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Green Cleaning

So, why should you switch to "Green Cleaning?"

Do your health a favour. Traditional commercial cleaners are not required by law to publicize their ingredients. This means that you have no idea what you are spraying onto surfaces, coating your upholstery with or spritzing into the air. Worse than that, there is no way of knowing how the chemicals in all of these different substances react with one another, or what this does to the air quality in your home. 

Do your wallet a favour. Most basic household cleaners can be made with ingredients you may already have in your kitchen, such as vinegar, baking soda and...water!  Ingredients are cheap, and though these cleaners may take a little more "elbow grease" than commercial versions, they will get your home just as clean! Lemon juice and vinegar, for example, are natural disinfectants!

Do the Earth a favour. Making the switch will help to reduce your household waste by eliminating many of the plastic squeeze bottles and other packaging that comes with them. You will also be reducing the toxicity of your home environment, and cutting down on the chemical soup you send down the drain. 

Check out these great GREEN CLEANING recipes!

Getting started with green cleaning is simple and inexpensive. Many of these ingredients you may already have at home!

  • baking soda
  • white vinegar
  • lemon juice
  • borax
  • castille soap (local health food stores)
  • reused spray bottle


Free ingredients:

  • Water
  • Newspaper
  • Elbow Grease
Tub and Tile Cleaner 
 
#1:  Mix equal parts of white vinegar and borax to a paste.  Wipe on, rinse off
#2:  Pour a little vinegar and baking soda on a cloth and scrub.  Afterwards, rinse thoroughly.  
 
Toilet Bowls 
 
#1:  Try cleaning and deodorizing with 1/2 cup of borax and a gallon of water.  Pour a cup of borax into the toilet and leave overnight.  
#2:  Sprinkle 1/2 cup baking soda into toilet bowl, add 1tsp liquid castille soap or vegetable based soap and 2 drops hydrogen peroxide, scrub with a toilet brush.  
#3:  Create a paste using borax and lemon juice for cleaning non-septic toilet bowls.  
 #4:  Sprinkle baking soda inside the toilet bowl and add a little liquid castille soap.  Scrub in mixture with a toilet bowl brush.  
 
Scouring Powder
 
Sprinkle Baking Soda on a wet sponge, apply with elbow grease, wait a few minutes, rinse well.  
 
Window and Mirror cleaner
 
#1:  add 2 Tbsp. vinegar to 4 cups water into a spray bottle. 
#2:  Mix 3 Tbsp. ammonia, 1 cup vinegar and 2/3 cup water in a spray bottle.
#3:  Mix 3 Tbsp. vinegar in 2 cups warm water.
#4:  Mix 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup ammonia, 1/cup vinegar in a jar. This formula will remove rust or lime deposits on windows.
 
Apply to glass and wipe with old newspaper.  Wear gloves since vinegar is a mild acid.  
Laundry Detergent
 
To make inexpensive environmentally friendly and safe detergent, mix 1/3 of a cake of castille (grated) with 1/3 cup of washing soda.  Dissolve in hot water in a bucket and top up with water.  the mixture will set to a soft gel.  Use 2-3 cups per wash.  
 
You should be able to find castille soap in your local health food store.  If they don't carry a bar, they can probably order it for you.  If you are having trouble finding unscented soap, an unscented bar for babies would be the next best thing.  Washing soda should be available in the laundry section of most grocery stores.  
 
Fabric Softener

Just add 1/4 cup of baking soda or white vinegar to the rinse cycle.  

 
Other Laundry Alternatives

Use laundry soap and add a water softener like borax, washing soda, or baking soda to prevent residue.

Soak heavily soiled items in warm water with 1/2 cup of washing soda for thirty minutes.  
 
Drain Opener
 
Mix 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup vinegar.  Quickly pour down drain and cover, sealing in the carbon dioxide gas bubbles as they agitate the clog.  Let sit 15 minutes.  Rinse with 2 quarts of boiling water. Follow with a plunger. 

Surface Cleaner

Use Baking Soda on a damp cloth to clean countertops, sinks, windows and your refrigerator or freezer surfaces.

All Purpose Cleaner

#1:  Add 1/2 cup of Borax to a gallon of water.  

#2:  Mix vinegar, castille soap and water.
#3:  Mix 1 tsp. castille soap, 1 tsp. borax, and a squeeze of lemon in 5 cups warm water.  For tough grease, add 1/2 cup ammonia.  
 
Linoleum Floor Cleaner
 
Mop with a mixture of 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water.  
 
Spot and Stain Removers
 
Coffee cup stains:  moist salt
Coffee pot stains:  mix ice and salt
Ink spots:  cold water, 1 Tbsp cream of tartar, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Grease Removal:  borax on a damp cloth
 
Silver Cleaner
 
#1:  Boil silver 3 minutes in a quart (litre) of water containing: 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, and a piece of aluminum foil. 
#2:  Mix baking soda and water into a paste. Run on with a soft cloth, rinse and polish dry.  
 
Oven Cleaner
 
Protect the oven floor from spills with aluminum foil.  Mix 2 Tbsp. liquid castille soap with 2 tsp. borax and 2 cups of warm water.  Apply this to the oven and let sit for 20 minutes, then scrub.  Rub very dirty areas with pumice or a paste of baking soda and water.

 Air Fresheners

Open windows for good ventilation or use an exhaust fan. 
Sprinkle baking soda in areas where odours originate.
Use flowers, herbs and spices to add a pleasant fragrance indoors.  
Stick whole cloves into the outside of an orange  in creative designs and enjoy the fragrance and the visual.
If you have a simmering pot, add water, orange peels, clove, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.  Play with the spices and amounts to create your own scents.
 
Carpet Deodorizer
 
#1:  Mix 2 cups cornmeal and 1 cup borax.  Sprinkle and leave for 1 hour, then vacuum.  
#2:  Sprinkle baking soda liberally on dry carpet.  Leave at leaset 15 minutes, then vacuum thoroughly.
 
Upholstery Cleaner
 
Make a shampoo by mixing 6 Tbsp castille soap flakes, 2 cups boiling water, and 2 Tbsp. borax.  Let cool and shake vigourously.  Use only the suds.  Apply with a soft brush or cloth, wipe soiled suds off with a damp cloth.
 
Furniture polish
 
#1:  Dust with clothes that gather dust rather than scatter it.  Make dust clothes by cutting unwanted clothes and placing in a tin container or jar with a few drops of lemon and olive, mineral or linseed oil inside.  Cover tightly and leave overnight.  The cloth will absorb enough oil to remove dust and at the same time, polish surfaces.
#2:  Mix 1 tbsp. lemon oil and 1 pint mineral oil in a spray bottle. 
 

Deodorant Powder:

Materials needed:  container (can be margarine bowl or metal tin from thrift store), Powder puff, baking soda.  Essential oil (optional)

Put a standard box of baking soda into your container of choice.  If you would like, you can add a few drops of essential oils like lavender for fragrance.  One option for this is tea tree oil.  It has germ killing qualities which can also help fight odours.  Once you have added a few drops of oil, put the lid on the container and shake it around. 

Lotion Bar:

Materials Needed:  bees wax, cocoa butter, coconut or apricot oil, mold or flat pan

Combine 1 part bees wax, 1 part cocoa butter, and 1 part coconut or apricot oil and melt in a double boiler.   Pour into mold or pan and let cool.  If a pan is used, cut into bars once cool.

Hint:  add 5-10 drops of peppermint essential oil to make a foot bar. 

Shampoo: 

Materials Needed:  Empty bottle, glass bowl, non-aluminum kettle or sauce pan, stainless steel strainer, distilled or spring water, spoon, liquid castile soap

Dried Herbs:  normal hair – crushed lavender, rosemary, chamomile, red clover, horsetail
Dry hair – comfrey root or leaf, crushed orange flowers, elder flowers, marigold (blondes), jojoba oil

Boil water.  Put herbs in strainer.  Add  4 TBS liquid castile soap to the empty bottle.  Pour boiling water over herbs and squeeze all out with spoon.  Cover the container with the herb tea to steep 10-20 min.
Make sure no leaves have fallen into water.  Transfer 7oz of water into soap and you’ve got shampoo.  

Shower gel:

Materials Needed:  Home made shampoo (no herbs), essential oil of choice or essence, empty bottle

Combine ½ cup home shampoo, ¼  cup water, ½ tsp salt, 10-15 drops essential oil or essence and pour into the empty bottle.

Suggested Scents:  kiwi fruit, raspberry, strawberry, coconut. 

Bath Bombs:

Materials Needed:  a mold (a creative way to re-use those styrofoam egg cartons that accidentally ended up in your home), citric acid (powder form), baking soda, almond oil, and essential oil.

Mix 1 cup of citric acid with ½  cup of baking soda in a bowl. NOTE:  Citric acid can be a mild skin and eye irritant so children need to be careful about touching their  face and eyes.  If it does happen, simply rinse with water. In a separate bowl, mix 4 teaspoons of almond oil and 30 drops of the essential oil of your choice.  

Mix half of the powder mixture and half of oil mixture together.  If you are using plastic or metal molds, oil them with a small amount of vegetable oil.  (don’t need oil for egg carton molds)  Pack the mixture firmly into the molds and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Once the bath bombs have hardened, remove them from the molds and place on wax paper to dry for 24 hours. 

Repeat this with the remaining ingredients.   

Natural Moth Repellant:

These sachets can be tucked into a drawer or hung in a closet. 

2 ounces each of dried rosemary and mint 
1 ounce each of dried thyme and ginseng 
8 ounces of whole cloves

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Blend. 

Make sachets by choosing a 4 x 4 inch piece of natural fiber with a tight weave, such as silk. Sew three sides together, then fill with the herbs and sew the fourth side shut. You can adapt this pattern to any size you want (2 x 2 is the traditional size for the undergarments drawer, for example). A good idea for small sachets is to fill cotton teabags sold for making your own tea (these are often sold in health food stores). If you are really in a rush, just tie the herbs up in a cotton bandana or handkerchief; place the herbs in the middle, gather the edges together, and tie with a ribbon.

Variation: Other herbs that are good for repelling moths