

http://www.amazon.com/Clean-House-Planet-Karen-Logan/dp/0671535951/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277429449&sr=1-1


Thanks mine will be here Tuesday :)
/hillary