Toxin-Free Cleaning

Here's a comforting thought: there is absolutely no reason why you ever need to use harsh, toxic chemicals to clean your house, your clothes, or your dishes! All the ingredients you need for sparkling clean surfaces and clothes are easily available, and most of them right within arm's reach in your own kitchen or bathroom cupboard!

And we're not talking about the "old style" common household cleaners, many of which contain alcohol, ammonia, bleach, formaldehyde and lye, substances that can cause nausea, vomiting, inflammation and burning of the eyes and throat. Some of those types of cleaners also contain phosphates, which wash into our waterways and oceans and cause algae blooms, robbing the water of much-needed oxygen. Environmentalists have linked these ingredients with neurological, liver and kidney damage, asthma and cancer.

(sources: CBC Marketplace, Arbour Environmental Shopppe)

Now, back to the good news! Right next to you in your fridge or cupboard are a few simple ingredients that, when used properly, will give you all the cleanliness you need - without the toxic dangers. What a great feeling when you take a shower, wash dishes, do laundry or clean the bathroom knowing you are washing nothing harmful down the sink and into our life-giving waterways!

So, without further ado, here are some recipes that can help you get started on your new, toxin-free cleaning adventure.

Plain white vinegar and baking soda can take on many of your cleaning needs

Basic Recipes

(Source: CBC Marketplace)

There are hundreds of homegrown recipes for green cleaning, here are some of the basic ingredients and combinations you can try:

Five Basic Ingredients
Any of these ingredients can be safely mixed together. Experiment and find out what works best for you.
Store mixtures in spray bottles and label them.

1. White Vinegar: Mix with water and you can clean windows, any glass, counter tops and tile.
2. Baking Soda: Mixed with water this becomes an all purpose cleaner. Scour sinks, tubs and even sprinkle over carpets as a deodorizer.
3. Salt: great as an abrasive for cleaning pots and pans.
4. Lemon Juice: use as bleach in laundry and on kitchen surfaces. Combine with vinegar and water and you have a nice de-clogger
5. Olive oil: Mix with vinegar and use as furniture polish.

Cook up some green cleaners:

• Drain cleaner: Pour 125 ml of baking soda down the sink and add at least a cup of vinegar. Put the cover on the drain and wait a few minutes. Finish by rinsing through with a mixture of boiling water and salt.
• Oven cleaner: Make a paste of baking soda and water. First, scratch off burnt spots with a scouring brush and then apply the paste and scrub.
• Kitchen cleanser: Use baking soda on non-scratch surfaces and vinegar and water mixture on all others.
• Window cleaner: Put 75 ml of vinegar for every litre of water in a spray bottle.
• Glass cleaner: Blend 75 ml of vinegar, a spoonful of cornstarch and a litre of warm water. Apply with a sponge and wipe dry. No streaks!
• Toilet bowl cleaner: Sprinkle baking soda around the inside of the toilet bowl and clean with toilet brush. Also drop some white vinegar into the bowl and let sit a few minutes before cleaning with the brush.
• Tub and tile cleaner: Mix 400 ml baking soda, 125 ml liquid soap, 125 ml water and a few spoonfuls of vinegar. Apply, scrub and wipe.
• Mildew remover: Vinegar and salt.
• Silver polish: Put a sheet of aluminum foil into a plastic or glass bowl. Sprinkle the foil with salt and baking soda and fill bowl with warm water. Soak your silver in the bowl and tarnish migrates to the foil. Dry and buff.
• Crystal: Try a mixture of vinegar, water and a small amount of baking soda. Pour on a soft cloth and rub.
• Brass cleaner: Cut a lemon in half, sprinkle it with salt and rub the lemon on the metal. Buff with a cloth.
• Copper cleaning: Make a paste with equal parts white vinegar, flour and salt, leave on for an hour and then buff with a cloth.
• Rust removal: Vinegar can help remove rust on nuts and bolts and other mineral deposits such as calcium deposits
• Toothpaste: Diminishes glass scratches, lifts crayon marks off the floor.

More Recipes

(source: ecomall)

Earth Scrub TM Tub & Tile Cleaner

Ingredients:

• Baking soda
• a high-quality liquid soap
• white distilled vinegar
• water
• 16 oz. squeeze container with a squirt flip-top cap

Only a few types of squirt tops will work for this recipe. Otherwise, they clog. Reusing bottle tops from commercial soft scrub cleaners works great.

Instructions: Mix 1 2/3 cups baking soda with 1/2 cup of liquid soap in a bowl. Using liquid soaps is best because liquid detergents make this scrub too time–consuming to rinse off. Dilute with 1/2 cup water. Add 2 tbsp. vinegar. Stir with a fork until the lumps are gone. Be as exact as you can, otherwise, your squirt will be too thin or thick. Keep the cap on, because this mixture will dry out. Shake well before using.

To use: Squirt this cleaner anywhere! (examples: tub, sink and toilet bowl). It's great for under the rim of the toilet, bathtub rings, sinks and counter tops. It's a soft, mildly abrasive cleanser. Use a nylon white-backed sponge to prevent scratching. Rinse well.

If you find that you are leaving a baking soda residue, try using a little less scrub and/or rinse with a squirt of scented vinegar and water. The vinegar dissolves that little bit of leftover baking soda and soap right away.
Remember to shake well before using.

Everyday Household Cleaning Tips

Furniture Polish: You can use a little olive oil and vinegar to polish your furniture.
Use 1 part white distilled vinegar, 3 parts olive oil.
Add a little natural lemon oil (not the synthetic kind) and you've got a great polish!

Glass Cleaner: Most commercial glass cleaners contain ammonia, alcohol, and detergents that are annoying and sometimes quite irritating to breathe. Worse than that, you are paying a high price for 95 percent water!
Use plain Club Soda for a great glass cleaner! It works much better than commercial cleaners and isn't a pain to breathe.

Rust Remover: Toxic rust removers that are dangerous poisons are at the top of my list of cleaners to keep out of the house. I was absolutely ecstatic when I discovered this simple, natural solution:

• sprinkle a little bit of salt on the rust
• squeeze a lime over the salt until it is nicely soaked in lime juice
• Leave the mixture on for 2 or 3 hours
• Use the leftover rind as a handy scrubber. Rust is gone.

(Written by: Karen Logan, Nontoxic cleaning recipes from Clean House, Clean Planet, Pocket Books, 1997.)

Source: About.com

This site has lots of great recipes; here are some:

Oven Cleaner

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups baking soda
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions: Mix the ingredients until it forms a smooth paste. Plug the holes in the oven with aluminum foil. Spread the paste (try not to get any on metal parts). Leave overnight.
In the morning, mix:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup vinegar

Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle. Spray the oven with this mixture.
Wipe away. Rinse with clean water.
Note: the mixture needs to be rinsed well or it will leave a white residue.

Microwave Cleaner

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cups water

Instructions: Add the ingredients to a large bowl. Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes on high. Leave for another three minutes.
Open the microwave, remove the bowl and wipe down the inside of the microwave with a clean damp cloth.

Toilet Cleaner

• 3 cups white vinegar
• 10 drops tea tree essential oil (optional)

Instructions: Pour the ingredients slowly into the toilet bowl. Leave it for 15 minutes then scrub.

Bathtub and Shower Cleaner

• 1 part vinegar
• 1 part water

Instructions: Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Spray the shower wall and tub. Let it sit for at least 1/2 hour. Rinse it off.
If you need extra cleaning power, use liquid detergent and a nylon or plastic sponge.
*Avoid soap, which can leave a residue.*
If there are rust stains in your tub, mix a bit of cream of tartar with water until the consistency is like toothpaste. Put a little on the stains and use a sponge to wash off.

Precautions:

• Don't mix homemade cleaners with store-bought cleaners
• Work in a well-ventilated area
• Use the same precautions as with store-bought cleaners - keep them out of reach of children and pets
• If using unmarked bottles and containers, make sure to label them
• Don't use food containers to mix cleaning products

(Source: Cathy Wong, Guide since 2000, Alternative Medicine Guide on About.com.)

For more information, including more product recipes as well as healthy beverage and soup recipes, see About.com

There are many non-toxic cleaning product lines

Commercial Non-toxic Cleaning Products and Stores

There are many more products and companies you can look to; these are just a couple of examples.
If you Google "Natural Household Cleaning Products" or "eco-friendly cleaners," you'll find lots more sites and information, like this one.

• Nature Clean In Ottawa, Loblaws and Arbour sell this product line, to name just a couple.
• Amway sell eco-friendly cleaners
• Compostable plastic bags – stores like Canadian Tire now carry these because of the green bin program.