Cleaning Green!
 

Some recipes for household cleaning products:

ORANGE WALL CLEANER

1 cup water
½ cup vinegar
6 drops of orange essential oil

Instructions

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before use. Simply spray on wall surface and wipe with a damp
sponge.

This recipe is mild for routine cleaning of wall surfaces.

MIRROR, WINDOW, AND FAUCET CLEANER

1 ½ cups vinegar
½ cup water
10 drops lemon or orange essential oil

Instructions
Combine in a spray bottle. Shake gently before each use. Spray solution and wipe with paper towel or
other dry cloth. This solution cleans as well as minimizes mirror fogging.

FLOOR CLEANER

1 gallon hot water
2 tablespoons liquid Castile soap
15 drops orange essential oil
10 drops lemon essential oil or 1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions

Blend all ingredients in mop bucket. Mop floor as usual.
No need to rinse!

Cleaning silverware

This trick works like magic.

Aluminum foil
Baking soda
Salt
Very hot water (can be boiling if you like)
Combine the above ingredients in a clean kitchen sink. Put your tarnished silver and silver-plated items
into the sink and let set for a few minutes. Watch as the tarnish disappears from the silverware and
reappears on the foil. This is a natural chemical reaction, and a great way to teach the kids some
science!

Note: This trick works so well that it will clean out the nooks and crannies that give some silverware the
"aged" look, so you may only want to do this occasionally.

More ideas
 

AIR FRESHENER
Most commercial air fresheners are expensive and mask the smell rather than remove it. This cheap, effective, homemade method is a great alternative.
-- Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda,
-- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and
-- 2 cups of water in a bowl.
Wait for the fizz to subside, then stir well and pour into a spray bottle. Spray into the air. The baking soda neutralizes acid odor and vinegar neutralizes alkaline odor.

Homemade duster
You can make unbeatable dust cloths at home by stirring together one cup of lemon oil with two cups of hot water. Dip lint free cloths into the potion and let them air-dry. Then store the dusters in a covered metal container until you're ready to dust. The oil picks up the dust and the lemon gives your dusting a pleasant fresh aroma.

Shoe cleaning
A quick way to put a beautiful shine on your shoes (and plant leaves) is by rubbing them with the inside of a banana skin on black shoes or the pithy side of a lemon on brown shoes.

Cleaning a mirror
Dip a soft cloth in a weak solution of vinegar and water, then wipe the mirror clean. This works better than commercial spray cleaners, which can leave a film or deposit. Use coffee filters to dry the glass surfaces and mirrors after wiping. They make the surface shine but don't leave any lint behind.

These tips are from the hit British TV show How Clean Is Your House?, which is due to premiere this fall in America on LIFETIME Television. Kim and Aggie invade America’s dirtiest dwellings and find themselves in the sloppiest fraternity house, the messiest college grads’ apartment and the most disorganised family home. Homeowners will have to surrender their households to the cleaning mavens who will attempt to transform the grimiest homes in the country into spotless abodes. Once the transformation has taken place, the participants will be challenged to keep up their tidy space because the “Dream Team of Clean” will be paying a surprise visit weeks later for an inspection.
For a sneak preview http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/clean/index.html

Everything for the kitchen sink!
 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup baking soda
1/8 cup vinegar
5 drops lemon essential oil
5 drops orange oil essential oil

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

Apply to kitchen sink with a soft cloth and put some elbow grease into it! :lol:

Rinse thoroughly with warm water and dry with a paper towel or tea towel if you prefer. Leaves you with a nice shiny sink and a sweet smelling drain :)

More homemade cleaners
 

Spray cleaner
In a plant spray bottle mix 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water.
Shake before using.

Good for cleaning kitchen counters, backsplashes and lightly soiled range surfaces and refridgerator doors. Can also be used as window cleaner. :)

Homemade glass cleaner

1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tbsp white vinegar

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle. For use as a window and glass surface cleaner.

Thought this might be more appropriate in this forum :)

Anyone have any other green recipes to share?

I will have to have DH give me his recipes for plant food and ant repellent. He got them from a guy whose name escapes me but he rights tons of books and has a magazine all about using household items instead of chemicals for anything and everything.

There is one that reccomends using toothpaste to remove stains from your countertops - I have done this and it works pretty well - takes a bit of scrubbing but it will take out juice stains.

Most of the things used are whiskey, coffee grounds, dish soap (dawn) and cayenne pepper. He also uses epsom salts and liquid hydrogen (peroxide).

I will keep an eye open for the book - probably in a box somewhere.

Put vinegar and baking soda in your drains periodically. It keeps them clear.
This isnt' completely green but it is far better than the commercial products on the market. Make a paste of bleach and baking soda and put it on moldy grout. Let it sit awhile and wipe it off. Most if not all the mold will be gone.
To get onion smell off your hands, use a piece of silverware like soap and wash your hands under the faucet. The onion essence leaches to the silver and voila! your hands are scentfree.

Eucalyptus and Tea Tree essential oils are very good for general household disinfecting, diluted with water in a spray bottle. They're good against bacteria and viruses which is especially great coming into flu season.

This thread is making me want to go home and clean house :)

Cinnimon and Cayanne and Ants do not agree. The spices burn their little feet and they can't cross over the line. I sprinkle it in the places where they try to come out of the wall. I did it once in my bathroom when they would raid our laundry - why i don't get it but ew... one time and they stayed away for three years. it was like they remembered it or something.

I use vinegar diluted with some water for almost all my cleaning needs. I haven't found anything that it can't do...

If I could throw in my two cents.... It's not exactly a natural thing to use, but I think it's considered green because there are no chemicals: the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. If all else fails when I'm trying to clean something, I turn to the Magic Eraser and it's gone in seconds. My latest discovery is soap scum in the tub. I've tried vinegar, baking soda, normal cleaners, super cleaners (that tell you not to breathe while using them!), everything. Then one day I used the Magic Eraser and it was gone! How does that thing work? I love it.

Hey, magic really can be practical!

Cindy

Here's the recipe from my wonderful cleaning woman, Gail, who has a new real job, dammit!

Gail Glow
a bottle of rubbing alcohol
equal amount of water
the same amount of white vinegar
a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent.

Gail used this for all cleaning including windows. It even works in the wet Swiffer. You just need to make a hole in the plastic refill container, pour in the Glow and close it with a cork.

Thanks Tani! I was trying to figure out a way to clean kitchen and bath surfaces while disinfecting but not using commercial chemicals. :)

Bumping up!

that thing is INCREDIBLE on the tub, I tried chemicals, a steamer, good old fashioned scrubbing til my hands about fell off, and then tried the Magic Eraser to get the dirt out of the "pores" of the bathtub floor texture. Viola..... it is clean.

You could try making ironing water. You just use 3 cups of distilled water, 3 ounces of ethyl alcohol (you can substitute vodka for this!) and 15-30 drops of favorite essential oil. Lavender, jasmine and bergamot are all lovely. Mix ingredients into a spritzer bottle and shake well before using. Just mist clean laundry as you iron. You can also use this as a room fresher or to spray on your bedlinens, curtains, area rugs or sofas (think homemeade Febreze, really). A friend of mine also suggests using spearmint essential oil in the mix and using it to cool yourself off on hot days by dabbing the back of your neck, knees and temples.

Merry Meet everyone!
My favorite room freshner/body mist for the summer is a simple one. Fill a small spray bottle with water and add 4-8 drops of peppermint oil. It makes the room smell very fresh and on a hot day it is wonderfully cooling!

That room spray sounds like a great idea! I don't like commercial air freshners as they seem to go down my throat and make me cough - :p

Does anyone have a good carpet cleaning recipe? I've been using vinegar and water for small spots, but I have a large spot near the patio door and I don't know if vinegar and water is going to do the trick......

Here is a good site if anyone is interested. They carry green living products. I am not affiliated with them in anyway other than the fact that I found some of their stuff at a local store that promotes green living and natural foods and I have been using it to clean with instead of chemical cleaners.

www.seventhgeneration.com

What a great idea...........in fact I am surprised with all the natural cleaners I can use..........thanks a lot.....

Does anyone have the recipe for window cleaner that uses liquid fabric softner and corn starch?

I need to try that peppermint spray! and yes, seventh generation is a wonderful company

Well, I am 2 years late for this thread, but I only clean green and have the trick for carpets. You see I have two Scotties who will pee on my floor when they're mad at me for putting them off the bed or couch, or whatever. Temperamental little beasties! Aaaanyway...

Caldera soap is wonderful for cleaning carpets. I mean a-maz-ing. I've used several combinations they have, but the Green Tea Patchouli really seems to work best. First I mix a pretty strong 1 part soap to 6 parts hot water, and put that on the stain. This stuff is really concentrated, and lasts me a long time. After that sits for a bit I blot it up and use my carpet cleaner. I use a lighter solution for the machine. Just a spalsh of soap in the well and fill to the line with hot water. After I've cleaned the carpets I go over them again for a rinse with plain hot water. That keeps them from looking dirty again so fast. My carpet is 10 years old, and shows absolutely no evidence that we even have pets.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I really don't have to do this very often. Also, I've found the real trick to a clean carpet is to vacuum & use your machines very slowly, so the suction really has a fair chance to grab the little dirt.

Lemon-Bomb Your Microwave
 

In my neighborhood there are tons of lemon trees so we are always thinking of new things to do with them!

If you slice up a lemon and put it in a casserole dish of water and microwave on "high" for 5 minutes (or until boiling....) then set the timer for an additional 5 resting minutes, when you open the door all the crusty stuff your kids keep ignoring will come right off, along with the stale micro-smell.

Then you can use the cooled-down water to wipe down the outside of the micro & the countertops, fridge etc.

Then you can rub some lemon slices on your sink to make it whiter....then put the cooked lemons down the garbage disposal to freshen it up.

I have allergies to most cleaners, so I use vinegar and baking soda to clean almost everything. Did you know you can clean drains with baking soda and vinegar? Works better than chemical treatments.