Switch to natural cleaning products
Your health, your bank balance and the environment will thank you when you switch to using natural and home made cleaning products. Most people these days use a different chemical concoction for almost every cleaning task. By changing to a few simple home made cleaners, you can eliminate these chemicals from your shopping cart and your lungs! Of course, a little extra elbow grease is required, but we all need to keep active, so add cleaning to your weekly exercise routine! :-)
Items that might be on your shopping list
- White vinegar
- Bicarbonate of soda (Baking soda)
- Salt
- Lemons
- Eucalyptus oil
- Lavender oil
- Lemon oil
- Tea Tree oil
- Microfibre cloths
- Reusable cotton kitchen cloths instead of throw-away sponges.
14 natural cleaning recipes/tips
- Surface cleaner - 1 part Vinegar in 3 parts water, or you can add a little liquid soap.
- Window cleaner - Vinegar and water, or methylated spirits and water make excellent indoor and outdoor window and mirror cleaning solutions. You can also use newspaper instead of a cloth. Or use a reusable microfibre cloth!
- Toilet cleaner - Use undiluted vinegar and scrub the bowl.
- Cleaning paste for the kitchen and bathroom - Use a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water, stand for 10-20 minutes then scrub.
- Cleaning copper - use a salt and vinegar paste, or a paste of salt and lemon juice.
- Dishwasher rinse agent - fill the rinse aid dispenser with white or brown vinegar.
- Remove deposits in coffee and tea pots - use vinegar in water to rinse through a tea or coffee pot.
- Odors in the fridge - keep an open box of bicarbonate of soda in the fridge.
- Fabric softener - use white vinegar instead to remove any soap residue. You can add a few drops of tea tree, eucaplyptus or lavender oil for a subtle fragrance or extra antibacterial power.
- Mildew/grout cleaner - spray on vinegar and let sit for a while before scrubbing off. Or use a paste of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, leave for 30 minutes then rinse.
- Drain cleaner - 1 part each bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and salt. Put the salt and soda into the drain and pour over the vinegar. Flush with water 2-3 hours later.
- Floor cleaner - Use vinegar in water with a few drops of eucalyptus, lemon or lavender oils.
- Weed killer - Spray vinegar directly onto weeds.
- Reusable kitchen cloths - just throw them into the washing machine regularly!
Each month I am posting a 'Going green' tip for a year long electronic swap.
2 comments:
Hmm, you say chemical as though it were intrinsically bad... IME it's much more important which chemical is involved rather than whether it's natural or artificially produced.
a different chemical concoction for almost every cleaning task
That sounds like using the right tool for the job. There is some cost involved in keeping separate cleaners for different circumstances, but it's relatively minor (mostly logistical, really), since they don't generally go off. The advantage may be quite significant, in better cleaning and/or less damage done.
a little extra elbow grease is required
Hmm, I wonder if you have the figures for this trade-off? Trading off money and time is fair enough, but at our levels qualification, it may not be very effective to do it this way. Even if you take it as exercise, it might be better to take exercise in the fresh air rather than breathing a mixture of bicarb soda dust (an irritant) and mildew spores.
Hi
I see we are really are interested in the same stuff
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