Making Squirt Squirt

When I married John, I had cleaning products galore . . . some that were his, some that were left in the house by the previous owners, and some that were gifts. I think I still have three partial cans of Comet around! Oh, and then last April John helped one of his buddies move, and inherited all his left-behind cleaning products. It's been pretty nice. :-)

I'm [finally] just about through all the all-purpose stuff that we had, so I knew it was time to call Mom and get the recipe for "Squirt Squirt." It came to us from another friend at church, I believe, under the title "Glass Cleaner that cleans just about anything." Sweet, but a bit long for those of us who like to name things either after their looks or the sounds they make. ;-) I bought the necessary ingredients and made up my first batch last week. Here's that recipe:

"Squirt Squirt"

1/2 cup sudsy ammonia
1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 tsp. dish soap

Combine in plastic milk jug and fill with water to make 1 gallon.

I think it works great, and since a pint of rubbing alcohol is about 50 cents and a big jug of ammonia is around a dollar, it's quite cheap as well. :-) I filled up an empty squirt bottle from one of the products I finished up and still have the better part of a gallon of solution under my sink.

Another thing I inherited when I married John was a Swiffer WetJet. I learned to mop by watching my mother on her hands and knees with a rag, so it's not something I would have purchased for myself. But since we have it, I may as well use it, right? I used it until I ran out of the disposable pads, then bought more pads since there was still liquid, then bought more liquid since there were still pads . . . repeat this cycle. It's a trap! I finally decided that enough is enough. It certainly is convenient (especially when I was pregnant and really tired!), but it doesn't even mop that well.

So, I determined to fill the bottle with squirt squirt, despite the warning on the back, "do not attempt to refill . . . " I think they just want us to keep buying $5 refills! But, it's well nigh impossible to take the cap off those things. I tried using a plastic syringe to go through the rubbery top, but that didn't work, either. Enter John with a hack saw. He cut open the bottle, filled it up and attempted to reseal it with duct tape. Did it work? Nope.

So, John googles something about refilling Swiffer WetJet bottles and runs to the kitchen before I can pour the boiling water off the pasta I'm making him for lunch. Someone has shared that immersing the top of the bottle in boiling water for about a minute enables you to screw it right off. We save the pasta water, try it, and it works!

That bottle is ruined, thanks to the hack saw. But another $5 later, I think I'll try again . . .

P.S. I'm sure there are lots of recipes for homemade cleaning products! Anyone have one to share?