Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products

In April, I told my friend, Erika, that I would write an Earth Day post and share my thoughts for environmentally friendly cleaning products.

I've already shared my favorite home-mixed stain pretreatment recipe. But, if you missed it, here is the link. Granted, the liquid wisk isn't considered natural, so this recipe doesn't fall under 'Green', but I still love it!

I've also talked about my favorite natural product for the dishwasher. Lemi-Shine rocks!

For washing windows and mirrors, I use club soda. I pour it straight from the bottle into a spray bottle, and use a paper towel (Did you know paper towels can be composted? I learned this last night.) or a newspaper to wipe clean.

To shine faucets, I use vinegar. I have a spray bottle with vinegar in my bathroom cleaning bucket, and I have a couple of old toothbrushes in the same bucket. I usually mist the faucet with vinegar, scrub the buildup with my toothbrush, rinse, mist again, then use a paper towel to shine it clean. Works wonderfully!!

White vinegar has a lot of amazing uses. It is also a perfect cleaning floors. Whether they be ceramic tile, cement, hard wood, or laminate wood. Just mix equal portions of vinegar and hot water into a pail, and mop away. You don't even have to rinse, just allow the floors to dry. You can also mix vinegar, water, and any essential oil in a squirt bottle and squirt this cleaner directly onto your floors. Use equal amounts of water and vinegar, and to a 16 oz bottle, add 15-20 drops of essential oil. My favorite is pure peppermint oil. It makes the house smell so good.

When laundering clothes, vinegar brightens whites, kills mold and mildew, and will chase away the smoke smell in your clothes after you've gone camping.

An all-purpose cleaner is really simple to mix. Use liquid soap, white vinegar, purified water, and essential oil. In a 16 oz bottle, add 2 tablespoons vinegar, and fill the rest of the bottle with hot water leaving room for 1/4 cup of liquid soap (castille). Scent the cleaner with any essential oil you have on hand.

For cleaning the toilet, mix 1/2 C. liquid soap (castille), 2 C. baking soda; work out lumps. Add 1/4 C. water, and 2 T. white vinegar. It will foam. Then add 1/2 ts. tea tree oil. This recipe can be used for the entire bathroom, then follow with a vinegar rinse.

Okay, I think that's it for now. So, here is my challenge. If you do not use any of these items in your cleaning routine right now, I want to you to go to the space where you keep your cleaning supplies, and toss the counterpart of one of these recipes. Substitute the new natural cleaner and give it a whirl. Try it out for a couple of weeks, then come back and tell me what you think.