by: AJ McCreary, PICurrent Assistant Producer
Courtesy of Kunkelstein
Going green is an exciting new part of western culture, but it comes at a price. Or does it?
Cleaning Green has been around for centuries. It just hasn’t been sold as “environmentally friendly”, but mainly as practical or inexpensive.
These old time cleaning practices mentioned are:
- effective
- good for the environment
- cheap!
Regular household cleaning products you can find at your local supermarket often have harsh chemicals that can be dangerous to small children and pets, as well as the environment.
Currently, you can shell out high prices for commercially made green cleaning products. Or you can make those same products at home for a third of the cost.
The key ingredients to cleaning green are:
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Cornstarch
- Washing powder
- Borax (bleach alternative)
- Castle or vegetable based soap
- Essential oils (optional)
Almost all commercial products are made with these core ingredients, but the packages contain the scientific (usually unpronounceable) name.
Formerly addicted to cleaning with bleach, I was skeptical of the effectiveness of using common household products. But now, I am hooked. It’s very cost effective to make cleaning products ahead of time and put them in reusable containers to pull out quickly when something spills or during my weekly cleaning session.
Some of my personal favorite green cleaning practices:
- Baking soda as a carpet deodorizer: sprinkle on the carpet, wait at least 10 minutes and vacuum
- Baking soda and vinegar to unclog a drain, follow with a flush of hot water
- Homemade laundry soap: works a lot better than any commercial product and one batch lasts a long time (see recipe below)
- Salt to help scrub food from caked on or burnt pots and pans (very easy on your hands)
- To clean the microwave: dilute lemon juice in a bowl, heat on high for about a min, everything will wipe away easily
Theresa’s Laundry Soap Recipe
- 1 bars Fels Naptha soap – grated
- 1 box Borax
- 2 boxes Washing Soda
- 1 large tub OxyClean
- Mix in a large container, store with a lid. Use 1/2 cup per load.
For more information:
A low cost, green eco friendly, healthy natural way to clean many things is to make a homemade liquid from soapberry which grows on the Chinaberry tree and has been used for thousands of years. It works very effectively.
Good idea Ira. Thanks.
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