Surprising Cleaners
Chemical cleaners can be harmful to the environment and if you handle them too much, harmful to you too! Take a look at the following suggestions to find some natural and organic ways to stay spic and span!Apple Cider Vinegar – Good for cleaning hard wood floors.
Baking Soda – Leave on carpets overnight to absorb odors and vacuum in the morning. Add two tablespoons to boiling water and pour over pans or dishes that are crusted with stuck on food, let sit for 10 minutes and then rinse. Combine baking soda and water to rinse hair combs and brushes. Use a sprinkle of baking soda to eliminate odors from garbage cans, diaper pails, shoes, and kitty litter boxes. Pour a cup into the toilet, let it dissolve and then flush once a week to cut down on odors and clogging. Can be used to scour pots and pans.
Club Soda – Good for cleaning chrome. Good for shining kitchen and bathroom countertops.
Lemon – Add lemon juice to rinse water when cleaning the refrigerator for natural freshening. Sprinkle salt on a fresh cut lemon and wipe on marble to remove stains. Lemon will remove light stains from porcelain sinks. Fresh cut lemon will remove stuck on particles from glassware.
Orange Essential Oil – When diluted in water, can be used as a hard wood cleaner and polish.
Pine Essential Oil – Can be used for deodorizing garbage cans and can be diluted and used as an all purpose cleaner, especially effective on tile and linoleum floors. (With all essential oils, be careful. Some people may have allergic reactions to the oils, either patch test your skin before using or handle with rubber gloves.)
Rubbing (denatured) Alcohol – Will remove hairspray from mirrors and glass surfaces. Shines chrome and glass. Will clean the caulking around bathtubs.
Seltzer Water – Good for cleaning chrome.
Vanilla Extract – Put some on a cotton cloth in the refrigerator to keep nasty odors at bay.
White Vinegar – Leave a bowl of vinegar standing in your kitchen or bathroom to absorb odors, works especially well on smoke smells. Added to the final rinse cycle on a dishwasher, vinegar will help prevent and remove water spots from glassware. Use a cloth dampened with white vinegar on stainless steel to remove water spots. Run vinegar through your coffee pot and then run 3 or more pots of water only (to rinse) to remove hard water residue. 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar to 1 gallon of water will work magic on very dirty windows. Use one cup of water to one cup of white vinegar to remove polish buildup from wood furniture and floors. Keep stains from forming in your toilet by dumping a half gallon of white vinegar in the bowl and letting it stand overnight, once a month. White vinegar on a moistened sponge will remove soap residue in the shower.
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