Do-It-Yourself Cleaning Products

To Your Health

Do-It-Yourself Cleaning Products

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Are you sick of buying cleaning products and schlepping them home from the supermarket, or feeling ill from the smells of your bathroom disinfectant? Make your own cleaning solutions! When you consider that commercial, chemical-based products may take a toll on your long-term health and your wallet, homemade products present a good alternative. Reducing synthetic chemicals in your home may help alleviate symptoms of allergies, asthma, sinusitis, or bronchitis—health problems one third of the U.S. population suffers from.  The best way to control ingredients you’re exposed to is to make products yourself. It’s pretty easy, and you probably h ave a lot of them in your house. You may never go back to using commercial again!

Assembling your green cleaning products and ingredients with these tips from the Environmental Working Group.

• Glass containers: Get different sizes for mixing and dispensing the cleansers. I buy them from Amazon or at Wal-Mart, but local health food stores are also starting to stock them.
• Cleaning cloths: Steer away from using paper towels and try cellulose sponges instead. Twist, a company out of Boulder, Colo., makes ones from cellulose and cotton. Although not organic, they are far more “green” than plastic ones since they are biodegradable and compostable. Avoid sponges treated with anti-bacterial substances, most have been treated with the antibacterial/antifungal agent tr iclosan, an environmentally harmful pesticide whose residue has been found in rivers and streams. Bamboo “paper towels” are also great. They feel just like regular, but after you clean with them, throw the towels in the washing machine (skip the dryer) and they will last for quite a few uses. Also, rags make great cleaning cloths, especially men’s cotton T-shirts ripped or cut into 8-inch squares.
• Tea tree oil: This wonderful naturally occurring antibacterial product has a myriad of uses. I keep a tiny vial of it with me all the time--for a quick sore throat aid, to soothe a burn, or clean a cut.
• Distilled vinegar: This is a great cleaner and disinfectant--and really inexpensive!
• Baking Soda: This is perhaps the best natural odor-neutralizer. Your mother probably kept an opened box in her refrigerator to prevent bad smells from food.
• Borax: Also known as sodi um borate, this natural alkaline mineral that works as an abrasive cleaner, much like baking soda. You can get it in the laundry detergent aisle of the supermarket.
• Olive oil: This oil makes a great polish for wood products.
• Salt: Use it as an abrasive, good for getting tough gritty stains out of clothes.
• Saponin: This Is also known as soap nuts. It’s a popular environmentally friendly alternative to chemical detergent, and a gentle option for those with allergies.  The nuts can be used several times and then composted afterwards. Put a few in a cotton bag, throw it into the washing machine and viola, your whole load of laundry is not only cleaned, but may turn out fluffier and softer than using regular detergent. Weiss and Shields claim one bag of nuts can be used for up to 10 washings before throwing away. We think they’re a great option for hand-washing.
• Or ange or lemon essential oils: Add these to your homemade cleaning solutions for that citrusy fragrance many people have come to associate with “clean.”
• Beeswax: Beeswax candles act as natural air purifiers.

Try one of these DIY cleaning product recipes:

(Reprinted with permission from the Environmental Working Group.)

Glass Cleaner

2 tsp of white vinegar

1 quart of water

Mix and dispense in spray bottle. Spray it on, crumple up some newspaper and wipe windows.

(*Note: Don’t clean windows on sunny day or streaks will show).

 

Bathroom Disinfectant and Tile Cleaner

(Not for marble or granite-lemon will strip the surface)

Half a lemon

½ cup of borax

Dip the lemon into the borax and scrub the surface with the lemon. Rinse with water.

 

Kitchen Floor and Counter top Cleaner

(Not for marble or granite)

This solution is really great in the winter when germs from colds are rampant.

1 oz white vinegar

10 drops tea tree oil

1 quart water

4 drops essential lemon oil (optional)

Mix all ingredients in spray bottle and spray on surface. Mop or wipe down. No need to rinse.

 

Kitchen Floor and Countertop Cleaner 

(For marble and granite)

4 Tbs baking soda

1 quart warm water

Dab scrubbing sponge or mop into solution and wipe or scrub surface. Rinse with fresh water.

For stubborn stains, use baking soda directly on damp sponge and wipe.

 

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