My basic cleaner is vinegar and water. I mix it up by the quart - 4 cups of water, 1 cup of vinegar. It cleans, well, just about everything. I use it on glass, chrome, mirrors, counters, the stove - everything.
To conquer soap scum, add 1/2 C kosher salt to the basic cleaner and mix to dissolve. Or spray on straight vinegar, let sit for a few minutes, and scrub clean. Or scrub with baking soda or kosher salt in hand, then clean with the basic cleaner. Some people have good results putting kosher salt on a cut lemon and scrubbing. Which works best seems to depend on how hard or soft your water is. Some experimenting may be in order. Keep in mind none of these will clean as quickly, with as little elbow grease as, say Scrubbing Bubbles. But they're A LOT better for the environment.
For the floor, dishes, and in the dishwasher, I use a mixture of 1 C borax, 1 C baking soda, and 1/4 C citric acid. Essential oils can be added for scent too but I'm not using any at the moment. About 2 T per wash cycle.
To clean out the dishwasher, I put baking soda in the detergent cup and fill the rinse cup (where Jet Dry or something similar would normally go) with vinegar. Heck, I use vinegar for the rinse all the time.
Oh, and non-gel toothpaste polishes silver beautifully.
3 comments:
I am also using my way through the end of my cleaners, and then we will be all natural too. I liked some of your ideas!
These are great ideas. I was looking for a natural cleaner for the dishwasher. I need to find some borax... and citric acid? Like lemon juice?
You can find citric acid in natural food stores. It needs to be the dried, powdered form for making a dry detergent. If a natural food store doesn't have it, try a homebrew/wine making shop. Citric acid is also used in alcohol production so they'll also have it in stock.
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