Household Homemade Cleaners

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Household Homemade Cleaners

 

Ammonia - good grease cutter, wax stripper, and window cleaner. NEVER

MIX WITH BLEACH!

 

Lemon juice - great for whitening items, but vinegar is cheaper . It

also cuts through grease and stains on aluminum and porcelain

 

White Vinegar - very cheap and versatile, great for whitening, also

fantastic for cleaning hard surfaces, windows and shining up metal

surfaces. Removes mildew, stains, grease and wax buildup. This is

another natural cleaner that whole books have been written on!

 

Bleach - great for whitening anything, removing molds and mildews,

and general cleaning. Best used diluted with water. DO NOT MIX BLEACH

WITH VINEGAR, TOILET BOWL CLEANER, OR AMMONIA. The combination of

bleach with any of these substances produces a toxic gas which can be

hazardous. We want to save money without jeopardizing our lives!

 

Borax - (sodium borate) It deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the

cleaning power of soap. It also prevents mold and odors. Great

alternative for those who do not want to use bleach.

 

Baking Soda - Extremely versatile, baking soda is an all-purpose, non-

toxic cleaner. It cleans, deodorizes, scours, polishes and removes

stains. There are entire books out about the zillions of uses of

baking soda, and the best thing about it is that it's cheap!

 

Washing Soda - (sodium carbonate) Cuts grease and disinfects. It will

also increase the cleaning power of soap.

 

Ketchup - great for cleaning copper

 

Cornstarch - cleans and deodorizes carpets and rugs, you can use this

to replace expensive " baby powders " also.

 

Pure Soap - cleans just about anything and is mild

 

Salt - believe it or not, regular table salt makes an abrasive, but

gentle, scouring powder. Who would have known?

 

Some helpful hints:

 

1.Make your cleaners ahead of time.

 

2. Organize them according to location they are used in, keeping out

of reach of children. I like to keep all kitchen items under the

(baby-proofed) sink, in a caddy (recycle a detergent box or milk jug

for this) so they are handy. I make extras of items for the upstairs

and downstairs bathrooms.

 

3.Buy your ingredients in bulk. This way, you save money twice! You

save by buying in bulk (on sale of course!) and you save because you

have what you need on hand, avoiding a trip to the store!

 

4.Store your ingredients in reusable airtight containers. I like to

purchase spray bottles in bulk for this purpose, since it is not safe

to reuse bottles that had commercial cleaners or chemicals in them.

Milk jugs are great to use too.

 

5.Make large batches of several cleaners and store them in recycled

milk jugs.

 

6.Wear rubber gloves when you clean to avoid skin irritation (and

chapping in my case!)