Need Natural Cleaning Ideas/Recipes

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February 08, 2012, 10:24:40 AM

babies, babies everywhere!!! no news today.

8545 Posts in 1170 Topics by 17633 Members
Latest Member: knodiaunloari

DH thinks it's stupid to buy more expensive brands of "all natural" cleaning products. But, he also hates the smell of a homemade vinegar solution I used once (half vinegar, half water) to clean countertops, windows & mirrors. I'd really like to move away from typical chemical-based cleaning products bought in the store. So, I thought I'd ask here what things you do to clean naturally w/o buying things at the store, that don't smell like vinegar. I know you can also use baking soda, lemon, etc...but I can never figure out how much of these things to use for my particular needs. I'm wondering if anyone here could share w/ me their exact cleaning "recipes". Here's what I need:

--solution to wipe clean/disinfect kitchen countertops & stovetop
--wood furniture cleaner/polish
--window & mirror cleaner
--bathroom porcelin tub/sink cleaner (to scrub out hard water stains & grime)
--toilet bowl cleaner...including something that works great on hard water stains and mold
--general floor cleaner for mopping
--carpet cleaner for stains & for warm-water carpet machine

TIA!!!

solution to wipe clean/disinfect kitchen countertops & stovetop
To clean the kitchen just warm soapy water on a cloth is very effective. We don't use disinfectants at all because they are strongly linked to asthma and other immune disfunction problems. Bugs are good for all of our immune systems, particularly kids.

wood furniture cleaner/polish
If it is sealed then it can be cleaned with a damp cloth and polished with a dry cloth
If unsealed then clean with a damp cloth and you can protect/polish with any natural timber oil

window & mirror cleaner
By far the best window/mirror/glass cleaner I have ever used is wet and dry newspaper. Just get a sheet of newspaper and wet it just enough to get it damp, clean the glass and before it dries use a piece of dry, crumpled newspaper to get rid of any smears. The result is windows that are so clean you could accidentally walk through them and mirrors that look like the room just continues. The only negative is that your fingers tend to get a bit black from the newspaper print if you are cleaning lots of glass.

bathroom porcelain tub/sink cleaner (to scrub out hard water stains & grime)
The best cleaner (including nasty chemical cleaners) if used properly is bicarb and a cloth.
The right way - use lots of bicarb with a cloth on a fairly dry surface. You need almost no water. I am not actually sure you need water, there just always seems to be a little water left in the bath and sink. If you find you have to scrub really hard then there is too much water. I find that it will fairly easily remove the grime with only a little scrubbing.
If that does not work, try a bit of vinegar.
Oh, and if you are getting hard water marks, think of what it is doing to your body. When water is hot (ie when having a shower) the chemicals such as chlorine used in water treatment are vaporised and we inhale them. Water filters are great and you can get them for showers as well. It will reduce the flow a little, but that only helps to save water anyway.

toilet bowl cleaner...including something that works great on hard water stains and mold
Wow. don't let it get that far! The key to a clean toilet is a bit of frequent scrubbing with the brush. A little scrub with the brush (no cleaning agent necessary) every day or so keeps the toilet quite clean.

general floor cleaner for mopping
We don't have carpet so there is a lot of tiled floor are to keep clean. We just use water. Where it is particularly dirty we sometimes use apple cider vinegar if needed.

carpet cleaner for stains & for warm-water carpet machine
I don't know because we don't have carpets - stains add character!

A good site that talks about natural household cleaners is http://www.xemdar.com/safeproducts.html

Thanks for the ideas!

As far as the moldy toilet, it's in our guest bathroom. I think what happened was that at some point the toilet was used and got clogged by a guest (but we didn't know it for a few days since we don't use that bathroom) and then caused mold. And, now, it gets a bit moldy from time to time where the hard water spots usually are.

As far as hard water, it's not from chlorine. It's from the limestone that naturally occurs in this area (I live in Indiana, next to an old quarry...we're famous for our stone. Buildings like the Pentagon are made out of it). Limestone easily dissolves in water and causes "hard water" b/c there's calcium carbonate in there. When the water dries, tiny bits of the minerals are left in the tub. Many people here have water softeners to remove or dissolve the minerals further, but we haven't gotten there yet. They're a bit pricey, so one of these days we will get one. But, not at the moment. So, I really do need a cleaner that removes "limescale" and "soapscum".

with the bicarb i always have the cloth a teensy bit wet and use tons of the bicarb. I'd be interested to see if it works on the lime, i'd say theres a good cahnce it will. for carpet stains maybe try soda water, i heard it is great for other stains.

We have hard water too, and vinegar will do the trick on those tough stains, but it takes a lot over a lot of time to disolve all the crusties. My mom says if your dh really can't stand the smell of vinegar, you can use lemon juice. I'm not sure i buy that, sometimes she's full of it. I've always used vinegar and water on the floor, but not even close to half and half. Just a glug of vinegar in the whole bucket.

hmmm...Adrienne...maybe that's my problem...maybe I'm putting too much vinegar in compared to water. I'll try it w/ less vinegar to see if it's any better for a few things.

I think I will try the bicarb option first for the general tub, then work w/ vinegar or lemon juice (good idea) for the major hard water stuff. It's worth a try.

Try a micro fiber towel. I can clean most of the kitchen and bathroom with these with just water. They work great. They can also clean glass with just water, and then you just dry it with a dry one. Of course they don't disenfect, but they work great for everything else.

just one question, i also used bi carb for a lot of cleaning ect... but never could find it in anything smaller than a tiny box (which buy the way if kept in front of the vent in your refrigerator will kill all bad smells ... and it works) which we went through so quickly, can you buy it in a bigger package?

i used a store bought natural cleaning vinegar,it worked fantastically and the smell wasnt to potent we used this on our floors s ive always had floor boards which i spose are different to tiles and i have always felt they need something other than water.

sars

Sam's Club or Costco sell Arm & Harmer in big boxes (not sure of the exact size).

For a larger quantity of bicarb soda, you could look at getting buffer from a pool supplies shop.
The last bucket that DH got he said was about $20 for 10 kg.

Mostly I just use microfibre cloths and water for cleaning in the kitchen and bathroom. I brush out the toilet bowl every morning and it is easy to keep it clean.

DH also doesn't like the smell of vinegar. I use it as a rinse in my hair (don't use commercial shampoo or conditioner) and he never notices as long as I do it an hour or so before he is in close proximity :-)

Regards
Marnie

I just yesterday tried baking soda on the shower in my parents' room. Let me tell you, it worked WAY better than any other cleaning product I've tried. It took me a bit longer than I usually spend on that job, but I think it was because I was having so much fun actually getting stuff clean for the first time.
Should have done that years ago, thanks ladies! baboon

That's great!

Love to hear about such fun.

I"m so sorry Tristan!! Embarrassed

I keep forgetting we're not all "ladies" on this site. My bad.

I also tried the bicarb (forgot to update y'all) and thought it worked awesome on the tub as well!

I use those microfibre mitts (supermarket ones, not the really expensive ones) and find them great. Actually, often I couldn't be bothered and find I rarely need anything in day-to-day clean up other than water and a cloth. If it gets a little worse I use the microfibre things. I mop the floor with a microfibre mop and plain water and find it great. I keep a scrubbing brush in the shower, and every now when I want an excuse to stay in the shower for a while I give it a scrub. While brushing my teeth I wipe over the basin area with a washer that is sitting there from bathtime and then I chuck it into the wash.

I then supplement this with purchase of a really enviro friendly and concentrated (so one bottle lasts me yrs) disinfectant and I buy enviro friendly laundry detergent. I use to make my laundry detergent but decided this worked better for me.

Fiona