Cleaning Machine

Over the past 10 years of cleaning houses, I have been exposed (in both meanings of the term) to many cleaning chemicals. Some have been excellent in living up to my expectations and others have left me high (probably literally) and dry (which no lotion can heal), scrubbing till my shoulders hurt. But since I've been pregnant, I have thought a lot about what effects the cleaning products are having on "Mo" and me and the environment.

A few weeks ago I published a post on cloth diapers from the same resource that I'm using for the info in this post, called Green Housekeeping. I hope this helps you simplify and save money when it comes to your cleaning regimen.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Baking soda.
2. Hydrogen peroxide.
3. White vinegar.

Buy them in their bulk-size. Sam's Club offers a handy, resealable 12 pound bag of baking soda for under $7.00.

Find 2 spray bottles of a different color. One should be dark and opaque to keep the peroxide from degrading (3% strength). Put white vinegar in the other bottle. Grab a couple of clean rags and, for this demonstration, go to your kitchen sink.

Rinse the food out of the sink and empty the strainers into the trash. Dampen a rag with water and then sprinkle baking soda to cover the surfaces in the sink. Scrub and shine all the surfaces and fixtures, then rinse the rag and the sink out with water.
To disinfect, spray the vinegar on all the surfaces of the sink (if you didn't rinse all the baking soda away, there will be a fizzy reaction that is especially useful for drains. More on that in a second). Then spray peroxide. No rinsing is necessary. Dry vinegar does not have an odor, so don't worry about smelling like pickles and sauerkraut. =]

Forget about the deadly drain cleaners! To clean stinky or slow drains, use 1/2 c baking soda chased with 1 c white vinegar. Wait until the impressive amount of fizzing stops and pour a kettleful of boiling water down the drain.

If you're in to disinfecting produce and/or meats, use a spray of vinegar and then a spray of peroxide. No further rinsing necessary. Make sure to spray the sink and knobs off after handling raw meat with the same system.

**Be sure to avoid using this system on marble or natural stone! Use dish soap and water instead**

Other acceptable "green" cleaning products
White vinegar
Baking soda
Liquid castile soap
Murphy's oil soap
Enzyme-based pet stain remover
Olive oil
Beeswax
Glycerin-based liquid saddle soap
Hydrogen peroxide
Citrus solvent (not the one derived from petroleum!)

What are you going to do with all the poisonous and odorous cleaners you aren't going to use anymore? Don't dump 'em!

The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do with this simple cleaning system. I just thought about cleaning the old toilet. Sprinkle in about 1/2 c baking soda, scrub around the bowl and flush. Follow by spraying vinegar on all the surfaces, wiping down with a dampened rag. Finally, spritz all the surfaces with peroxide. No rinsing necessary. You may want to run a dry rag over it to prevent water spots and falling in!

Any other innovative cleaning tricks out there?