Your Home: Clean and Green
It's a familiar scene: smiling mommies liberally splashing brightly colored
liquids around their house. For every surface there is a special cleaner in
a new and improved plastic bottle. The mommies are rewarded with not
just a spotless home, but a sterile one.
If you watch daytime TV, you know that there are hundreds of products
available for home cleaning, all of them promising to deliver us from the
dangers of germs and filth with minimal efforts. From the fake happy
families living in these fake clean houses, one could easily conclude that
the neon mystery liquids in the fake mommy's arsenal are safe for use in
a human dwelling, but quite the opposite is true. Just read the back of
your favorite cleaner and you are sure to find admonishments not to let
the ingredients anywhere near your clothing, skin, lungs, children and
pets. Despite the promises to deliver us from the dangers of germs and
filth, almost all cleaning products are more dangerous than the messes
they promise to eliminate.
Then there are the specialty cleaners. For two or more times as much
money, they promise the same clean home without the danger. Yet a
glance at the ingredients reveals that many so-called safe cleaning
supplies have the same unsafe ingredients as their conventional
counterparts. The few truly green cleaners pack a price tag that would be
a strain on most family budgets.
We want our cleaning supplies to be safe for our planet and we need for
them to be safe for our families, but we can't afford to spend a fortune.
What is a sage mommy to do? The answer for many women is to make
their own.
If you don't know where to start, This is certainly not an exhaustive list; a
quick Google search or a trip to the library should provide you with
enough home cleaning recipes to sterilize every house on your
cul-de-sac.
General Living and Sleeping Areas: Cleaning in most areas of your
house can be narrowed down to dusting, polishing, carpet care, and
glass cleaning. For dusting, your best friend is a microfiber dusting cloth.
I bought mine for $2.99 at Target, but I'm told they can be found cheaper
at the dollar store. Because of microfiber's unique structure, you don't
need any dusting spray or dampening. Just a quick swipe and you're on
your way! For tougher messes, I just dampen the cloth a little.
Occasionally I polish with a little orange or lemon oil. Windows and
reflective surfaces are washed with vinegar and a piece of newspaper.
Carpets are usually cleaned with chemicals, but on the rare occasion I
need to spot clean, I work a little baking soda into the area with a broom.
Once it's in, spritz with a little vinegar. It will get a little foamy, which is
your cue to scrub with a cloth. I then let it dry and vacuum. So far this has
worked for every mess my children have been able to create on my light
colored carpet. As with all floor cleaners, remember to test on an
inconspicuous area.
Kitchens: Your kitchen is the germiest places in your home. It is actually
safer to eat off your bathroom floor than your kitchen counter. One of the
healthiest changes you can make is to switch to cleaning materials that
can be nonchemically sterilized, such as cloth. Sponges are ideal
breeding grounds for illness-causing germs. For this reason, I designate
cleaning rags every day for dishes, sinks and surfaces, and floors. My
surfaces, sinks, and floors are all cleaned with plain diluted vinegar--just
one part vinegar to five parts water in a spray bottle. If you want to be
fancy, you can add a little orange or melaleuca oil, but it's not necessary.
For messes that defy scrubbing, moist heat is often the answer. To clean
a crusty microwave, I squeeze half of a lemon into a bowl of water and
nuke it for 4 minutes. After the steam treatment, that baked-on nastiness
will wipe off effortlessly.
Bathrooms: How can such a small room require so much work? Most
bathrooms are comparatively tiny and used less frequently than the other
rooms of the house, yet there are more specialty cleaners for bathrooms
than any room of the house. I clean my bathrooms from least germy to
the most. First I clean counters, sinks, and surfaces with a clean cloth
and that diluted bottle of vinegar from the kitchen cleaning. I have a
special scrub brush for stuck on messes. Then I dampen the tub, sprinkle
baking soda over it, and work it in well with my scrub brush. Once it is well
scrubbed, I spray the tub and the entire stall with vinegar--the undiluted
kind I use on windows and glass. Once it is done foaming, I wipe it off and
rinse. If you do this once a week, you will never have a problem with hard
water deposits or mildew.
Toilets get swished with a toilet brush every day in my home, but I still like
to clean them well at least once a week. Again, I let the foamy chemical
reaction of baking soda and vinegar do my work for me. I splash about a
cup of full strength vinegar into the toilet and scrub well with a brush. I
then pour about half a cup of baking soda into the bowl. Once it is done
foaming, I swish once again with the brush and flush. The outside of the
toilet is cleaned with undiluted vinegar on a clean rag. Bathroom floors
are cleaned with diluted vinegar just like kitchen floors.
Laundry: (detergent, fabric softener, stain remover)
The only secret ingredient in storebought laundry detergents is the filler.
Without it, you can make a highly concentrated and much more
ecologically sound homemade detergent that cleans as well or better.
Here is the recipe I use:
1 cup grated bar soap (I used some we had saved from various hotels,
but any soap would do)
½ cup washing soda. NOT baking soda, although it is also made by Arm
and Hammer.
½ cup Borax.
Mix and store in a covered container. You need just one tablespoon per
load. You can read all about my experiences with it here.
For fabric softener, a splash of--you guessed it!--vinegar added during
the rinse cycle works better than any softener. Don't worry about the
smell; it dissipates before the cycle is done.
Shopping list:
Microfiber dusting cloth
A large jug of cheap, plain vinegar
Spray bottle (feel free to recycle an old one)
Baking soda
Borax
Washing soda
Optional:
Orange, lemon, or melaleuca (tea tree) oil
You should already have:
A broom
A mop
Cleaning cloths or rags
A toilet brush
A scrub brush
A few sheets of newspaper
Bar soap
The total for your Green Cleaning Starter Kit should come to less than
thirty dollars, and these supplies ought to last several months! With the
average family spending $85 on housekeeping supplies, your greener
lifestyle makes good economic sense as well.
liquids around their house. For every surface there is a special cleaner in
a new and improved plastic bottle. The mommies are rewarded with not
just a spotless home, but a sterile one.
If you watch daytime TV, you know that there are hundreds of products
available for home cleaning, all of them promising to deliver us from the
dangers of germs and filth with minimal efforts. From the fake happy
families living in these fake clean houses, one could easily conclude that
the neon mystery liquids in the fake mommy's arsenal are safe for use in
a human dwelling, but quite the opposite is true. Just read the back of
your favorite cleaner and you are sure to find admonishments not to let
the ingredients anywhere near your clothing, skin, lungs, children and
pets. Despite the promises to deliver us from the dangers of germs and
filth, almost all cleaning products are more dangerous than the messes
they promise to eliminate.
Then there are the specialty cleaners. For two or more times as much
money, they promise the same clean home without the danger. Yet a
glance at the ingredients reveals that many so-called safe cleaning
supplies have the same unsafe ingredients as their conventional
counterparts. The few truly green cleaners pack a price tag that would be
a strain on most family budgets.
We want our cleaning supplies to be safe for our planet and we need for
them to be safe for our families, but we can't afford to spend a fortune.
What is a sage mommy to do? The answer for many women is to make
their own.
If you don't know where to start, This is certainly not an exhaustive list; a
quick Google search or a trip to the library should provide you with
enough home cleaning recipes to sterilize every house on your
cul-de-sac.
General Living and Sleeping Areas: Cleaning in most areas of your
house can be narrowed down to dusting, polishing, carpet care, and
glass cleaning. For dusting, your best friend is a microfiber dusting cloth.
I bought mine for $2.99 at Target, but I'm told they can be found cheaper
at the dollar store. Because of microfiber's unique structure, you don't
need any dusting spray or dampening. Just a quick swipe and you're on
your way! For tougher messes, I just dampen the cloth a little.
Occasionally I polish with a little orange or lemon oil. Windows and
reflective surfaces are washed with vinegar and a piece of newspaper.
Carpets are usually cleaned with chemicals, but on the rare occasion I
need to spot clean, I work a little baking soda into the area with a broom.
Once it's in, spritz with a little vinegar. It will get a little foamy, which is
your cue to scrub with a cloth. I then let it dry and vacuum. So far this has
worked for every mess my children have been able to create on my light
colored carpet. As with all floor cleaners, remember to test on an
inconspicuous area.
Kitchens: Your kitchen is the germiest places in your home. It is actually
safer to eat off your bathroom floor than your kitchen counter. One of the
healthiest changes you can make is to switch to cleaning materials that
can be nonchemically sterilized, such as cloth. Sponges are ideal
breeding grounds for illness-causing germs. For this reason, I designate
cleaning rags every day for dishes, sinks and surfaces, and floors. My
surfaces, sinks, and floors are all cleaned with plain diluted vinegar--just
one part vinegar to five parts water in a spray bottle. If you want to be
fancy, you can add a little orange or melaleuca oil, but it's not necessary.
For messes that defy scrubbing, moist heat is often the answer. To clean
a crusty microwave, I squeeze half of a lemon into a bowl of water and
nuke it for 4 minutes. After the steam treatment, that baked-on nastiness
will wipe off effortlessly.
Bathrooms: How can such a small room require so much work? Most
bathrooms are comparatively tiny and used less frequently than the other
rooms of the house, yet there are more specialty cleaners for bathrooms
than any room of the house. I clean my bathrooms from least germy to
the most. First I clean counters, sinks, and surfaces with a clean cloth
and that diluted bottle of vinegar from the kitchen cleaning. I have a
special scrub brush for stuck on messes. Then I dampen the tub, sprinkle
baking soda over it, and work it in well with my scrub brush. Once it is well
scrubbed, I spray the tub and the entire stall with vinegar--the undiluted
kind I use on windows and glass. Once it is done foaming, I wipe it off and
rinse. If you do this once a week, you will never have a problem with hard
water deposits or mildew.
Toilets get swished with a toilet brush every day in my home, but I still like
to clean them well at least once a week. Again, I let the foamy chemical
reaction of baking soda and vinegar do my work for me. I splash about a
cup of full strength vinegar into the toilet and scrub well with a brush. I
then pour about half a cup of baking soda into the bowl. Once it is done
foaming, I swish once again with the brush and flush. The outside of the
toilet is cleaned with undiluted vinegar on a clean rag. Bathroom floors
are cleaned with diluted vinegar just like kitchen floors.
Laundry: (detergent, fabric softener, stain remover)
The only secret ingredient in storebought laundry detergents is the filler.
Without it, you can make a highly concentrated and much more
ecologically sound homemade detergent that cleans as well or better.
Here is the recipe I use:
1 cup grated bar soap (I used some we had saved from various hotels,
but any soap would do)
½ cup washing soda. NOT baking soda, although it is also made by Arm
and Hammer.
½ cup Borax.
Mix and store in a covered container. You need just one tablespoon per
load. You can read all about my experiences with it here.
For fabric softener, a splash of--you guessed it!--vinegar added during
the rinse cycle works better than any softener. Don't worry about the
smell; it dissipates before the cycle is done.
Shopping list:
Microfiber dusting cloth
A large jug of cheap, plain vinegar
Spray bottle (feel free to recycle an old one)
Baking soda
Borax
Washing soda
Optional:
Orange, lemon, or melaleuca (tea tree) oil
You should already have:
A broom
A mop
Cleaning cloths or rags
A toilet brush
A scrub brush
A few sheets of newspaper
Bar soap
The total for your Green Cleaning Starter Kit should come to less than
thirty dollars, and these supplies ought to last several months! With the
average family spending $85 on housekeeping supplies, your greener
lifestyle makes good economic sense as well.
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