Business Directory
Featured Business
Green Living
News Flash!
News Flash!
Well, spring is here again and it's time for some spring-cleaning. Did you know that according to the EPA the air inside our homes is 5 to 10 times more polluted than the air outside? Cleaning products contain some very dangerous and highly toxic chemicals.
Basically if there is any 'poison' warnin or 'not safe for young children and pets', then it's not safe for your home or the environment. All cleaning products, whether they are for the home or personal care like shampoos, end up in our water supply when they go down the drain. Everything in our water supply ends up in our food chain through irrigation of our produce, livestock, and all mammals large and small, including humans.
You see, contrary to many people's thinking the earth doesn't make new water. We are drinking the same water the dinosaurs drank except now it is far more polluted. Through the process of evaporation all the water on the planet just keeps recycling itself.
What we put down our drains, cleaning chemicals, our own waste (urine etc) all the prescription drugs people flush down the toilets, all ends up in our water and back in the food chain. So maybe it's time we clean up the air and other pollutants in our own homes and be careful of what we put down the drain so it doesn't come back to hurt us again.
Studies show that we have a higher amount of people suffering from allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases than ever before. Prior to the mid-1900's these health issues were almost unheard of. By using all those chemical bleaching cleaners to kill germs we've created a new generation of stronger germs that don't respond to current medications or are unrecognizable to our body's natural germ fighters. It's time to clean up our act to save our families and the planet.
Stop buying toxic store bought cleaners. If you feel the natural cleaning products are too expensive, don't worry, you can make your own cheaply and easily. The recipes I'm going to share with you are just a few. There are many more cheap and natural ways to clean yourself and your home: these are the same recipes our grandmothers used before companies like Unilever and Proctor & Gamble started selling us toxic chemicals to clean.
Vinegar, salt & baking soda can clean just about anything: and that's just a start.
Did you ever have to clean an over with a commercial oven cleaner product? Oh my God, the smell is almost impossible to bear, that can't be good to breathe in. Next time you have a pie or other sugary item spillover in your oven or on your stovetop sprinkle it with a little salt and cinnamon. Let it sit until the spill hardens and then scrape off with a spatula. You don't even need the cinnamon but it ads a nice fragrance to the room while helping the salt a bit. To really finish the job you could wipe everything off with a mixture of one part vinegar and one part water. It will help prevent grease from building up to make cleaning easier in the future.
Here's another grease-cutting homemade solution you can make and keep in a bottle to cut grease when you are cleaning any surface.
Natural Grease Cutter
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup ammonia
1 gallon hot water to dissolve the mixture together
Multipurpose home cleaner-this will help you eliminate the need for tons of expensive different cleaning products by preparing this mixture and keeping it in an old spray bottle.
1 teaspoon borax (not chlorine bleach-chlorine bleach is the toxic kind)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp vinegar
A quick squirt of a natural liquid dish soap
2 cups hot water
This is a great all round cleaner that works on most surfaces in your home. For stubborn or dried on stains spray on and let sit for 15 minutes before wiping off.
Cleaning floors:
This is important if you have small children or pets in the house. They walk and play on the floors and put their fingers or paws in their month and can ingest quite a bit of toxic chemicals in the process. Some animals have died from licking cleaning chemicals on floors from some commercial cleaners. Those quick floor cleaners, like the ones that use chemical sprays and disposable pads with cleaning chemicals already on them, stay on the surface of the floor to continually pollute your house while attracting still more dirt so you have to use the products more often and help the corporations make more money. These leave behind chemical residues that are poisonous if ingested.
Do you really want your kids and pets playing on these floors? Yes, they may be easier but at what price? In addition to leaving toxic chemicals behind, these disposable cleaning products contribute to land fill waste and water contamination.
Here are some easy and cheap floor cleaning recipes:
Tile floors can easily be cleaned with a 1/2 cup of baking soda, or a cup of vinegar, in a bucket of warm water. Mop as usual and rise clean.
Linoleum and vinyl can be scrubbed with a mixture of 1 gallon of warm water and 1 cup of vinegar. Polish up afterwards with some club soda.
Wood can also be cleaned with a mixture of 1-cup vinegar in a gallon bucket of warm water. Mop the wood floors lightly, do not over soak. This will remove any grease build up along with regular dirt. If you do this right you won't have to rinse and the floors will stay shiny.
Let's talk bathrooms:
Toilets can easily be cleaned by using a 1/2 cup of baking soda and letting it sit in the toilet for 30 minutes, then brush and flush.
Tubs, showers and sinks can be cleaned by using this recipe:
3 tablespoons baking soda
1/2 cup ammonia
2 cups warm water
OR if you want you can let out the ammonia and instead use this;
1 box of baking soda (about 45 cents)
4 tablespoons natural dishwashing liquid available at most stores now
1 cup warm water
Both of these can be stored in a sealed container for future use.
Soap Scum Cleaner
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup ammonia
1 gallon warm water
Mix thoroughly, apply liberally and rinse well.
Remove mineral build up on Showerhead by using this:
1/2 cup baking soda
1-cup vinegar
Mix in sturdy plastic bag and secure it around the showerhead with a rubber band so that the showerhead is submerged in the solution. Keep on for one hour, remove and run very hot water thru showerhead for several minutes.
Here are some extra tips:
Basic Wall Cleaner
1 cup ammonia
1 cup baking soda
1 gallon water
If you don't want to use the ammonia substitute vinegar instead but you need to leave it sit on the walls a bit. With the ammonia, wear gloves to protect your hands and apply and rub with sponge gently, no need to rinse.
Carpet freshener 1:
1 cup dried and crushed herbs of your choice
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
Carpet freshener 2:
1 small box baking soda
A few drops of your favorite organic essential oil
Carpet freshener 3:
1 cup baking soda
1 cup corn starch
10-15 drops of your favorite organic essential oil
For all of these recipes, sprinkle mixture and let sit on carpet for 15 minutes and then vacuum. These can be stored in an airtight container for future use.
Silver Tarnish Remover
Boil water and add a 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 tsps of baking soda. Place tarnished silverware in the pan with the boiled solution along with a piece of aluminum foil. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes then rinse well and then use a soft cloth to buff dry.
Keep checking back in with www.BetterLifeandHome.com for more natural cleaning tips.
By: Lisa Alexander
Certified Eco Broker®
