Cleaning products are a huge source of toxicity in the average home. Changing your cleaning supplies can greatly diminish your daily toxic exposures. This is important when you consider that common cleaner ingredients can impact our health!
Chlorine, for example, can disrupt thyroid function. Fumes of many cleaning products are caustic irritating skin, eyes, and lungs. Most are harmful if taken internally. In addition, typical household cleaners tend to be environmental pollutants. These chemicals can be absorbed through our skin and through inhalation. These cleaning products also leave a film of toxic residue on surfaces which can be absorbed by our skin at a later time. If the surfaces are counter tops where our food gets placed, then it can result in low grade ingestion.
Put the cleaning power of these four simple household recipes for natural cleaners (Real Simple, April 2009) to use and start reducing your toxin exposure today!
Mix Up This Baking Soda Recipe for an Odor and Grease Remover
- removes odors
- dissolves grease
Stove burner grates: In a dishpan, soak them in 1 gallon warm water and ½ cup washing soda for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.
Stained teacups and coffee mugs: Fill with 1 part baking soda and 2 parts water and soak overnight; rub with a sponge and rinse.
Use This Salt and Lemon Paste with a Scouring Sponge
- Mildly abrasive making an excellent scouring companion. Mix with lemon to create a scouring paste.
- Absorbs grease
Wooden counters and tables: Cover grease splatters with salt to absorb as much as possible. Wait an hour, then brush away the salt.
Spills in the oven: If that casserole bubbles over as you take it out of the oven, pour salt on the spill to soak it up. When the oven is cool, wipe with a damp sponge.
Lemons and Baking Soda make Excellent Stain Removers
- Deodorizer
- Stain remover
Countertops: Dip the cut side of a lemon half in baking soda to tackle countertops; wipe with a wet sponge and dry. Don’t use on delicate stone, like marble, or stainless
steel (it may discolor).
Faucets: Combat lime scale by rubbing lemon juice onto the taps and letting it sit overnight. Wipe with a damp cloth.
Grout: Spilled morning coffee on your tile countertop or backsplash? Here’s how to tackle grout stains: Add lemon juice to 1 or 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (an acidic salt that acts as a natural bleaching agent) to make a paste. Apply with a toothbrush, then rinse.Garbage disposal: Cut a lemon in half, then run both pieces through the disposal. Cleans and deodorizes.
Laundry: To brighten whites, add 1/2 cup lemon juice to the rinse cycle for a normal-size load.
Ditch Your Lysol for Essential Orange Oil
- Smell pleasant
- Disinfectant for molds and bacteria
Gum-encrusted items: Orange oil is great at removing this sticky offender from various materials. (Don’t worry: It shouldn’t stain fabrics. But do launder immediately.) Apply with a cotton
ball.
Shower doors: Wipe scum-covered glass doors with a few drops of lemon oil twice a month. It will protect them from grime buildup.
Toilets: Add 2 teaspoons tea-tree oil and 2 cups water to a spray bottle. Shake, then spritz along the toilet’s inside rim. Let sit for 30 minutes; scrub.
Windows: Mix 2 ounces water and 10 drops lavender or lemongrass oil to wipe grime off windows. Bonus: These oils may repel flies.
Disinfectant: An excellent disinfecting blend is Theives by Young Living (contains clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary). These are all antimicrobial oils. Dilute and use as a spray for counter tops.
Most of these recipes for natural cleaners are excerpts from Back to Basics Cleaning.
(Back to Basics Cleaning by Nicole Sforza. Real Simple, April 2009)