I'm on this chemical free kick right now and I wanted to share some of the recipes I've found lately with you.
The benefits of being chemical free include saving money, saving the environment, potentially saving on health care costs because of increased health, improving indoor air quality, and feeling good that I've done so much to help myself and my family. Indoor air quality is low for many reasons. I would say that the steps should help to improve the quality of my home's air. I'm sure that there are many other ways that this post may help that I'm just not thinking of right now.
I can't help but think that my dad would be proud of me for trying to find ways to take better care of my family. Today would have been my dad's birthday, I wanted to share this information with you today as a gift to him. He almost always thought of others first and a gift to him like this would probably please him tremendously.
I hope that this post can help you and your family in some way too.
Air Fresheners
The best way to naturally clean your home's air is finding the source of the odor and removing it.
Opening windows is also a great way to improve the odor in a room.
If allergies don't allow for you to open windows as frequently as you'd like to, house plants may help. There was an extensive list of useful houseplants in the book I discussed in an earlier post, but I'll just list a few of the more common ones. These plants include English ivy, Spider plant, Peace lily, and Weeping fig were all mentioned in the book.
Carpet Deodorizers
Remove odor causing sources from the room. Many times carpets will absorb odors from these sources.
Baking soda can be worked into the carpet's pile. I'd suggest using a brush of some sort. Depending on the strength of the odor the baking soda should be left on anywhere from 15 minutes to overnight. Vacuum.
If carpets need to be disinfected use borax in the same way as listed above leaving for 2 hours to 24 hours before vacuuming.
Drain Opener
If a drain is too stubborn for a plunger to work, try boiling water.
If it is still there, form a drain cleaner of your own. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the offending drain. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the drain and seal with tight fitting stopper for 10-15 minutes. Leave longer for stubborn clogs. Rinse with boiling water.
Floor Cleaners
When possible use simple hot water.
For extra cleaning add 1 cup of vinegar to a full bucket of hot water.
When disinfecting floor cleaner is needed, use 1/2 cup borax in hot water. Stir until dissolved.
To cut grease mix mix 1/2 cup washing soda with 1 Tablespoon liquid soap, 1/4 cup vinegar, and 1/2 a bucket of hot water.
Furniture Polish
Fill 2/3 of a bottle with either olive or walnut oil. Fill the rest of the bottle with vinegar. Add essential oil if you'd like it to be scented. Shake well and apply sparingly with a soft cloth and buff with a second cloth.
Glass Cleaner
Add 1/4 cup vinegar to 1 quart water. Pour into spray bottle, spray onto windows and wipe dry with crumpled newspaper.
Household Cleaner
Keep your home clean so simple hot water or steam may be used on most messes.
Water is a solvent.
Baking soda is both an abrasive and disinfectant.
Vinegar is a mild acid to cut through grease, disinfect, and freshen air.
Castille soap is a mild detergent.
Borax will help clean mold and mildew, disinfects, whitens cloths, and helps to prevent odors.
Microfiber cleaning cloths add texture to make the job of cleaning a little easier.
Use your own strength to power.
Laundry soap can be made at home, but it's made as a soap so this will be discussed when I get around to making my own home made soap.
I have also found some ways to make your own natural personal care items such as lotions, shampoos, soaps, and such but those will be discussed during a future post.
What do you use to clean organically or inexpensively?
Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Cindy
Do NOT Copy
6 comments:
Great tips there Cinj. I'll be bookmarking this post!
HI Cindy! I have been looking for a furniture polish that makes sense...I will try the olive oil and vinegar...Take care. Gail
That is a lot of work isn't it? Good for you. I started using Method products sold at Target. I loved the scents and it doesn't kill me when i clean. I bet you remember when I switched. I was trying to sell my house and cleaning every day with Clorox. It was making me really sick.
It took me a week to get over the Clorox and I'll never use it again.
I've seen some of these recipes and cures. Thanks. I use ice cubes in my disposal every now and then to clean the blades. I also pour dish detergent down there every once in awhile and let it run.
Great info, thanks for sharing. Cleaning naturally is the way to go. You can save money, reduce waste, promote a healthy home and prevent watershed pollution. There is a green company that sells a really cool line of spray bottles that have homemade recipes printed on the bottles (www.safespray.com). I won a kit of these bottles at our local farmer's market raffle last fall. I kept a couple bottles for myself and gave the rest to friends and family. Vinegar, Borax, lemon juice and a good plant-based liquid soap are all you need!
Karin
Amanda- Nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by. I hope I can find some more recipes as I go, I'll make sure to share them.
Gail- I am still looking for a way to revive my table, I sure hope the oils help.
Anna- I DO remember that. You made me really want some. None for sale around here still. I guess it's better for me, whe I went back to MN I saw it was awfully expensive and didn't fit into my budget.
I used to have a garbage disposal. I liked to freshen it with my grapefruit rinds after I ate the fruit. It always made my kitchen smell SO good. No disposal here though, not great for the septic system.
Karin- I didn't even think of all of those advantages, more reasons to make our own cleaners!
Those kits you're talking about sound great, the recipes would be pretty hard to loose. I forgot about lemon juice, how did I let that happen?
Nice post. I've been using the baking soda/vinegar solution for unclogging drains for years now and it works rather well. Thanks for the other tips!
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