Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Cleaning without chemicals


How do you clean your house? Are you still using toxic harsh chemicals?
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"Household cleansers are the major source of home toxins. Approximately 500,000 tons of liquid cleaners are washed down U.S. drains annually. Most of these products rely on petroleum-based surfactants, solvents and other chemicals, some of which are known to be acutely toxic in large doses. Others have been linked to reproductive illnesses and cancer. Most of these chemicals have not been tested for their impact on human health. Many household cleansers contain substances such as glycol ether, Stoddard solvent, naphtha, and kerosene, which are neurotoxins and central nervous system depressants. These substances can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness."

- Judy Morgan, environmentalist & instructor of Saving the Planet Starts at Home


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And not only are these chemicals extremely toxic but they cost a small fortune.

Why don't you try vinegar and baking soda? It's much less expensive, it works, and it's much healthier.

This is how I clean the bathroom:

The first thing I do is pour about a 1/2 cup of vinegar and a 1/4 cup of baking soda in the toilet bowl. It will bubble to start, let it sit in the bowl while you clean the rest of the bathroom.

I have straight vinegar in a spray bottle and I use it to wash the shower/bath walls. Then I sprinkle baking soda in the tub and scrub. It's a soft scrub and will likely not scratch your tub and it rinses away very easily. Tub done.

Onto the bathroom sink. I sprinkle with baking soda and scrub just like the bathtub, rinse and then I spray the sink, the taps and counter with with vinegar. Leave it a few minutes then rinse. I just use the same rag but rinse it out with warm clean water.

At this point I wipe the cupboards, moldings and the glass again I just spray the surfaces lightly with vinegar and rinse with a clean water.

To the toilet. I spray the outside and the lid with vinegar and wipe. Then scrub the bowl, it will bubble a little more, flush. Rinse your cloth and give the toilet a final wipe.

I wash the floor with hot water, vinegar and some liquid dish soap. And that's it.

You might think that the bathroom will not smell clean or even worse smell like vinegar but that's not what happens. The bathroom has a fresh clean smell and the vinegar evaporates very quickly and you don't smell it at all.
Do not use vinegar on marble. For more information on using vinegar click here: http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/cleaning-with-vinegar.html .

1 comment:

Betty said...

Great list. I do most of them.My hubby retired from Macys he was maintenance,but he loves to use vinegar and backing soda for cleaning not all of the things he had to use at work.