I’m always looking for new ways to clean my house and make it as safe as possible for my doggie.? I got these amazingly great cleaning tips from my myspace and wanted to share!
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Most homes contain various store-bought products to clean their home effectively… Many of these manufactured cleaning products are toxic.. You can replace these products with safer alternatives that are easy to make and economical too
These recipes only require a few basic ingredients, items that are either readily available in your home or easy to find at your local grocery store.. Homemade cleaners are versatile, so will require less storage space than all of your conventional cleaning products.. The results are impressive – and will equal and often outperform commercial cleaners
Non-toxic cleaning can give you a deep feeling of gratification in knowing that your family?s health is protected, and that your home is a place for your bodies to rest and recuperate rather than promote harm
Making your own nontoxic cleaning kit will take you no time at all with these simple, straightforward recipes, and you will be supplied with enough cleaning product for months of cleaning
As an added bonus, ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas cost about one-tenth the price of their commercial counterparts?and that includes costly but worthwhile essential oils, and concentrated all-natural detergents for homemade recipes:
SUPPLIES:
Baking soda
Washing soda
White distilled vinegar
A good castille liquid soap
Tea tree oil
6 clean spray bottles
2 glass jars
CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting.. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface.. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn?t leave grit
Note: Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar, to keep the product moist.. Otherwise just make as much as you need at a time
WINDOW CLEANER
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle
Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand.. The soap in this recipe is important.. It cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past
OVEN CLEANER
1 cup or more baking soda
Water
A squirt or two of liquid detergent
Sprinkle water generously over the bottom of the oven, then cover the grime with enough baking soda that the surface is totally white.. Sprinkle some more water over the top.. Let the mixture set overnight. You can easily wipe up the grease the next morning because the grime will have loosened.. When you have cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid detergent or soap on a sponge, and wash the remaining residue from the oven.. If this recipe doesn?t work for you it is probably because you didn?t use enough baking soda and/or water
ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of liquid soap
2 cups hot tap water
Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved.. Apply and wipe off with a sponge or rag
FURNITURE POLISH
1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive (or jojoba, a liquid wax)
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Mix the ingredients in a glass jar.. Dab a soft rag into the solution and wipe onto wood surfaces
Cover the glass jar and store indefinitely
VINEGAR DEODORIZER
Keep a clean spray bottle filled with straight 5 percent vinegar in your kitchen near your cutting board and in your bathroom and use them for cleaning. I often spray the vinegar on our cutting board before going to bed at night, and don?t even rinse but let it set overnight. The smell of vinegar dissipates within a few hours. Straight vinegar is also great for cleaning the toilet rim.. Just spray it on and wipe of
MOLD KILLERS
Tea Tree Treasure
Nothing natural works for mold and mildew as well as this spray… I?ve used it successfully on a moldy ceiling from a leaking roof, on a musty bureau, a musty rug, and a moldy shower curtain… Tea tree oil is expensive, but a little goes a very long way… Note that the smell of tea tree oil is very strong, but it will dissipate in a few days
2 teaspoons tea tree oil
2 cups water
Combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas… Do not rinse…Makes two cups
Vinegar Spray
Straight vinegar reportedly kills 82 percent of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing if you can put up with the smell. It will dissipate in a few hours…
More Recipes:
Glass Cleaner:
1 gallon water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish detergent
or
1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Mix and add to a spray bottle…
Wood Floor Cleaner:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Mix well
All-Purpose Cleaner:
1 tsp borax
1/2 Tsp washing soda
2 Tbl sp lemon juice
In a spray bottle, combine the ingredients with 1 cup of hot water and shake…
Furniture Polish:
In a spray bottle mix 1 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Shake well and apply a small amount to a cloth…
Multi-Purpose Deep Cleaner:
1 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
1 gallon warm water
Mix well
As you can see, homemade cleaners are simple and frugal to make. They are safe and effective too. Replacing even one of your conventional cleaners with a greener alternative can make a difference. You’ve got to ask yourself if you’re “killing yourself” trying to clean your house with commercial chemicals…
Quick Tips:
Dusting
- Re-use dryer sheets for dusting instead of the new Pledge or Swiffer cloths [more economical and ecological to dry your cloths in the sun and skip using dryer sheets]
Linoleum Floor
- Use club soda to clean
Fabric Softener
- Add vinegar to the rinse cycle
Microwave Cleaner
- Mix 2T baking soda or lemon juice and 1 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl.. Microwave for five minutes or until the liquid boils and condensation builds up inside the microwave? Wipe down [see recent post on why to not use microwave]
Chrome Cleaner
- Toothpaste is great for cleaning chrome
Dishwasher Rinse
- 1 1/2 white vinegar added to the rinse compartment of your dishwasher
Silver – Put some water in a pan with a few teaspoons of washing soda, bring to a simmer.. Throw in a little piece of aluminum foil, and then dip your silver right into the mix.. Pull the item out, dry it off, and shine it clean with a rag
Pewter – Wash your pewter items in warm soapy water (use biodegradable soap!), rinse, and polish with a clean cotton cloth?Instant clean!
Chrome – You can clean anything that is chrome just by combining 1 tablespoon of ammonia with 1 pint of water.. Just rub the concoction on the chrome and watch the dirt come right off
Iron – If you have iron cooking pans or other items that are looking a little rusty, you can clean them with a damp cloth and some steel wool.. Wipe down the item with the cloth, scrub lightly with the steel wool, rinse and then dry.. Be sure to rub in a little vegetable oil once it is dry to inhibit any further rusting
Brass & Copper – By combining a few tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of baking soda, you have a great brass and copper cleaning agent.. Just rub in on and then polish it off?so shiny! If your items are heavily soiled, you can soak them in hot vinegar and some table salt.. The shine will start showing up on its own, and once you see it, take the item out and rinse it.. You can also rub lemon on brass and copper to get into any grooves that need cleaning?just be sure to wipe it off once it is clean
Remove Candle Wax From The Carpet:
First lay the newspaper down on top of the wax and set an iron to low.. Once it has warmed up, start running the iron over the newspaper right on top of the wax.. Slowly the wax will start melting and get absorbed into the newspaper, lifting up off the carpet.. I had to do this once in my old apartment and it worked like a charm There was a little residue and color left over, but it was way better than the big hard chunks of wax that were on the floor
To Clean Wood Floors:
Before you work on making the floor sparkle, they should be cleaned with vinegar and water.. A small amount of vinegar in a bucket of warm water will do wonders for your wood floor.. Make sure your floor is sealed and you wring out excess water before mopping the floors, as too much water could damage your wood
That all being said, once they are clean, you can now work on making them shine:
- If you have natural unsealed wood floors (which you probably don’t), you can use linseed oil with a rag, allow it to soak in for a little while, and then mop it up with a little more oil
- For sealed floors, you can use 1 part white vinegar to 1 part vegetable oil to give it a great shine.. Just combine the two, grab a rag, and rub it in like you are polishing a car.. The shine will blow you away
Natural Disinfecting:
- You can add 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to a gallon of water to wash windows, floors and toilets to scrub away the germs
- To chase away bugs, but a drop of tea tree oil near where they are coming in and you can bet they won’t be coming in that way anymore
- Lavender oil or tea tree oil can be applied directly to cuts and scrapes where it will cool the pain and help fight infection
- Mixing a few drops of tea tree oil with some water in a spray bottle can clean mold in the bathroom, disinfect the floor after the dog has an accident, or can clean up after your child has been sick (or you, after a night like the ones in college)
Clean The Air:
For starters, the easiest way we have found to make things smell better is to use essential oils.. In an empty spray bottle I mix water and a bunch of drops from a bottle of essential oils.. Done! You can adjust the amount of drops you put in the bottle and of course you can always change the scent any time you want.. Right now I have some cranberry scented essential oil in our water bottle?the place smells amazing and it can be sprayed on anything; the couch, the curtains, etc
- Another thing you can do is to simmer water on the stove in a pot with cinnamon sticks or essential oils in it.. However, since this one uses natural gas or electricity, it is not the best choice
Plus, you have to remember to keep your eye on it so it doesn’t burn off and start catching the pot on fire!
- You could also put little boxes of baking soda around the house to absorb any bad odors.. We do this for the litterbox.. Even though our cat is not exactly a stinker, the baking soda absorbs any strong smells that he might leave behind.. This also works great in the refrigerator to absorb the leftover smell from last night’s chili
- And lastly, you could always get some flowers from your local farmer’s market and put them in vases around your house.. The smell of fresh flowers is always a pleasant one and it leaves behind no toxic residue like plug-ins and sprays
Unclog Your Shower Drain:
Step 1 – Put the DRY baking soda down the drain? I use about 3/4 of a cup
Step 2 – Pour 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain after the baking soda.. Be sure to cover the drain immediately afterwards with a rag or plug, filling the hole completely so nothing can escape.. This is because the interaction of the two will cause a “mini volcano” that will want to come up and out of the drain..you want to keep it down there
Step 3 – Leave this concoction in the drain for about 30 minutes?While you are waiting, boil a tea kettle full of water
Step 4 – After 30 minutes, remove the plug and slowly pour the HOT water down the drain?All done! Your drain should flow smoothly now? If not, just do it again? We normally have to do our tub drain often because of the wife’s long hair, but it cleans it out every time
And there you have it! An easily accessible natural cleaning list
If you have any additional tips or ideas, please let everyone know in the comments!
