How to Clean Green: Make Your Own Cleaning Products

Combating Household Hazards with Old-Fashioned Horse Sense  

Our great-grandmothers' homes were obviously clean enough, or we wouldn't exist. The extra sanitation promised by in-the-tank cleaners, antimicrobial dish liquids, disinfecting sprays and air fresheners is not making us happier or healthier. There is not a synthetic cleaning product on the market that can improve our health, though there are plenty that can ruin it.  

Think of your house as a second skin. If you nurture your physical body, keeping it tuned and healthy, you'll want to extend that TLC to your shelter, the four walls and roof surrounding you. Your home is an extension of yourself. It deserves to be healthy too. Start today - a series of little steps and even the smallest changes make a difference.  

You probably already have most of the basic ingredients for cleaning green in your kitchen and laundry room.  

Baking soda is a bit of household magic, an odor neutralizer, cleanser, and air freshener all in one. For common everyday grime, it easily replaces a commercial abrasive for cleaning countertops and sinks.  

Club soda works to make your windows sparkle better than the glass cleaner with its antiseptic smell and unnatural blue colours. A cotton rag rubbed with olive oil and a few drops of lemon essential oil works just fine to polish wood furniture to a golden glow.  

Here are a few helpful tips that will help you keep your home clean and green:  

1. One cup of baking soda and one cup of vinegar added to a pot of boiling water and poured down the drain will dissolve fatty, greasy clogs.
2. For greasy stains on walls, apply some baking soda paste and let it dry, then brush off. This works great on crayon stains.
3. For a good all-purpose insect repellent, try a teaspoon each of eucalyptus and geranium essential oils in two cups of water. Spray along baseboards and other areas of infestation.
4. A spray made from 20 drops of tea tree oil to 1/2 cup of water will help clean up most mold and mildew problems.

 Baking soda, vinegar and soap. These three non toxic ingredients singly and together, can deal with most household cleaning tasks.  

Baking soda is alkaline and therefore works well on acidic substances such as protein, grease and animal messes. It is slightly abrasive and can be used for scouring. It is also a natural deodorizer, grease cutter, and has some mild bleach properties.  

Vinegar is acidic. It dissolves scale, inhibits mold, and cuts soap scum. Great for alkaline substances and stains like coffee, rust, tea, and liquor. Simple castile soap (olive oil based) or vegetable based soap have a neutral pH. Soap cleans by attaching to soil at the molecular level, so that the soil can be rinsed away with water.  

There's a lot of good old grandma's horse sense available at Goodness Me! in the form of advice, products, books and classes. So drop on by - we'd love to help you get a little greener, and healthier too.  

Choose well... and live well.