what natural products can you find around the house that are useful in cleaning?

Question

i don't wish to use harsh chemicals anymore, i want to use natural, inexpensive items safe for people and my pets. i've heard of people using salt, olive oil, vinegar, chalk, and lemon juice....any tips or how-to's?

thank you all so much for your kind answers, good job.

Answer 1

Check out these video's that Gill Deacon had on her show about Green Cleaning. I think that will help you to find more of what your looking for because they demostrate it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8593797317403493239

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Try not to limit your options because you can find a lot on the web, books, tips and some there are quite a lot of freebies you can find on the web such as what I found here. Sometimes you have to try things out to see how they work if you are going to make them or buy them.

If you have trouble finding a lot of the ingredients then you may want to consider buying some of your cleaning products. Shop and compare because often you can find better deals out there then just going with the first ones you find. Also if you decide to buy then ask a lot of questions when you go into a health food store on what kinds of products are out there.

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Products you can make or get ideas about. (Some sites may require a subscription or newsletter. The one's I found are free subscriptions on www.care2.com. They have a lot of good helpful information on their site especially if you are an environmentalist.)

Basic Cleaning Products (Tips and using basic household items)
http://earthnotes.tripod.com/clnrecipes.htm

BASIC SUPPLIES
Baking Soda
Barkeeper's Friend®
Bon Ami®
Borax
Cornstarch
Lemon juice Liquid Vegetable-oil based soap
Mineral oil
Vegetable oil
Vinegar
Washing Soda

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More sites on basic cleanning tips of what to use.

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/5479.asp

http://www.cranberrylane.com/recipes-house.htm
http://mlmgorilla.com/bestnaturalcleaningproducts/

Just click on the title for cleaning products underlined in blue or on your left hand side you can click on the cleaning title.

Whole list of ideas here.
http://www.newdream.org/consumer/makecleaner.html

http://frugalliving.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=Make%20your%20own%20cleaning%20products&SUName=frugalliving&TopNode=3278&type=1

http://www.care2.com/channels/lifestyle/home
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/344

http://www.mrscleannw.com/tips/cleaning-products.html
http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/coamerica.htm
http://www.sideroad.com/Budgeting/homemade-cleaners.html

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You will find a number of products in health food stores, food co-ops, and maybe some grocery stores.

Products you can buy or healthy tips

http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm
http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/natural-cleaning-products.htm
http://healthy-home-cleaning-tips.com/
http://www.vanessasgift.com/
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=211&searchid=inceptor
http://www.naturescrib.com/natural-cleaning-products.html

Natural Cleaning Products
Heather Garrod - Co-Owner Planet Botanix
Vivian Dickie - Registered Massage Therapist
613.230.0222
www.planetbotanix.com/

Prevention Magazines list
http://find.prevention.com/vignette/pvn/searchresult.jsp

Cleaning Green
by author Carla Elm Clement
http://www.alive.com/1866a5a2.php

List of health/natural /co-op food stores in U.S. and Canada
http://www.greenpeople.org/healthfood.htm
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodcoops.htm

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There are also books out there on cleaning. If you don't wish to buy the book maybe you can find some copies in the library? You will most likely find one's in the health food store to be more on the natural side of things when it comes to cleaning.

Haley's Cleaning Hints by Graham Haley and Rosemary Haley (found this on the above title on another site.)
http://cleaning.hints.businesscorrect.com/sh.cfm?sq=Cleaning%20Hints

Consumer Reports How to Clean and Care for Practically Anything by The Editors of Consumer Reports

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-1218200-9466420?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=household+cleaning&Go.x=11&Go.y=6

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Another thing you may want to look into is forums that specialize on house cleaning. I would recommend a group especially if you are new to all of this because they have a lot of tips they will share and you can learn a lot.

Yahoo Groups
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/holistic_house/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/heavenlyhearthandhome/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CleanAndCrunchy/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/toxinsinthehouse/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cleaning_House/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HelpMeCleanMyHouse/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lets_clean/

MSN Groups
Try looking in the lifestyle, home or health section.
http://groups.msn.com/browse.msnw

Answer 2

There are alot of usage for different household items. Here is a good all purpose cleanser with no harsh chemicals.
1 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons liquid soap (or more)
2 teaspoons tea tree essential oils
1 teaspoon peppermint oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar (optional)
Measure the baking soda into a bowl with a tight fitting lid.
Add approximately 2 tablespoons of liquid soap (either regular dish washing soap or a natural brand of liquid soap such as liquid Castile soap).
Mix well to create a paste-like consistency. If you need more liquid soap to do this, add it a little at a time until the mixture is like a paste -- pliable but not soggy.
Once you have a consistency you feel like you can work with, add the essential oils and mix well again.
The addition of vinegar last helps to boost the cleaning power.
To use, scoop out a little of the cleanser and use a sponge or other cleaning tool to gently scrub your tub, shower and sink surfaces.
A little goes a long way and the antibacterial effect of tea tree gives you extra peace of mind.

Answer 3

It's called "Green Cleaning" these days and if you are looking for tips and hints that is the search term - here is some good information on using Vinegar, Lemons and Baking Soda: http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/a/vinbaklemons.htm. It is the tip of the iceberg - you can use scalding hot water to remove mold and salt to polish tile. Funny how little chemical we need to clean house the chemicals just reduce the time between cleaning. Good Luck!

Answer 4

indexed under are some issues i exploit... Hydrogen Peroxide... have you ever properly-known a well being center to sniff like bleach? you ought to use it as an all purpose cleanser. Showers Lemon ... decrease a sparkling lemon and 0.5 rub it on bathe partitions... Sprinkle Baking Soda and use a towel to rub the partitions. The lemon gets rid of cleansing soap scum whilst the Baking soda is a delicate abrasive... Wash down with Rubbing Alcohol... once you get a stable scrub and no residue is left and it tiles are dry use a turtle wax on the tiles and buff off.. this could help the water bead off the wall and you will no longer have the build up of cleansing soap scum and you will no longer would desire to bathe it as plenty you will nevertheless would desire to scrub it ... in spite of the undeniable fact that it won't take as long. be careful!!! do no longer positioned the wax on the tub it is amazingly VERY SLICK!!! loos... Couple of Efferdent fizzing pills... Denture cleansing pills.... flooring... Hydrogen peroxide... Urine... Carpet... Blot up extra urine... with paper towels or previous towel.. sprinkle baking soda and then spray with vinegar the fizzing brings the urine to the outdoors and then blot with towel... right here is a few ideas....

Answer 5

Vinegar and water. How about baking soda? There are some good web sites on the subject.

Answer 6

Have you tried things like Simple Green its all natural I had to switch to it for my sons health works great- also vinegar and lemon.

Answer 7

baking soda and white vinegar are great for cleaning ur sink pipes and either type of vinegar for the counters

Answer 8

lemon oil (spiders) clove oil (hard shelled insects)

get the book "speed cleaning" heaps of helpful natural ways to clean the house

Answer 9

My favs are:
baking soda
white vinegar
lemons
toothpaste
mineral water
there are many more