Welcome to The Daily Tightwad Tutor Lesson #2: Dilute Everything!
Not enough milk for breakfast? Here’s a simple trick. Dilute with water!
Yesterday you read that you should cut everything in half. Today, get in the habit of diluting everything! That’s right, cut milk, juice (cuts sugar), cleaning fluids (cuts toxicity), shampoo (cuts harshness), conditioner (thins it out a bit), body wash (it’s too concentrated anyhow) — anything liquid! Again, you will either be saving 50% or doubling your money–whichever way you look at it. For more on diluting milk, read this post.~Marilyn, TFF
The ingredients to making amazing furniture polish for pennies–olive oil, vinegar, essential oils for fragrance.
A little goes a long way when it comes to making this low-cost homemade furniture polish that smells great, and shines up your wood.
I came across a furniture polish recipe I really, really like, cheap and easy to make, and all you need is a dab to buff on the furniture. To make this amazing non-toxic wood furniture polish, take a look at this recipe adapted from theDo It Gorgeouslybook by Sophie Uliano. I made some up in a little bowl at first just to test it out and I could not believe my eyes. So, I whipped up a small batch and used it again on the same worn table. I just love the sheen.
The lower half of my worn console table is buffed with diy polish, the upper half is not. Enlarge the photo to see the difference–it’s very subtle at this size. But…in person, the sheen is so wonderful, so is the fragrance. Thank you, Sophie Uliano!
Here’s the recipe:
Mix in a bowl the following: (I make 1/2 of this recipe because you really don’t need much to polish/buff a table.)
-1 cup inexpensive olive oil (don’t use extra virgin)
-1/4 cup white vinegar
-1/4 tsp of each essential oil (I like to mix orange/tangerine with lemon which is what Sophie suggests, but you can use your favorite essential oil fragrance; also add more essential oil if you’d like. Or, if you’re out of essential oil, by all means, use a bit of lemon juice.)
-Put in a bottle (empty shampoo bottle or small glass container, that sort of thing). Use a tiny bit (dime-size dollup) on a dry rag and buff into wood.
Store the mixture covered in a cool dry place.
Your furniture will thank you!
If you have any favorite furniture polish recipes, please let TFF know!
UPDATE November 2012:I noticed a Pintrest commenter who said a few weeks after using this polish her furniture felt sticky-ish. I haven’t had that problem at all and I use it on wood tables with heavy traffic. I would suggest extra buffing to work the polish in and then off the furniture. Perhaps the recipe was a bit off and there was too much oil in the mix. Not sure, but again, never had this problem on various pieces of wood. ~Marilyn, TFF
Two Frugal Fairfielders 