How to Go Green With House Cleaning Natural Products

Vinegar is a powerful natural cleaner.

Switching from chemical and disposable cleaning products to greener alternatives is not only more environmentally friendly, it's less expensive and healthier for your family. Simple, readily available products are also safe for your septic system. Learning to prepare them will help you reach your green goals. Once you've put together a collection of these products, you'll be able to put together a cleaning agent for any purpose.

Things You'll Need

• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda
• Olive oil
• Laundry soap
• Borax
• Washing soda
• Cloth rags
• Sponges
• Newspaper

Instructions

1. Stock up on the makings of natural, homemade cleaning supplies. Distilled white vinegar works as a laundry softener and deodorizer as well as a strong cleaning agent for non-porous surfaces. Baking soda absorbs odors, is an abrasive agent for cleaning and reacts with vinegar to power away drain clogs and clean tough stains. Olive oil conditions and cleans wood products. These three products, available at your grocery store, will clean nearly everything in your house without chemicals.

2. Make your own laundry detergent. Bars of laundry soap are available at grocery stores. Grate one and mix with 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda. These washing boosters turn the grated soap into a super laundry detergent. You'll only need 1 tablespoon to wash a standard load of dirty clothes. Without additives to encourage suds or to whiten or scent the detergent, this is a green alternative to commercial detergents.

3. Use reusable cleaning supplies like a standard mop, which is a greener solution than a system that uses throw-away pads, or make your own washable pads to use with the mop that would ordinarily use the disposable pads. Use cloth rags instead of paper towels whenever you can, and reduce the number of paper towels you'll need to dispose of in the landfill. Use sponges instead of paper towels, too.

4. Recycle newspaper as housekeeping supplies. Use newspaper instead of paper towels to clean your windows, and shred newspaper to use as pet bedding or cat litter.

5. Remove chemical cleaning products from your home. For each, there is a greener alternative. Evaluate your need for every cleaning product you currently own, and adopt a more environmentally friendly alternative. Even the most caustic chemical concoctions have green alternatives. For instance, vinegar and baking soda will clean an oven as well as commercial oven cleaner. This duo will also unclog a drain as well as drain cleaners made with chemicals.

References

• Tree Hugger: How to Go Green -- Cleaning
• Natural Organic Market: How to Go Green -- House Cleaning Tips
• Casa Sugar: How to Be Green When You Clean