How to Clean a House With Homemade Remedies

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By Erinn Valencich
eHow Contributing Writer

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Clean a House With Homemade Remedies

With the shape of the economy these days—people are trying to save as much money as they can—and home remedies are a great way to do it. You can keep your home clean and fresh without spending much money or smelling those harsh toxins in cleaning products. Here are some easy cleaning remedies—with ingredients that you may already have at home!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Dish detergent
Water
Dryer sheets
Thyme
Toothpaste
White Vinegar
Baking soda
Cloth
Denture cleaner
Vitamin C capsules
Olive oil
Lemon juice or lemon oil
Mineral oil
Scented oil
Spruce tree cones
Grapefruit, lemons, oranges

Step 1

Use dish detergent to mop your floors. Start by mixing 2 tablespoons of detergent into 1 gallon of water. This mixture will give your floors a shiny surface that is easy to rinse (I also like to add scented fragrance to the mop water to get rid of odors). Try using this to clean your windows also, and wipe with dryer sheets to avoid lint.
Step 2

Soak 4 cups of thyme in 1 gallon of water for several days to get rid of that icky mildew that sticks to your bathtub and sinks. Use this mixture and scrub down the area. Toothpaste is also a good ingredient to bleach your bathroom tiles and sinks.
Step 3

Immerse a damp cloth in white vinegar to wipe any chrome surfaces clean. You can also soak any chrome items in the vinegar. A baking soda and water mixture is also great on chrome surfaces and ovens. To clean an oven, scrub it with baking soda and water. Leave the cleaning solution overnight and wipe clean the next day.
Step 4

Spray denture cleaner all over the toilet bowl and leave overnight to get rid of all the germs that collect. Scrub the bowl with a brush the next day. You can also drop three Vitamin C capsules in the bowl.
Step 5

Freshen a room with your own air freshener. Besides mopping your floor with scented water, you can also create homemade air fresheners. Saturate a ball of cotton with your favorite scent and put it in an open container or put scented oil on your light bulbs (the heat from the bulbs will create a fragrance in the air). You can also put it in the vacuum cleaner bag while you vacuum. For a clean, outdoor scent, immerse spruce tree cones in water for 24 hours. Boil for 2 hours and put it in a humidifier. Another way to bring a natural scent to your kitchen is to boil grapefruit, lemon and oranges and let it simmer for an hour.
Step 6

Polish and protect your furniture by creating your own polish. Mix 1 teaspoon of olive oil and ½ cup of lemon juice. Put mixture in a spray bottle, spray and wipe with a dry cloth. Another way to create furniture polish is by mixing 1 tablespoon of lemon oil with 4 cups of mineral oil.

Comments

maraiya said

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on 7/26/2009 Wow, I love this article! I will try these methods. I am very into using natural nontoxic products. I'm thinking of writing some sort of article about how to detox your life (home, food, et al) and if I do I will give a link to your article.