For week two of my Not-Quite-Yet-Spring Cleaning Series, I’d like to focus on the gadgets and products that I use to clean my home. 

By now, you may have realized that I take cleaning seriously. Cleaning extends into every area of my life including clean eating and more recently a clean, chemical-free lifestyle.

Chemicals have made their way into everything from the milk in the fridge to the shampoo in the shower and no where are chemicals more prevalent than in all those cleaning products. Allow me to scare you for a moment…

Butyl cellosolve, a chemical common in all-purpose, glass, and other types of cleaners, damages bone marrow, the nervous system, kidneys and the liver. And yet you spray it on your counter where you prepare food!

And what’s even scarier- no law requires manufacturers of cleaners to list ingredients on their labels or to test their products for safety. It’s up to you to make sure your home is a nontoxic environment. So let’s take some initiative and try making some perfectly effective cleaners from safe products you probably already have in your home!

First, can we start with getting rid of anything that says WARNING, DANGER or POISON? I mean, that’s just common sense people. OK, now on to the mad scientist ingredient mixing fun!

The Power of Baking Soda

Baking soda’s cleaning power is mostly physical- acting as a mild abrasive to gently wear away stains. But there is chemistry involved too! Baking soda reacts with the grease found in many stains to form glycerol, a common cleansing ingredient in soaps. Mix it with vinegar to create carbonic acid which will boost the corrosive action of the vinegar. This concoction also releases carbon dioxide which enhances the scrubbing effect. And bonus! As a weak alkali, baking soda neutralizes acids in odor molecules to eliminate strong smells! Use baking soda to remove rings around the toilet, sink, and tub, the film that builds on shower doors, and vinyl surfaces. I always have an open box in the fridge to absorb any stinky odors that may linger.  

Vinegar: Not Just for Dying Eggs!

Distilled white vinegar can be used as a deodorizer, disinfectant, mild acid, and preservative. Vinegar’s acetic acid will dissolve calcium build-up found in coffee pots, sinks, showers, dishwashers, and windows. Vinegar also cuts through dirt, grease, mold and helps to carry away foul odors as it evaporates. Every month or so, I like to fill my coffee maker with half a pot water, half vinegar and send it through a brew cycle without the grounds. It disinfects and cleans my most precious morning appliance with minimal effort.

When Life Hands You Lemons, Use Them to Clean!

Lemons are arguably one of my favorite things in the world! I love the smell, I love the taste, I love their bright, happy yellow color! Fresh lemon juice contains citric acid which can deodorize, remove stains, brighten whites in the laundry or kitchen, clean glass, inhibit mold, and disinfect toilets to name a few. One of my favorite lemon cleaning tricks is removing stains from food storage containers. Just squeeze the juice into the containers, rub with a little baking soda, and let sit overnight. No more tomato-sauce-stained tupperware!

There are countless ways to cut chemicals in your cleaning routine. Check out these recipes from Good Housekeeping. They have a homemade potion for every product from stain remover to brass cleaner. Happy (healthy!) cleaning!