Using eco-friendly products will have your lungs and overall health thanking you, while keeping surfaces safe for children and pets. Sprinkle on carpet, let sit for 15 minutes and then vacuum up. For more cleaning tips and tricks, visit www. Find the nearest office. Want a free estimate now? Tips, Tricks and Cleaning Hacks.
Green Cleaning When you want a spotless abode while staying true to Mother Nature, look no further. Use salt to clean cast iron, as an ingredient in homemade dishwasher soap, or combined with lime to remove rust. The common mothball is made of paradichlorobenzene, which is harmful to liver and kidneys. Cedar chips in a cheesecloth square, or cedar oil in an absorbent cloth will repel moths.
Cedar chips are available at many craft supply stores, or make your own using a plane and a block of cedar from the lumberyard. Homemade moth-repelling sachets can also be made with lavender, rosemary, vetiver and rose petals. Dried lemon peel is also a natural moth deterrent. Simply toss into clothes chest, or tie in cheesecloth and hang in the closet. You an also try setting moth traps in select areas for monitoring infestations. For small spills on the garage floor, add baking soda and scrub with wet brush.
Or use CitraSolv nontoxic degreaser. Moisten oven surfaces with sponge and water. Avoid bare metal and any openings. Remove with spatula and wipe clean. Rub gently with fine steel wool for tough spots. Non-toxic, citrus oil based solvents are now available commercially under several brand names. CitraSolv is one brand that works well for cleaning brushes of oil-based paints.
See their advice on cleaning paintbrushes. Paintbrushes and rollers used for an on-going project can be saved overnight, or even up to a week, without cleaning at all. Simply wrap the brush or roller snugly in a plastic bag, such as a used bread or produce bag. Squeeze out air pockets and store away from light. Simply unwrap the brush or roller the next day and continue with the job.
Reduce fresh paint odors by placing a small dish of white vinegar in the room. Use an all purpose spray of vinegar and water for cleaning the interior of refrigerators and the outside of refrigerators made of materials other than stainless steel. To clean the outside of a stainless steel refrigerator, use undiluted vinegar to avoid streaks.
Sprinkle a little salt on the rust then squeeze a lime over the salt until it is well soaked. Leave the mixture on for hours. Use the leftover rind to scrub residue.
For your stovetop, refrigerator, and other surfaces that should not be scratched, apply baking soda directly with a damp sponge. Olive oil with a few drops of lemon juice can be applied to shoes with a thick cotton or terry rag. Leave for a few minutes; wipe and buff with a clean, dry rag. To remove sticker residue, sponge with vinegar several times. Wait 15 minutes, then rub off the stickers. This also works for price tags stickers on tools, etc. Try to treat stains as soon as soon as they happen.
Going green with your household cleaning products could be easier than you think
Begin by blotting the stain with a cloth, avoiding rubbing. For oil stains, a little cornstarch can help absorb the oil.
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Let sit half an hour then vacuum. Using a small amount of soap and water or vinegar, blot the stain carefully with a barely-wet sponge. Rinse the sponge, and use plain water to blot again if water is allowed. Blot dry with towels. Scrub with brush and rinse. A mixture of borax 2 parts and lemon juice one part will also work.
For rust stains, spray with vinegar and leave overnight before brushing with baking soda. For simple cleaning, rub in baking soda with a damp sponge and rinse with fresh water.
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For tougher jobs, wipe surfaces with vinegar first and follow with baking soda as a scouring powder. Vinegar can break down tile grout, so use sparingly. Mix equal parts of white vinegar and hot water. Apply with sponge over the old wallpaper to soften the adhesive.
Peel of the lifting paper and reapply the mixture to stubborn patches. Open the room windows or use a fan to dissipate the pungent vinegar smell. Water rings on a wooden table or counter are the result of moisture that is trapped under the topcoat, but not the finish.
Try applying toothpaste or mayonnaise to a damp cloth and rub into the ring.
How to Make Your Own Natural Household Cleaners - Greener Ideal
Be careful not to run too vigorously so as not to mar the finish. Once the ring is removed, buff the entire wood surface.
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Mix 2 teaspoons of white vinegar with 1 quart of warm water. Use crumpled newspaper or a cotton cloth to clean. Only use the black and white newspapers, not the colored ones. Be sure to follow the recipe, because using too strong a solution of vinegar will etch the glass and eventually cloud it. The All-Purpose Cleaner above also works well on windows, or you can buy CitraClear natural window and glass cleaner. Open the windows from time to time or run any installed exhaust fans. In cold weather, the most efficient way to exchange room air is to open the room wide — windows and doors, and let fresh air in quickly for about five minutes.
Remove clutter that collects dust, such as old newspapers and magazines. If you or your children suffer from dust mite allergies, keeping humidity low and vacuuming regularly can help. Dust mites tend to accumulate in bedding, so washing bed linens regularly in hot water is a good practice. You can also buy special pillowcases and mattress covers to protect you from mites. Most household sponges are made of polyester or plastic, which are slow to break down in landfills, and many are treated with triclosan, a chemical that can produce chloroform a suspected carcinogen when it interacts with the chlorine found in tap water.
For general household cleaning, try Skoy Eco-Cleaning Cloths. These cleaning cloths are non-toxic, extremely absorbent 15x paper towels , reusable, and biodegradable. Most time at home is spent in the bedrooms. Keep pets out of these rooms, especially if they spend time outdoors. Of the various commercial home cleaning products, drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners and oven cleaners are the most toxic.
Avoid products containing ammonia or chlorine, or petroleum-based chemicals; these contribute to respiratory irritation, headaches and other complaints. When house cleaning, save the floor or carpet for last. Clean window blinds and shelves first and then work downwards.
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Allow time for the dust to settle before vacuuming. Owning a pet means dealing with fur, dander, tracked-in dirt, and accidents of various sorts. Keep your pet brushed to cut down on fur balls, vacuum often, and train them to use only certain pieces of furniture. A blanket on the sofa for them to lie on is easier to clean regularly than a sofa cushion. Though keeping your home free of dust can help with allergies, overly aggressive cleaning—especially with the many chemicals linked to allergies and asthma—can actually make them worse.
Switching to a gentle cleaning routine using non-toxic products from your pantry may greatly improve allergy symptoms. In the marketplace today there are many safe, non-toxic products that are also effective for home cleaning tasks. Made from limonene, the clear liquid from the peel of the orange. Its concentrated form allows you to use it for a wide variety of your cleaning needs: Unlike other heavy-duty cleaners, CitraSolv is made from natural ingredients and leaves behind a fresh orange fragrance.
Made from the same ingredients as CitraSolv concentrated solution, this Multi-Purpose cleaner is ideal for use on many surfaces, including stainless steel, wood, porcelain, aluminum and other surfaces. The easy-to-use trigger bottle can be refilled by diluting CitraSolv Concentrated Cleaner with water. An environmentally friendly, pumice-like cleaning block made from recycled materials. It provides safe, non-toxic cleaning of baked-on messes in your kitchen. The KitchenStone works well on hot or cold surfaces, and can be safely used on most kitchenware including ovens, ceramics, glassware, pots, pans, and other cooking surfaces.
The main ingredient is saponin, a natural low-sudsing cleaner that is very effective, yet safe for even the most sensitive skin. That makes it great for baby clothes and for people with allergies or sensitive skin. This product also comes as nuggets , which dissolve readily in cold or hot water. This chlorine-free oxygen whitener releases a boost of oxygen for bleaching stains, while cleaning and brightening colours and whites. The unique design of the dryer balls lift and separate fabrics while relaxing fibers. An absorbent, biodegradable and natural multi-use cloth.
Use in your kitchen, bathroom, and on most surface areas in your home or office. SKOY cloth can be used in place of your sponge, washcloth or paper towels. See all our nontoxic home cleaning products. Common commercial cleaners are loaded with toxic and polluting substances designed to make domestic life easier. The cost of these chemical-based products can be high: Chlorine Bleach Bleach fumes can contain chlorine and chloroform, which have been linked to respiratory and neurological effects and cancer.
Formaldehyde Used as a preservative, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. Ammonia Ammonia is a respiratory and skin irritant. Antibacterials Though the FDA banned triclosan and 18 other anti-bacterial compounds from hand and body soaps in , these may still be found in cleaners. Safe Ingredients for Homemade Substitutions Here is a list of common, environmentally safe ingredients that you can use alone or in combination for a wealth of household applications.
Baking Soda Trusted for over a century, baking soda cleans, deodorizes, softens water, and scours. Soap Unscented soap in liquid form along with soap flakes, powders, or bars is biodegradable and will clean just about anything. Lemon Juice One of the strongest food acids, lemon juice is effective against most household bacteria. White Vinegar Use white vinegar to cut grease; remove mildew, odors, and some stains; and to prevent or remove wax build-up. Vegetable or Olive Oil Use in homemade wood polishes.
Alcohol Alcohol is an excellent disinfectant.
Cornstarch Use cornstarch to clean windows, polish furniture, and shampoo carpets and rugs. Revolution begins at home! You are educating yourself about the ingredients you use in your home and on your body. And each and every time you create something from natural ingredients, you leave a plastic bottle on the shelf, and prevent the further flow of toxic chemicals into our homes and our oceans.
One of the simplest ways to start is by opening your stuffed-to-overflowing cleaning closet. The sooner we simplify, the better. First, a great all-purpose spray. I use this everywhere, from the bathroom to the kitchen to the three-foot section of hardwood floor my three-year-old recently decided would look better covered in red crayon. Fill a spray bottle with hot water, leaving a few inches at the top. Add the rest of the ingredients, give it a gentle shake to combine, then get trigger happy.