Green Cleaning Basics

Just about every natural cleaning product uses the same cleaners your grandma used. These ingredients aren’t all completely safe — keep them away from kids and pets — but they’re less toxic than many commercial cleaners, and a lot less costly. A good natural cleaning kit includes the following items:

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) — gritty scrubber, also reacts with acids like lemon and vinegar

• Borax — disinfects, whitens and deodorizes
• White vinegar — disinfects and loosens dirt
• Lemon juice — disinfects, cuts through grease
• Olive oil — picks up dirt, polishes wood
• Castile soap — all purpose foaming cleaner
• Washing soda (sodium carbonate) — a caustic cleaner, stain remover and laundry supplement

Glass & Mirrors

The windows in your home can be effectively cleaned with 4 tablespoons lemon juice mixed with a half gallon of water. Other effective cleaners for glass and mirrors are rubbing alcohol and witch hazel. Also, try using a clean, lint-free rag, perhaps an old cotton T-shirt or cloth diaper instead of newspapers and paper towels.

Furniture Polishing

One very effective wood polish sounds like it would be a good salad dressing as well: Just mix 2 parts olive oil with 1 part lemon juice and apply it to your furniture using a soft cloth. The combination gives your wood furniture a nice smell and a sparkling shine.

Cleaning Bare Floors

Your basic vinegar and water solution is really the perfect choice for cleaning most types of bare floors in your home. Mix up 1 cup vinegar with 1 gallon warm water (be sure it’s warm!) and mop it onto a ceramic tile, linoleum, vinyl, or wood floor. There is no need to rinse afterward — saving both time and water. If your vinyl or linoleum floor looks a little dull after cleaning, you can give it a shine by mopping it over again with straight club soda. Try not to saturate wood floors with the vinegar and water solution. Use a light touch; the mixture will make your floor shiny and remove any greasy buildup.

Refrigerator Quick Clean

Killing bacteria and eliminating odors may sound like warfare. It can be environmentally friendly, however, if you make your own cleaning products from common, nontoxic household goods. Try some of these ideas:

• For general cleaning, sprinkle the area with baking soda and wipe with a damp cloth or sponge. Or mix a solution of equal parts water and either lemon juice or vinegar.
• Use toothpaste and a toothbrush to clean chrome fittings.
• Pop in a cotton ball doused with vanilla to freshen up a stale compartment.
• If things have progressed to the mold stage, attack the fungus with a paste of salt and vinegar.