Now that I have given away many of my cleaners, and I am starting to run out of others, I have been doing some research on green cleaners and other homemade cleaners. From this research I realized we have all of the basic ingredients required to make almost all cleaners from flooring, countertops, dishes and laundry. Specifically, I am running almost out of laundry detergent so I am going to ask for your favorite recipes. I want to go through everything we have in our cupboard to see what specifically they do to keep our house clean.
White Vinegar dissolves dirt, soap scum, and hard water deposits from smooth surfaces. White vinegar neutralizes odors, commonly known to cover-up pet odors. The smell of vinegar disappears when it dries. It also makes a great fabric softener substitute for people who have skin allergies. I personally get sinus headaches when I am around a lot of fragrance.
Baking Soda has abrasive and natural deodorizing properties <that> make it a powerful replacement for harsh commercial scouring powders. I use this sometimes if the composter gets a little smelly; works wonderfully.
Rubbing Alcohol provides the base for an evaporating cleaner to rival commercial window and glass cleaning solutions. I also hear to use newspaper to dry, this creates less streaks and also you can recycle afterwards.
Lemon Juice: acts as a natural bleaching agent. Put lemon juice onto white linens and clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. Stains will be bleached away. This also helps reduce the vinegar smell some people may not like. Most people associate the lemon smell with cleaning products. Lemon juice also cleans copper pots or fixtures.
Borax cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens water, cleans wallpaper, painted walls and floors. I have tried using this product in a dishwashing detergent, and many of my dishes came out with a chalky residue on them. I may be doing more research on this recipe.
So many of these ingredients we have use to cook with, clean wounds or deodorize our homes before way before we started using them as cleaner replacements. If our grandparents have been using these ingredients for cleaning way back before we got chemicals added to our cleaners, they must be the healthiest and less toxic form of cleaners around. If you have any great cleaner recipes, especially laundry soap, please share them in the comments section below.
