Green Cleaning Formulas

Once your shower head shows a tendency to spray the water in every direction other than where it's supposed to, it's time to do some easy maintenance.

Simply dip it in vinegar and leave overnight.

For very neglected shower heads use that same vinegar and an old toothbrush and scrub the clogged area. To make scrubbing even more efficient, add some baking soda.

What it does:

• disinfects


• whitens

Hydrogen peroxide - uses:

• A solution of 1 part water with 1 part hydrogen peroxide is the easiest universal cleaner I know of. Mix it in a spray bottle and use it to clean countertops, sinks, shower, bathtub, toilet, even floors, windows and mirrors.


• To disinfect your toothbrush, pour hydrogen peroxide over the bristles and let bubble. When the bubbling stops, rinse with water.


• If you absolutely despise cleaning your shower or bathtub, here's a solution for that: After every use spray your bathtub/shower all over with solution of 50 percent water with 50 percent hydrogen peroxide. That treatment should keep you bathroom clean for quite some time. Although, eventually you'll have to scrub again.

Photo "another home remedy" - courtesy of alwayscanadian

Some online research made me realize that there are a lot of people out there, wondering what the difference between the two is. Here's a simple explanation that should make that clear, once and for all.

Chemical in baking soda (which also gives it the name) is bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO3). Whenever baking soda is combined with an acidic ingredient, such as vinegar, lemon juice,lactic acid in buttermilk, molasses, sour cream, honey or chocolate, baking soda releases bubbles of gas, carbon dioxide. When heated, these bubbles tend to expand and help with rising or lightening of the final product.

Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and an acid in powdered form which creates bubbling reaction when combined with liquid.

However, these are all technicalities and there's no need for you to memorize them. There's only one thing for you to understand:

In cooking, baking powder cannot be used to replace baking soda because it might leave excess acidic compounds in the food which surely affect flavor, texture as well as color.

Alas, the opposite (substituting powder with soda) is acceptable, especially with addition of some corn starch and cream of tartar. See the details here: http://kitchensavvy.typepad.com/journal/2005/10/baking_soda_vs_.html

Baking soda - what it does:

• scrubs


• deodorizes

Baking soda - uses:

• Use it for polishing metal.


• Try baking soda for removing hard water stains.


• Opened box of baking soda, placed in refrigerator will eliminate foul odors.


• Sprinkle some baking soda all over your bathroom and kitchen surfaces and scrub them. Sparkling clean is what you get!


• Add some baking soda to your load of laundry - it works as a fabric softener. Although, I'm quite sure it also enhances the cleaning process.


• Tarnished silver driving you crazy? Here's how to deal with it: add a sheet of aluminum foil and some baking soda in the sink, filled with water. Let soaking your silver pieces until they are clean.
  

What it does:

• disinfects


• bleaches


• cuts grease


• deodorizes

Lemon juice - uses:

• Wiping countertops with lemon juice will disinfect them, deodorize and cut the grease.


• Used on cutting boards, lemon juice will disinfect them, deodorize and bleach their stains.


• To remove stains from plastic food storage containers, use lemon juice combined with baking soda.

1. Whenever you boil water for tea or something else, boil some extra and pour boiling water all over your stainless kitchen sink. That will disinfect and clean it and that way you don't have to worry about what's lurking in your sink and disposal - and the most important - there's no need for fancy, mostly toxic, disinfectants.
   
   Note that boiling water might crack sinks, made of plastic materials.


2. If you're using all the natural cleaners, mentioned above and still have a feeling you need to disinfect some more, get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and once a week wipe your countertops, sinks and toilet with it.


3. Vodka in a spray bottle makes great fabric refresher for chairs and upholstery. Some people also use it on clothes, to diminish creases and refresh the fabric.

Here's the thing (as Mr. Monk would say) - only white vinegar can be used for cleaning purposes. If you want to go organic, use organic apple cider vinegar, otherwise white distilled vinegar works fine.

What it does:

• disinfects


• deodorizes


• eliminates mold and mildew

White vinegar - uses:

• Combine warm water with some white vinegar and a bit of liquid soap (like pure castille soap or Seventh Generation dish soap) to clean mirrors, glass, even floors.


• Combined with baking soda vinegar bubbles, which makes a great (and harmless) drain cleaner: Pou some baking soda down the drain, add apple cider vinegar, let bubble for 15 minutes and finally - rinse with hot water.


• Warm water with some vinegar alone makes an efficient window cleaner.

What it does:

• boosts laundry


• cleans laundry

Borax - uses:

• To make a paste for cleaning carpet stains mix 1 part of borax with 3 parts of water,


• For cleaning stainless steel and porcelain, mix 1 part of lemon juice with 3 parts of borax.


• Add a spoonful of borax to your laundry, especially whites. Note that borax might fade certain colors.

What it does:

• scrubs


• desinfects - salt was one of the earliest preservatives

Sea salt - uses:

• Cookware and oven surfaces can be cleaned effectively by rubbing salt on them.


• Salt combined with lemon juice is an effective rust remover.

Olive oil - uses:

• To make a natural wood polish, mix two parts of oilve oil with one part of lemon juice

Here's a simple way to make a natural, home-made laundry detergent - as the author of photography below (Spider-baby) recommends it:

1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
(I mix up about 6 cups at a time)

1/2 cup cleans a large load of laundry.

You can add in a few drops of castille soap to make it smell nice. I use peppermint.

Photo courtesy of Spider-baby

A drop of your favorite essential oil, added to any of the cleaning solutions, described above, will make your cleaning experience - aromatic, to say the least. :)

Besides making your house smelling naturally clean and herbal-fresh, certain essential oils (like lavender, peppermint and tea tree oil) also have antibacterial properties.