Eco-Friendly and Money-Saving Cleaning Tips
For many cleaning jobs you need to look no further than your kitchen cupboards. If you’ve got a box of baking soda, a bottle of vinegar and a lemon, you’ve got what you need to clean most of your house.
Baking Soda:
Baking soda is nontoxic, earth-friendly, multi-purpose and cheap. A few ideas to keep your home baking soda fresh include:
* Sprinkle onto carpets and rugs, let sit for 15 minutes then vacuum away dirt and odors.
* Add 1/4 cup to a load of laundry to help remove grease and freshen clothes.
* Sprinkle in the sink and bathtub, make a paste with water and use as a safe, gentle scouring powder.
* Spill some grease during cooking? Put a bit of baking soda on the mess, rub with a dry cloth and rinse with water.
* Buy in bulk.
Vinegar:
White distilled vinegar kills mold, bacteria and germs and is a great way to avoid using harsh chemicals.
* Before you step in the shower and turn on the water, spray the shower door with full-strength vinegar to help ensure hard water deposits won’t stick to glass.
* Clean grout by letting full-strength vinegar sit on it for a few minutes then scrub with an old toothbrush.
* Clean your drain safely using 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup hot vinegar. Pour both down the drain, let foam for five minutes and flush with hot water.
* Clean your microwave by bringing 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water to a boil inside (remember to use a microwave safe bowl). Anything inside will just wipe clean.
Lemons:
The acid in lemon juice makes a great (and good smelling) bleach alternative.
* Remove stains from a countertop by allowing lemon juice to sit on the stain for five minutes. Scrub with baking soda and watch the stain disappear.
* Stain on a white T-shirt? Squeeze some lemon juice onto the stain, let the garment dry in the sun and the stain will be bleached away.
* Add a few lemon peels to the garbage disposal and run it with hot water for the freshest smelling drain you’ve ever had.
For jobs where you need to purchase cleaning products, like dish washing detergent, look for products that are safe for your family and the planet.
With a little ingenuity, consideration for the planet and a bit of elbow grease, it’s possible to save a great deal of money and get rid of the other types of grease that invade your home.
The Author:
Wave 2X Ultra High Performance Auto Dishwashing Gel is plant-based, which means it’s safe. It’s concentrated, so you use half as much as other dishwashing liquids and also includes a built-in rinse aid eliminating the need for an additional product. For more information visit www.ecos.com.
Photo. Mira Cosic
Wooden Deck Cleaning
Here’s a tip that I found to work so good, I tell everyone to clean their decks this way. Its like magic.
Ingredients: Pure bleach.
Yep, thats right, try it on plain old weathered wood,just spray it on with a sprayer and see the magic before your eyes. With all the products out there for decks,that don’t work, I found bleach to be the only thing that you could see a difference in the wood after cleaning.
Furthermore, you don’t even have to scrub the wood. Magically it cleans on contact and seems not to harm the wood that I can see.
Thank you for sharing your deck cleaning solution.
I use hydrogen peroxide on “protein” stains (grass, blood, hairballs from cats). I keep a small spray bottle full and use it full strength when I must clean up after a hairball (such a pleasant experience). I clean as much as possible with paper towels, throw it away then saturate the stain with peroxide, let it sit for several minutes then blot with a thirsty cleaning towel with pressure. For larger stains where it’s soaked deeper into the carpet it may take a second cleaning. I’ve even forgotten to come back and blot after soaking, and the stain was gone.
Peroxide is so inexpensive … hope this will be helpful.
Using hydrogen peroxide to remove protein stains is a great eco-friendly and cost-effective option. It’s good to know that it has worked well for you and can be beneficial for others dealing with similar stains. Remember to always test it on a small, inconspicuous area first to ensure it doesn’t cause any damage or discoloration.
Cutting down on paper towels is necessary for the environment, but of course we use them because they’re so handy. When I clean the kitchen appliances with Windex, etc. with paper towels, instead of tossing them in the trash, I place them in a bag that’s under my bathroom sink. I reuse these to clean the toilets, floor, etc. Saves a lot of paper towels. And since it’s only from cleaning kitchen appliances, they are safe for cleaning toilets.
Reusing paper towels is a clever way to reduce waste and save money. However, keep in mind that paper towels are not the most environmentally friendly option. Consider using reusable cleaning cloths or microfiber towels instead, as they can be washed and used repeatedly.
Chewing Gum Remover – I have tried peanut butter to remove chewing gum from my daughter’s hair. Just massage into hair and it will break up the gum. It is a bit messy to wash out but removes the gum quickly!
Using peanut butter to remove chewing gum from hair can be helpful, thank you for sharing.
Peanut Butter Chewing Gum Remover – After using peanut butter to remove gum from your child’s hair always apply shampoo directly to the spot, and work it in, BEFORE adding water. Oil and water don’t mix and it will take forever to get it out. I learned this one the hard way!
Adding shampoo before water when removing peanut butter from hair is a helpful tip for ensuring a more effective clean-up. Thanks for sharing this additional step to make the process easier and avoid any lingering residue.
Spots On Carpet – Use plain club soda! I learned this from a co-worker years ago when she used it to remove “White Out” (the original) from brown carpeting in our office. I could hardly believe what I was seeing! I’ve kept club soda around ever since that time and have found it to remove everything my family has managed to spill and/or grind into our light beige carpeting.
Club soda is indeed a versatile and effective cleaner for removing a variety of stains on carpets. It’s great to hear that it has worked well for you in the past. Just make sure to blot the stain gently and avoid scrubbing vigorously to prevent any potential damage to the carpet fibers.
Disinfectant – I think that you will find that vinegar alone or with some water is the best cleaner for most things. It is also the best disinfectant according to tests done by CBS for Erma Bombeck (I think but am not positive).
Vinegar can be a great all-natural cleaning solution and disinfectant. It is an eco-friendly alternative to many commercial cleaning products. However, it’s always good practice to test it on a small area first, especially on delicate surfaces, to ensure it doesn’t cause any damage or discoloration.
Air Freshener
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups water
Put ingredients in a spray bottle, shake well. Spray around the home. Freshens the air, eliminates odors and acts as an antibacterial.
Great tip! Using natural ingredients like baking soda and lemon juice not only helps freshen the air but also eliminates odors. Plus, the antibacterial properties make it a great eco-friendly option.
How to Clean Artificial Flowers: Put a cup of salt into a paper bag, add the flowers then shake them around for a few seconds. Remove flowers from the bag, shake off salt.
This tip is genius! Cleaning artificial flowers with salt is an easy and cost-effective solution. It helps remove dust and keeps them looking fresh. Definitely going to give this a try.
How to Clean Soft Leather Furniture: Wipe a bar of regular facial soap on a clean wet rag until its soapy. Then wipe furniture down. You might have to keep resoaping the furniture. Keep cleaning until its clean, give it a final rinse off with another clean wet rag, wipe the suds off.
Thanks for sharing this method! Cleaning soft leather furniture with soap can be a gentle yet effective way to keep it clean. Just remember to rinse it off properly to avoid leaving any soapy residue behind.
I just read about saving cost of S.O.S Pads by cutting them in half. Good Idea! What I do is after every use I put them in a plastic bag and toss them into the freezer. No rust. Just pull them out frozen use them and then toss them back into the freezer.
Cutting S.O.S Pads in half is a fantastic money-saving idea, and storing them in the freezer to prevent rust is a great tip too! It’s all about making the most out of our cleaning supplies and finding ways to make them last longer. Thanks for sharing!