Cleaner Cleaning: Recipes For A Greener Clean Home
Many cleaning products contain hazardous ingredients. Read the ingredients and disposal instructions on the packaging of your cleaning products. If your product is considered household hazardous waste (enter it in the waste lookup tool) or contains toxic substances, consider choosing an alternative product — or making your own.
These inexpensive easy-to-find household ingredients are not hazardous and can be used to clean house:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Salt
- Lemon juice
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Borax
- Citrus-based cleaners
- Vegetable-based liquid soaps
Clean your kitchen/bathroom/surfaces: a litre of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of vegetable or citrus-based liquid soap, a teaspoon of borax and a quarter cup of white vinegar makes a good all-purpose cleaner.
Elminate odours: sprinkle baking soda on a carpet and let it sit a while ahead of vacuuming.
Disinfect: mix a half cup of borax with four litres of hot water. Hydrogen peroxide is a good disinfectant.
Polish stainless steel: mix baking soda into a paste with water to clean and polish stainless steel.
Prevent clogged drains: pour a quarter cup of baking soda down a drain and chase it with a quarter cup of vinegar. Cover the drain, wait 15 minutes and then pour boiling water down the drain.
Clean glass: mix a quarter cup of vinegar with two tablespoons of lemon juice and put it in a spray bottle.
Clean the bathroom: use vegetable or citrus-based cleaner with a nylon pad to clean tiles, tubs and sinks. Use baking soda to scrub toilet bowls. Let a quarter cup of borax sit in the toilet bowl for a half an hour ahead of scrubbing to get rid of toilet bowl stains (scrub before you flush).
Clean the oven: mix a litre of warm water with two teaspoons of borax and two teaspoons of vegetable or citrus-based liquid soap and spray it in your oven. Wait 20 minutes then scrub. Or use a paste of water and baking soda and a nylon scrubbing pad. Fine steel wool will help remove spots.
Fight mildew: mix vinegar into a paste with salt. Or scrub mildew with a mixture of borax and water (a half cup of borax to 4 litres of water).
Cut grease: vinegar or lemon juice are good degreasers.
