Using Natural Products to Clean Your Home

The best products for house cleaning are found right in your own kitchen pantry.  So you can start saving a substantial amount of money while saving the environment as well.

Baking soda and white vinegar

White vinegar is a great cleaner and it has great antibacterial properties.   Heinz company spokesperson Michael Mullen references numerous studies to show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the kind you can buy in the supermarket—kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). He noted that Heinz can’t claim on their packaging that vinegar is a disinfectant since the company has not registered it as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Baking Soda is a great cleaner because it has scrubbing power without scratching surfaces, and it can deodorize and has antiseptic and disinfectant properties.




Isopropyl Alcohol comes in handy too.  It is antiseptic and it has some amazing stain lifting actions.

• Underarm Deodorant:  Use  straight vinegar as an underarm deodorant (see The Best Safe and Natural Aluminum-Free Deodorant)


• Salad Dressings:  Use white or apple cider vinegar to make your own salad dressings with no preservatives and no High Fructose Corn Syrup 


• Vegetable Pesticide Rinse - to rinse away pesticides from your non-organic vegetables, take a spray bottle and fill with 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. This will not get rid of all the pesticides, but it will reduce the ones on the surface. 


• Vinegar Glass and Counter-top Cleaner:  take a spray bottle and fill it with 1 part  vinegar to 2 parts water. This will clean and disinfect counter-tops, kitchen tables, toilet seats and porcelain surfaces. This will also clean windows and mirrors - just be sure to wipe them down while still wet or there will be streaks. (If you do get streaks, just reapply vinegar to a smaller section and wipe dry. 


• Toilet Bowls:  use straight vinegar in the bowl and swish around to clean and disinfect germs and to deodorize.  


• Laundry odor remover and freshener:
  
  
  
  •  spray straight  vinegar under the arms of shirts to remove underarm odor.
  
  
  •  Add ½ to 1 cup of vinegar to the wash to remove odor and add a fresh smell to clothes, sheets, towels, etc.
  
  
  • Remove scum and dirt from a shower curtain - place shower curtain in the washer with 1 cup vinegar, ½ cup baking soda, laundry detergent and a towel. Run the wash with warm to hot water. Your shower curtain will come out squeaky clean.


• Disinfect dish-washing sponges:  spray sponge with “Vinegar glass and counter-top cleaner” and ring out to deodorize and kill germs. You can alternatively put your sponges in the microwave for 2 minutes to kill germs.


• Clean Sinks:
  
  
  
  • spray and wipe down with “vinegar glass and counter-top cleaner” after doing dishes to clean and kill germs.
  
  
  • Scrub your sink with baking soda to clean - this will leave no scratch marks on stainless steel sinks.


• Clean drains:  add 1 part baking soda to drain, and flush with 1 - 2 parts vinegar. Let sit for 1 hour. Rinse with water. Repeat if necessary.


• Bathtubs and bathroom sinks:
  
  
  
  • clean scum off tub with baking soda and by using elbow grease.
  
  
  • Prevent mildew by spraying 1 part vinegar to 1 part water on bathtub tiles after showering.
  
  
  • When you have mildew on the tiles, clean with straight vinegar (or chlorine bleach if you have bad stains -wear gloves to protect your hands, and have plenty of ventilation when using bleach).


• Ink marks on counter-tops:  remove by applying straight rubbing alcohol onto the spot - let sit for 1 minute and wipe the stain away!


• Hot Tub:
  
  
  
  • Use baking soda to raise alkalinity.
  
  
  • Use White Vinegar to reduce PH.


• Clean floors:  mix 1 pt vinegar to 3 parts water and wash your tile floors with the solution.

If you have any additional tips for natural household cleaners, please leave me a comment!