How to Make Natural Cleaning Products

No matter how many 'natural' ingredients are listed on outside packaging, most popular cleaning supplies aren't truly all natural. The ingredients in many cleaning products are considered hazardous, but manufacturers are not required to display them on packaging. Showing the ingredients, manufacturers say, would reveal their proprietary product recipes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   Baby Oil for polishing chrome (faucets, hubcaps). When grease builds up, it becomes hard to remove. Rubbing baby oil on the product will loosen the buildup and restore the original shine.

2. 
    

   Olive Oil for cleaning and shining leather shoes. Olive oil soaks into the material, conditioning it and helping it to look like new. It also prevents the leather from cracking by keeping it smooth.

3. 
    

   Vinegar for an all-purpose cleaner. Mix 1 part water to 1 part vinegar. It is also a disinfectant and deodorizer.

4. 
    

   Baking soda for neutralizing acid, deodorizing, and clean and polish metals and plastics. Sprinkle on carpet to lift stains and odors. Use inplace of laundry detergent.

5. 
    

   Mineral Oil for polishing wood and removing sticky residue. Provides a durable finish without the odor or drying time of varnish on wood. Use to remove sticker residue.

Tips & Warnings

• Not only are these products cheaper then store bought, it eliminates the waste of new bottles.
• Don't worry about your home smelling like vinegar. The smell disappears when it dries.
• Improperly diluted vinegar is acidic and can eat away at tile grout. Never use vinegar on marble surfaces.

[ezyas123]

on 7/28/2009 Great tips.

[aj1027]

on 5/12/2009 Great tips and well written article. Thanks 5*

[mcccmu]

on 5/6/2009 Great tips. If you wad and un-wad newspaper a few times, you can use it to wipe a vinegar-mixture off of the glass when you clean windows. It prevents streaks, makes the windows shiny and saves on paper towels! 5*

[carmensjones]

on 5/6/2009 good ideas. will have to try

[HannahShalom]

on 5/5/2009 I use olive oil for so many things, now I have one more thing to use it for.