Natural Home Cleaning
Everyone loves a clean, sparkling, fresh-smelling home. But when you look at your shiny bathtub after a good scrub, it’s possible — depending on what type of cleaner you use — that you are inhaling harmful pollutants left over from that scrubbing agent. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that levels of pollutants inside the home are easily two to five times higher than levels outdoors. Many home cleaning products greatly contribute to lowering air quality in the home. They can also leave compounds floating in the indoor air long after your cleaning spree has ended.
Conventional cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that can also be harmful to the environment. When you clean your kitchen sink and rinse that harsh solvent down the drain, where does it go? Choosing environmentally friendly alternatives not only keeps your home a healthy place for your family, but it also helps the earth.
Easy alternatives
Buying eco-friendly home cleaning products is one way to solve these problems. Another idea is to use kitchen items already in your cupboards for home cleaning. There are an astonishing number of simple, easy, and affordable ways that basic home ingredients like baking soda, lemon, vinegar, and essential oils can be used to clean, disinfect, and deodorize your home.
- Baking soda. It’ a natural cleanser, deodorizer, and scrubbing agent.
- Liquid soap. Mix a concentrated, eco-friendly liquid soap with other ingredients to form homemade cleaners.
- Vinegar. Use it to remove grease, wax, dirt, and mildew. White distilled vinegar is usually better because cider vinegar can stain some surfaces.
- Isopropyl alcohol. Pour a little on a cotton ball or paper towel to disinfect doorknobs, telephones, countertops, or any other surface (aside from wood, which it dries out).
- Essential oils. Tea tree, eucalyptus, and lavender oils can all disinfect as well as add a pleasant smell to your homemade cleaners.
- Lemon juice. A cleaning agent on its own, it can also add a nice, clean smell to your homemade cleaners.
The recipes
- All-purpose mildly abrasive cleanser. Baking soda, liquid soap, and an essential oil of your choice — tea tree, eucalyptus, or lavender —are a great team because of their disinfecting properties and combined scent. Use a generous amount of baking soda and mix in the liquid soap until you have a smooth pastelike consistency. Add a few drops of the essential oil and scrub away at your bathtub, sink, or toilet. If mold or mildew is present pretreat the area with hydrogen peroxide, and if there is grease use vinegar.
- Nontoxic furniture polish. A combination of oil and vinegar works to extract dirt from furniture as well as moisturize and protect wood. Olive oil and jojoba oil are good choices, and white distilled vinegar is best because apple cider vinegar can stain. A ratio of 1 part oil to 2 parts vinegar will work, and can be adjusted depending on the finish of the wood.
- Chemical-free oven cleaner. Who wants to put a rough chemical solvent in the same oven in which they will later bake food? A great alternative to conventional oven cleaners is baking soda and water. Cover the bottom of the oven with baking soda and then spray with water. Leave the mixture overnight and then spoon it out in the morning. It's that simple! Add a little lemon to the water for a fresh scent.
Keep your home’ air clean
Once you start experimenting with the ingredients above you’ll be amazed by how effective they are. If you’re curious about experimenting with more recipes, Care2.com has recipes for just about every surface, stain, and home cleaning project.
Have recently started “cleaning green”. Love It. What a difference in the smell of my home. It doesn’t have a chemical smell to it anymore! And as my grandbaby is soon to be born there’s one less thing I have to worry about! essential oils, castile soap, vinegar and baking soda, What wonderful things these are!
My fiance is sensitive to the chemicals in cleaners. I’ve recently found an entirely natural line of cleaning products and I’m giving those a try… they smell wonderful, and aren’t nearly as harsh as what I’ve been using.
i find this fasinating and will try these , will let you know how it works
with lil ones in the house, i find it essential to clean with all non toxic products. vinegar is always my go to item. it is non toxic if consumed, and is a great disenfectant also, tougher jobs i use baking soda, but make sure to put it up, because it is not great for you if you consume alot of it. this way i can clean my house and not have to worry about my lil ones mouthing things that i just cleaned
I suffered from headaches and sinus pain for severl years. A wise chiropractor suggested that I get rid of all of my toxic cleaning supplies and go natural. I now use all natural Shaklee cleaning supplies. It is better for me, my family and the environment and it saves me a ton of money.
I have a lot of allergies and NOT using commercial cleaners & heavily fragranced things has made a big difference in how I’ve felt, especially my sinuses and my skin!
I use a lot of stuff like vinegar, baking soda or diluted dish soap and I am saving tons of money too!
i suffer from migraines and it doesn’t take much to trigger them. i use the method products that target sells, they work great and their nontoxic to the environment,plus no chemical smell.
I have been making green cleaners for about 3 months now. I don’t have to worry about my daughter getting into them. I personally think that they clean better than the commercial cleaners with all of the chemicals
I make Castile Liquid Soap from home, then add the following for a non-toxic cleaner. 1-TBS Baking Soda, 2-TBS Liquid Castile Soap, 2-Cups Hot Water, 2-TBS Lemon Juice and 2-TBS Vineger. Put into a spray bottle (Wal-Mart) sells them for $.98 cents. I use this to clean my kitchen and bathrooms.
I started using BON AMI to scub ceramic surfaces, it’s natural. I also use VInegar and water to wash the mirrors. I bought a plethora of other natural products for around the house. I feel better cleaning especially now that no chemicals are burning my eyes.
I just love white vinegar, buy it in quantity @ Costco. Cleans everything from floors, to counter tops, to mirrors. Once a month pour undiluted vinegar down sink-shower-bathtub-laundry sink drains, let stand for 30 minutes then flush with hot water to keep drains clean & clog free. Same for toilets just brush and flush after 30 minutes.
I too am concerned about toxins and chemicals inside my home, began using vinegar to clean 10 years ago to protect my pets, has been great for people too!
Micro Fiber….. so simple, saves time and money.
Duster – fabulous!!! The looped fibers pick up every bit of dust and locks it into the duster – does not spread into the air and re-deposit it somewhere else like electrostatic dusting wands.
Use it dry for everything – furniture, mirrors, glass, plants (inside and out), window ledges, patio furniture, car interior (keep a duster in my car), even takes the sand off my car!
Floor mop pad – use with white vinegar and water, fast + easy, works perfectly cleans floors and base boards.
Keep several dusters and mop pads (from QVC, Target, Home Depot) when they are all dirty just pop them in the washer (NO fabric softener), air dry and you are ready to clean again. Completely re-usable!!
Cleaning with natural products is the best way to living a healthy life for you and your family, not to mention you are helping our earth feel better as well.
You will soon appreciate the real smell of things instead of “clean” smell you are used to from toxic products.
I clean with baking soda and vinegar and find it is great. If you bbuy it in bulk, it really saves money.
Great tips. I did not know some of these!
I was wondering…does GreenWorks from Clorox actually good for the environment. I purchase an all-purpose cleaner one and it works OK. I’m not happy that they do not use Biodegradable packaging.
I recently changed my work’s cleaning company to an all natural cleaning service. I love them! The products leave no odor and they clean so well. I have not started cleaning my house with Green products, I should start soon!
Recently bought a cop of Greenup Your Cleanup by Jill Potvin Schoff. Hightly recommend it. Contains recipes for home made cleaners, also tells what to look for when buying green cleaning products in stores. Also has a boatload of preventive measures.
It is aimed mainly at homeowners, so there’s a lot of stuff about buying furnishings, flooring, wall coverings, etc too. Very cool book. Use the recipes often.
Amyers, I’d love to suggest that to my employer. Where did you find the name of the cleaning service? Do they operate in Illinois?
cachingwednesday, I live in Kansas and use a local cleaning service. However, she is a great resource and might know of someone in Illinois. The website is www.aveenaclean.com. The owner is a friend of mine and an excellent eco-resource.
Someone had mentioned finding a natural polish for furniture. The Method brand from Target has a furniture polish that’s very good, doesn’t leave a film or buildup on furniture. It has an almond scent that’s not overpowering. Also, for stainless steel stoves cleaning with straight vinegar leaves them spotless.
I started using the vinegar and water for windows, mirrors—works great since I have dogs that like to put their noess on the window :)
Have not tried the baking soda/lemon thing, but will do soon.
I’ll shall try these
I got a huge galon of white vinager and a huge box of baking soda, you combine in a spray bottle fill it with water and then add a 1/2 cup of baking soda and a cup of vinager and the rest of water, clean GREAT! THE TOILET NOT A PROBLEM 2 CUPS OF VINAGER AND SCRUB IT! you can leave it for 5 minutes moe when you finish scrubing. Lime, its is great with water, and baking soda to clean too!
I’ve been cleaning with a line of non-toxic products for 5 years now. Because of them, my dear Mother was able to get off her inhaler for the last 9 months of her life. And I know I am healthier, as well.
Now my son and daughter-in-law are experiencing migraines, and every time I visit them I smell the chlorine bleach she uses to clean and it makes me sick. But, they don’t seem to think that had anything to do with their headaches…sigh….