I know that highly scented cleaning fluids smell good to some people, but to me, they wreak of chemicals. I have a hard time breathing around them, plus I can taste them for hours after using them.
Since I have small children and pets in the house, it makes me extremely nervous to clean any surface with chemicals. All those store-bought cleaning solutions have warning labels stating that you should call poison control if ingested. Yikes!
Instead, I use the cleaning tricks our grandparents used. I can clean my whole house with items from the pantry and fridge. Here are some of my extremely simple solutions to our toughest cleaning challenges.
1. White vinegar makes a much better all purpose cleaner than bleach, simply because my skin will come to no harm in it's use and I don't have to run out of the house like I just set off a bug bomb after mopping. Mix a half cup of vinegar into a bucket of warm water and get to scrubbing! If you're working on a surface that doesn't streak easily, you can add a couple tablespoons of baking soda for extra cleaning power (think elementary science fair volcano). However, make sure you don't cover that mixture. You can add a few drops of dish washing liquid for especially greasy messes.
2. Half a grapefruit sprinkled with table salt sounds like breakfast to some, but it equals cleaning the shower and bath tub at my house. You simply cut a grapefruit in half (avoid pink because it can stain some surfaces), sprinkle the fruit side with salt, and scrub away and rinse. My bathroom smells delicious afterwards! You can also use a large lemon or lime, but oranges have too much sugar in them. The exposed peel makes an fabulously gentle scrubber, a little like a Magic Eraser but with out the potentially skin-damaging chemicals. Plus, I just toss it in the compost pile when I'm done. Lemon is also great for polishing up water fixtures and stainless steel sinks, and cleaning the garbage disposal (simply stick half a lemon in, turn it on, and eliminate unpleasant smells and build-up).
3. Microfiber towels are amazing. You can dust with them, chemical free. You can wash windows with two of them (one wet, one dry). Just scrub the window down with the wet one, then dry with the other. I attach washcloth-sized microfiber towels to my name brand dust mop instead of their disposable cloths. They are a little more expensive than cheap-o dish rags, but not by much. Microfiber is also great for cleaning stainless steel and electronics. Make sure you don't use fabric softener when washing microfiber towels, though. They loose their absorbency if you do.
4. To polish wood and clean cabinets, use a cup of lemon juice, a tablespoon of both olive oil and warm water mixed together. Wipe it on, wait a few minutes, then buff the surface. How easy is that? Your coffee table doesn't even care if the lemon juice isn't organic or if the olive oil isn't top notch.
5. If you're concerned about mold and bacteria, you might consider investing in some tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant and a cure-all in our family (great for acne, owwies, canker sores, and thrush in infants). Add a few drops to some warm water and wipe down surfaces to assure they are germ free. It is fairly accessible (we buy ours at Wal-Mart), and you use so little at a time that it is still very affordable. I'll warn you that it smells VERY strong. I find the scent energizing and invigorating, though, which is great for cleaning. Eucalyptus is another great essential oil for household disinfecting, though it's a little harder to find.
Aside from keeping dangerous chemicals out of your house, these tactics eliminate a TON of packaging waste. They also don't require much more effort than traditional cleaning products, which is great for busy families.
Do you use any other all-natural cleaning solutions in your house? Please share!
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