Cleaning Naturally

Chemical cleaners can kill you!

Of course, everybody already knows that. That’s why we put them up high, lock them in cupboards, and still worry about the kids getting into them. In 2006, more than 200,000 calls were made to poison control due to chemical household cleaners. More than 120,000 of these calls were for children under the age of 5 (AAPCC Annual Reports, 2006.) Poison control also receives hundreds of thousands of calls concerning poisoned pets every year. Not to mention the potential health risks associated with the residues left behind by these chemicals.

Baking Soda, Vinegar, Salt, and Lemon

Eliminate the risks by switching to natural cleaners. No, I’m not talking about the commercial “natural” cleaners that cost you 40 bucks a bottle. I’m talking about the natural cleaners you have sitting in your kitchen cupboards right now; the ones that cost pennies on the dollar compared with the household cleaners you’re used to buying; the ones that are found in your cupcakes and salads. Yep, there’re baking soda, vinegar, salt, and lemon. The worst your kids are going to experience from ingesting these products is a bad taste in the mouth.

The best part about these natural cleaners is that they can all be used for a wide variety of cleaning projects. This cuts down the amount of time you spend cleaning because you don’t have to keep switching cleaners every time you move to a different cleaning project.

• Baking Soda: Odor absorber, abrasive cleaner, all purpose cleaner
• Vinegar: Odor-causing bacteria killer, hard-water stain and mineral deposit remover, all purpose cleaner
• Salt: abrasive cleaner, all-purpose cleaner
• Lemon & Lemon Juice: Odor control, furniture polish, natural color-safe bleach
  Remove Odors

Baking Soda:

 Sprinkle in the bottom of garbage cans and in shoes. Sprinkle on smelly carpet stains, wait at least 30 minutes, then vacuum. Put in a cloth bag or dish and place in fridge, freezer, or other areas in need of odor control (like stinky shoes.) After 3 months use this baking soda for cleaning.

Vinegar:

 Spray on carpet after smelly messes. Also, put some in a dish and place in a room where odor control is needed, or boil 1 tablespoon in a pan of water.

Lemon:

 Boil with water to freshen air. Grind a lemon peel in the garbage disposal to eliminate odors.

All-purpose Cleaning, Scrubbing, and Stain Removal

Baking Soda: Dissolve ¼ cup in 1 quart water to use as an all-purpose cleaner. As an abrasive, it removes silver pan marks from the kitchen sink, black marks from the linoleum, and the ring around the tub. Just sprinkle a little on a damp sponge and scrub.

Vinegar: Mix half and half with water and use on all nonporous surfaces. Use on glass and wipe dry with a soft cloth (not paper towels.) Let hard water stains soak, then scrub clean. Mix ½ cup with ½ gallon of water to clean floors. You can use it full strength but not on tile since it eats away grout.

Salt: Scrub stains from countertops. Immediately pour on grease spills to absorb grease and prevent staining. Sprinkle on oven spills while they are still warm and wet and scrape off when cool. Dissolve in vinegar and use on nonporous surfaces.
Lemon Juice: Let stand on stains, then scrub. Boil with water in microwave then wipe down the microwave for easy cleaning. Let stand on carpet stains then blot dry. Let stand on hard water stains then scrub clean.

Laundry

Baking Soda:

Add ¼ to ½ cup to a load. Boosts cleaning power and leaves clothes feeling soft and smelling fresh.

Vinegar:

Add one cup to a load. Eliminates odors and boosts stain removal. Add to rinse cycle and it helps rinse the soap from clothes.

Lemon Juice:

 Mix with cream of tartar to make a paste and apply to stains. Mix half and half with vinegar and immerse stained clothing. Add to rinse cycle to help rinse out soap.

Other Cleaning Purposes

Baking Soda:

Use with vinegar to remove sink clogs. Put about ¼ cup down the drain then follow with about ½ cup vinegar. Use regularly to keep drains clog-free. Sprinkle on bodily fluids, allow to absorb then sweep up. Make a paste with water and polish silver.

Vinegar:

Pour over stubborn adhesives (like price tags) and wait a few minutes before rubbing off. Use undiluted to polish stainless steel and other metals.

Salt:

Mix 1 teaspoon with 1 cup of vinegar and add enough flour to make a paste. Use this to polish brass, bronze, copper, and pewter.

Lemon Juice:

Mix with salt to make a paste and use to polish copper or brass. Use alone to polish chrome.

Easily clean your whole house.

Filling a bucket with these cleaning supplies:

• 1 spray bottle with half vinegar and half water
• 1 recycled jar with holes punched in the lid filled with baking soda,
• 1 bottle of undiluted vinegar,
• 1 bottle of undiluted lemon juice,
• sponges,
• Rubber gloves, toilet brush,
• Soft cloth rags, and several garbage bags.

Use a separate vinegar spray bottle and baking soda jar in the kitchen, along with separate sponges.

In the kitchen and bathrooms:

1. Sprinkle some baking soda on a wet sponge and scrub away tough stains and stuck on dirt.
2. Pour a little lemon juice on spots that won’t come off then spray vinegar over all nonporous surfaces.
3. In the bathroom, pour one cup of undiluted vinegar in the toilet.
4. Spray mirrors and chrome fixtures with vinegar and quickly wipe dry with the soft cloth.
5. Wipe down all the nonporous surfaces and scrub any hard water stains.
6. Scrub toilet with brush and flush. Empty the garbages.
7. Sweep and mop, using either a bucket with ½ cup vinegar to ½ gallon water, or just spray the floor with the vinegar spray.
8. Your kitchen and bathrooms with be sparkling clean in minutes.