15 Mar Green That Spring Clean!

It's Spring cleaning time, and nothing says clean like a bucket full of commercial cleaners, right?  Wrong!  Commercial cleaners such as 409, Windex, and those ever helpful little Scrubbing Bubbles contain caustic and dangerous chemicals that, besides getting into your skin and lungs, get flushed down the drain and ultimately make it into the water table. 

So what alternative do we have to a chemical bath if we want a clean, fresh-smelling, welcoming home?  There are several wonderful, commercially available products such as Mrs. Meyers, Dr. Bronners (love), and Simple Green, but if you are cash poor or just a real purist, there are myriad home cleaning products that are effective and super-cheap, and you probably already have a lot of them.

Growing up, my mom used to always put a bowl full of vinegar on the counter whenever we cooked fish, if we burned something, or whenever someone had a case of stinky feet.  The reason is that vinegar has impressive odor-eating properties.  It is mildly acidic, so it kills many odor-causing bacteria.  It also reacts chemically with things like cigarette smoke and animal odors, creating new, more neutral-smelling compounds.  It is great as an all around cleanser for counter tops, bathroom fixtures – any light cleaning.  Paired with Hydrogen Peroxide, it is an anti-bacterial cleanser at least as effective as bleach, and much less caustic.  Do not mix peroxide with vinegar and then store it though.  I keep a bottle of each and spray them one after the other, then wipe down the surface.  You can let the vinegar sit for a few minutes if you need to get stuck-on food or other tough stains up.  It works great for cleaning the stove top! 

I have run into opposition on the vinegar thing, though, from folks who don't like the smell of vinegar.  I love it, so I am biased.  To me the smell means:  1.) Clean and 2.) Lunch.  If you are not a fan though, consider mixing it with water, and feel free to remove it as soon as the unwanted smells are gone.  If you are using it to wipe down counter tops, the smell should dissipate quickly, especially if you water it down a bit.  There are also scented vinegars on the market, or you can easily make your own.  Some homemade lavender vinegar would make a lovely cleanser, and then you can use it as a hair rinse!

Caveat:  Do not use the recipe with sugar in it as either cleaner or hair rinse.

http://tipnut.com/lavender-vinegar-recipes/

Baking soda is another substance that neutralizes odors; most often it is used in the refrigerator.  It can also help out in the bathroom, closet, or rec room.  Put it in a stylish vintage sugar shaker or something equally creative for some added aesthetic quality.  Function and style should go hand in hand as often as possible!  Besides being an odor neutralizer, it is also an effective scrubbing agent, and as anyone who has ever attended a science fair knows, it works some serious combustive magic when combined with our friend, vinegar. 

I use baking soda or washing soda with vinegar on the stove sometimes, but you might want to test an inconspicuous corner of yours first to make sure it doesn't take off the finish.  I use this combo to clean the toilet, too.  Baking soda goes straight into the bowl, followed by vinegar, let it fizz and then sit for ten minutes, then scrub.  Same for the tub.  For clogged drains, pour baking soda into the drain, pour vinegar on top of it and cover with a plunger immediately to create a seal.  The pressure can help push clogs through, and the acid and fizzing action can help break them up.  Let the combo work its magic in the sealed-off drain for ten minutes, then pour a pot of boiling water straight down the drain.  Repeat as necessary.

Hydrogen peroxide is another great cleaner.  There is nothing better for getting blood out of clothing, especially if you catch it fast.  Pour peroxide onto the stain, let it bubble, scrub, and rinse with cold water or club soda.  Repeat until it's gone.  As I mentioned before, peroxide also amps up the germ-killing qualities of vinegar.  You can get a product called Oxygen Bleach at places like Wheatsville and Eco-Wise, which is similar to peroxide, but in dry form.  The popular product, Oxyclean is a brand of oxygen bleach.

What about the really sticky stuff, you ask?  With what can I replace my petroleum-based Goo-Gone?  The answer is sweet!  Orange oil does the job of Goo-Gone naturally and effectively.  I used it recently to remove baked-on masking tape from an outdoor window that had been slated for a painting project and forgotten over a summer season.  I wiped the orange oil right on top of the tape mess, then took to the whole thing with a razor.  Afterward, I wiped with orange oil on a fresh rag, and the goop came off beautifully – better than Goo Gone by a mile!  Any essential oil is going to be pretty potent though, so save this stuff for the big tasks.

There are also some great tools out there that are reusable and inexpensive and can help you avoid harsh chemical products.  Consider purchasing a plastic drain snake ($4) before you go for the Drain-O.  A plunger can be used in the sink as well as the toilet – though you may want to have a separate one for that  purpose.  I recently resorted to the plunger when everything else I tried would not unclog our bathroom sink, and it pumped up my missing blush brush.  Drain-O would have melted that thing and I would have had to have the plumber come replace the pipes!

Finally, while in your cleansing frenzy, consider this:  paper towels, like commercial cleaning products, are expensive and not a great sustainable choice.  Stock up on rags and rip up some old t-shirts, and you will save money and trees at the same time.  If you don't want to cross contaminate the bathroom and kitchen rags, for example, use a different color for each and wash separately.  I learned a handy tip from someone at the Austin Zen Center for sponges, too.  Clip the corner of all sponges used for the bathroom, and leave the ones for the kitchen whole.  At The Natural Gardener, we use blue sponges for counter tops and yellow ones for the dishes.  Create your own system that works for you.

There is nothing like the feeling of a truly clean, chemical free home. 

Happy Spring Cleaning Austin!!