Green and Frugal Cleaners
Several weeks ago, I asked for suggestions of more natural household products that would help to reduce some of the more questionable toxic chemicals. There were great suggestions, and most seemed to center on the big 3 household cleaners: baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and vinegar, all common household ingredients and relatively frugal. I was aware of many of the uses for cleaning and deoderizing, but was not aware of the multi-tasking ability of all 3. As I’ve been reading more about each of these three products, I am learning of different uses in addition to cleaning. Here are some of uses that surprised me:
Baking Soda — mix with a bit of water to make a paste to relieve sunburn; remove garlic smell from your hands after prpareing dinner; make a paste for insect bites; add to laundry to remove oily stains better; add to omelets to make them fluffier.
Hydrogen peroxide — rinse cutting boards after cutting chicken to kill salmonella; use as a vegetable wash to kill bacteria; use on heavy stains before doing laundry; gargle (don’t swallow) as a mouth rinse, especially if you have a mouth injury or canker sore; spray houseplants with a diluted solution.
Vinegar – clean the microwave by microwaving until boiling a mixture of 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water; remove mineral deposits from tea kettles; add vinegar to water when boiling eggs for shells that don’t crack; remove collar stains by spraying with vinegar before washing; use as an ant repellent.
Do you use baking soda, peroxide or vinegar a lot. Have any unusual or often overlooked uses to share?
see other hints at Works for Me Wednesday
Soak your feet in vinegar and water to kill plantars warts. I know that’s gross, but it works – and it was the only thing that worked for me!
We use vinegar/water solution (I think 1:3 ratio) to clean nearly everything in our house – counters, floors, windows, etc. So far it’s worked great and we can rest easier knowing the fumes from store bought cleaners aren’t being sniffed by our toddler son.
I’ll have to try the baking soda after garlic thing – since I always seem to have that issue.
I use these ingredients for everything. I even make my own laundry soap. I use vinegar in place of fabric softener in the rinse cycle. It gives an extra deoderizing boost and virtually eliminates static cling. And there is no trace of a vinegar smell at the end of the wash cycle.
Great tips!
I like to put baking soda and vinegar down my drains to clean them!
Shannon, interesting, I have heard vinegar is good for calloused feet as well.
Kevin, the fumes and chemical toxicity has been one of my reasons for interest. Good to hear of your success.
Pam, great suggestions, I haven’t tried vinegar in the rinse.
Carol, interesting
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
Love the tip about peroxide to disinfect the cutting board!!! Thank you!
I use baking soda as a carpet deoderizer, too – just sprinkle all over the carpets, let stand for a while, and then vacuum! I wrote about baking soda here: http://runwatchplaywait.blogspot.com/2009/03/war-on-stink-i-baking-soda.html
And here are some other cheap cleaner recipes I use: http://runwatchplaywait.blogspot.com/2008/09/homemade-cleaners.html
I use vinegar and water in a spray bottle to clean my sons’ high chair tray.
I use a mix of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to clean my kitchen counters and sinks.
I use baking soda and vinegar to clean my shower.
Kristi and Multi-Tasking Mommy, thanks for the suggestions.
great tips. i’m not the one who does the cleaning in my house, but i’ll show this to my husband. hes my maid. HAHA
Jenny, gotta love that.
I wash my hair with vinegar. Click on my name for the details.
Another thing peroxide does wonderfully is cleaning tiny grooves, like where the steel sink meets the countertop. Pour it on and let it fizz 10 minutes or so, then wipe off. In addition to killing germs, it will bubble gunk out of the grooves.
Hi Becca, I have yet to try the vinegar, either as a shampoo substitute or a rinse, but I keep reading more about it.
I like the peroxide bubbling action as well, and soak all of the toothbrushes to kill bacteria and clean them out.
Thanks for commenting.
[...] items, look for reusable glass containers with matching lids. When cleaning the kitchen, opt for natural cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar. They both have so many [...]
I love making my own cleaning products, because it is so cheap and yet they can be so effective. These three listed are my top three products, probably, although I think a far overlooked product is using hand dishwashing liquid also, mixed into a solution with water. It can clean so many things, and as long as it is not antibacterial I consider it pretty green too.
Taylor, I am seeing a trend toward more and more homemade cleaning products.