Home Made Cleaners

First understand the difference between acids and alkalis for the specific task you have when using home made cleaners.

Acids are used to clean alkali messes and vice versa with alkali’s cleaning acidic messes.

Your basic list for all green cleaning recipes:

Acids: Lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, white distilled vinegar.

Alkalis: Baking soda, Washing soda, borax, cornstarch, cornmeal, club soda, cream of tartar, salt.

See, I told you it would be easy!

Each of these will be used in the recipes below.

General purpose home made cleaners
Mix 4 tablespoons baking soda with 1 quart (4 cups or 1 litre) of water.
Simply dip your cleaning clothe into the mixture and wipe your counters.

OR

Mix ¼ cup of baking soda with ¼ cup white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of l peppermint liquid castile soap or 1 teaspoon of your favourite essence. Place in a spray bottle and top with water.

Spray onto your area and wipe with a cloth.

Home made dishwasing liquid
Use 2 tablespoons of your liquid laundry gel and a dishwashing brush to clean your dishes. Rinse them thereafter in hot water and ¼ cup of vinegar in your second sink.

For clogged drains
Shower, bath and kitchen drains can all be unclogged with this solution:

1 cup coarse salt
1 cup baking soda
¼ cup cream of tartar

Mix it up and store in a LABELLED sealed container. When needed, add ¼ cup to your drain and pour down some boiling water.

If the drain is still clogged try this:

1 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon (4 litres) of hot water.

First put the baking soda into the drain. Follow it with the vinegar. It will react with the soda and fizzle. Let it stand for a couple of minutes then pour the boiling water down the drain.

Glass cleaner
½ to 1 cup of white vinegar
1 quart (4 cups or 1 litre) of water

The vinegar does smell a little strong, but only for as long as it takes to dry. If you really can’t cope with the smell, then add a few drops of your favourite essence to the spray bottle.

Wood polish
2 cups of linseed or olive oil
4 drops of lemon or lavender essential oil
Airtight container.
Mix them together and when you need to polish your wood furniture dip a soft rag (old clothe baby nappies work well) into the oil and rub sparingly all over the furniture. You will need some elbow grease to buff it in.

Green Carpet Cleaners
Depending on the type of stain and type of material your carpets are made from you will need to carefully choose your cleaning agent.

But here are the general rules of thumb:
Scoop up any solid matter
Blot with an old clothe nappy or towel
Use water to dilute the remaining stain
Then add your cleaning agent and scrub.

The gentlest form of carpet cleaner is soda water (club soda) and water.

Next up can be some liquid laundry soap and water.

Follow that with ammonia and water or vinegar and water. Ammonia is used for Old spots, blood and chocolate. Vinegar for any odour based stain like urine.

Next up would be to use hydrogen peroxide on any of the following:
~tomato based stains
~red drinks
~alcohol
~fruit juice
~grass stains
~coffee and chocolate

For any more stubborn stains like oil, ballpoint pen or candle wax use full strength isopropyl alcohol.

Other pages you may like:
Eco friendly cleaners
Homemade soap

Go Greener

Try to make your own homemade laundry soap

In summer and warm winter days line dry all your washing. In winter make sure you have an indoor clothes line or buy a clothes horse to hang up your clean laundry.

Encourage your friends to make the switch to home made cleaners by giving them a batch of it as a gift with the recipe stuck on the lid/side of the container.