Green Cleanin'

Finally recuperating from the craziness of last week. Graduation, Easter and Earth Day was waaaaayyyyyy too much for one weekend. While graduation and Easter were fabulous, I didn't get to do as much as I had planned for Earth Day. I did attend the Earth Day celebration at the Nature Center and it was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I'm critical, but I found it a little ironic that en route to the Nature Center I got stranded by the UTA bus (with 5 kids, no less). Then, I was served a hummus platter in a STYROFOAM container (plus there was a hair in it). Finally, I was given a "recycle glass" sticker by someone who didn't even know where you can recycle glass locally. On the bright side, there were a few highlights that made it worth while. A boy scout troop was recycling plastic 2-liter bottles by teaching people to turn them into planters. So, I got a free garlic plant. I hope I can manage to keep it alive. Also, the WSU Botany Club was making cute head wreaths from leaves and raffia.

So I decided, in lieu of celebrating, to make an Earth Day resolution and finally make some green household cleaners. I have tried to eliminate most chemicals from my house by cleaning with simple things like vinegar, club soda and baking soda. When my husband was attending culinary school in Berkeley, they simply used vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the kitchen. Vinegar also works great for cleaning floors. Club soda is the perfect window and glass cleaner. I haven't used Windex in my house for years. Now the smell of it nauseates me. I use baking soda to clean my sinks and such. But, now I am taking it a step further and using the recipes I got out of a great book called Green House, Green Planet by Karen Logan. She takes all of these basic ingredients and with the addition of castille soap, borax, essential oils and a few others and makes heavy-duty natural cleaners. She has recipes for basic cleaners, as well as 409 and Lysol alternatives for all of you germ freaks. I wish the recipes were mine to share, but they are not.
You can read some of the book for free on Google Books here. Or you can find it pretty cheap on Amazon.


Here I am mixing up my cleaners. It really didn't take that long and it smelled so good.

These are the final products and the only ingredients I used.

Here are some free natural cleaning tips:

Vinegar Uses-

• Clean your microwave: Mix 2 cups of water with 1/4 cup vinegar in a bowl. Heat it in your microwave for 3-4 minutes. Afterward, you can easily wipe the gunk off your microwave walls.
• Deodorize your dishwasher: Put a cup of vinegar in your dishwasher detergent compartment and run an empty cycle.
• Get rid of strong room odors- Leave a bowl of vinegar out overnight
• Remove soap build-up from faucets- Mix 1 part salt with 4 parts vinegar and scrub.

Baking Soda Uses-

• Prevent clogged drains- Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda down your drains and rinse through with hot water every week.
• Whiter whites- Add 1/2 cup of baking soda with bleach to improve the effectiveness of bleach.
• Freshen your carpets- Mix a few drops of essential oil to baking soda. Sprinkle it on your carpet and vacuum after 10 minutes or so.

I hope these help. Do you have any helpful cleaning tips?