Cleaning Tips and Recipes with Natural Cleaners

Whether you want to be environmentally friendly, save money, or eliminate toxic chemicals in the home, you can rest assured that there's an alternative for all your cleaning needs. In fact, all you need are a few simple ingredients, and you are on your way to a safer, nontoxic home.

Here are the basics and their general uses:

White Vinegar: Mix with water, and you have a great window and glass cleaner. It removes mildew and stains. Cleans glass, grout, and fireplaces. Vinegar can be used on porcelain, countertops, and tile.
Add vinegar to the final rinse in your washing machine to eliminate residues. (Never mix vinegar and bleach!)
Washing Soda: Removes germs. Mix with water and use as an all-purpose cleaner. Add it to your laundry as well.
Baking Soda: Cleans, deodorizes, removes stains, polishes, softens fabrics. Can be used on plastic, vinyl, upholstery, carpets, stainless steel, down drains and in refrigerators. This can also be used as an all-purpose cleaner. Just mix with water. Use especially for scouring sinks and tubs. Sprinkle over carpet as a deodorizer.
Salt: Use for deodorizing drains and garbage disposals. Salt can also be used as an abrasive in cleaning pots and pans.
Lemon Juice: Use as a bleach in laundry and on kitchen surfaces. It adds a fresh clean smell to cleaners.
Cornstarch: Sprinkle on carpet as a deodorizer. Mix with water and use a spray bottle for laundry starch.
Olive or linseed oil: Mix with vinegar for use as a furniture polish.

Any of the above ingredients can be safely mixed together. Experiment to find out what works best for your cleaning needs. Store mixtures in spray bottles, and remember to clearly label them for future use.

Cleaning Tips

To clean a dirty microwave oven, boil a cup of water in it for a few minutes. The steam will loosen the food which can be wiped off with a dish cloth.
Wash your sponges in the dishwasher along with your dishes to make them last longer.
Use equal parts of white vinegar and salt to clean out coffee and tea stains from your china.
Scrub copper pots with a bit of salt and vinegar to clean.
Film that accummulates in your bathtub can be removed by scrubbing with vinegar.
Save your old toothbrushes to scrub small areas. Also ideal for cleaning your tile grout.
A window decal can be removed by painting it with vinegar. When it has thoroughly soaked for a few minutes, it can be wiped off easily.
Use equal parts of warm water and vinegar to clean windows. Dry with a soft cloth or newspaper to prevent streaking.
Carpets should be vacuumed once a week. Dirty spots can be cleaned with a mixture of vinegar and water. Blot dry.
To get rid of grease stains on your carpet, rub lightly with baking soda or cover it with cornstarch for about an hour. Vacuum or brush clean.
Wet mud on your carpet should be dried first, then vacuumed. Sponge it with dishwashing liquid.
To clean a dirty vase with a small opening, crush some eggshells and mix with water and vinegar or detergent. Pour into the vase, cover and shake until clean. Rinse thoroughly.
Pure soap: cleans almost everything
Ammonia: cleans linoleum, carpets, most appliances. Can irritate the skin and eyes. Area must be well ventilated. Never mix with bleach because it creates a poisonous gas!

Most cleaning products are 95% water and the remaining 5% includes useless substances to make it look or smell nice. Here are some cheaper alternatives you can make yourself.

All Purpose Cleaner

50 mL baking soda
250 mL ammonia
125 mL white vinegar
4 L warm water

Drain Opener

250 mL baking soda
250 mL salt
125 mL white vinegar
1 kettle boiling water

Pour first 3 ingredients down drain and leave for about 15 minutes. Then pour down the boiling water.

Laundry Detergent

t250 mL pure soap flakes or powder
25 to 50 mL washing soda

Increase the washing soda if you have really hard water in your area.