Common Household Cleaning Chemicals
With all the cleaning products available on the market nowadays, trying to figure out which chemicals are best for keeping your home clean can be a bit confusing and somewhat expensive. Fortunately, there are a few versatile and common household cleaning chemicals that will keep your home looking its best without a hefty price tag. Does this Spark an idea?
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Ammonia
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Commonly found in many commercial cleaning products, ammonia cuts through dirt, grime and grease from a variety of surfaces. Ammonia is often a main ingredient in window and glass cleaners because of its streak-free ability to cleane glass. To make your own glass cleaner, mix 1 cup of clear, non-sudsy ammonia with 3 cups of cool water. Fill a spray bottle with the ammonia mixture, mist your windows and wipe clean with a lint-free cloth. In addition, you can clean tiles and remove soap scum by cleaning with a mixture of 1/4 cup ammonia and 1 gallon of cool water. Rinse the surface clean with cool water and wipe dry with a towel.
Bleach
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A common staple in many laundry rooms, bleach will disinfect hard surfaces and brighten white fabrics. Bleach is also a common choice to deal with fungus such as mold and mildew. Unfortunately, bleach can discolor and damage various surfaces, such as fabric, carpets and upholstery. Mix 1 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of cool water and wash hard surfaces clean. Never mix bleach with ammonia or products that contain ammonia. The resulting fumes are toxic. Rinse off the bleach mixture with cool water and wipe dry. You can substitute oxygen bleach for chlorine bleach as a safer alternative.
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Borax
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Made from sodium borate, borax will clean just about any hard surface. Dissolve 1 cup of the versatile powdered cleaning agent in 1 gallon of water. Wash vinyl floors, tiles, walls, tubs, sinks, showers and wood with a sponge saturated in the mixture. Once you have thoroughly cleaned the item, rinse the surface with cool water to remove any remaining residue. Wipe dry with a towel or let the surface air-dry.
Vinegar
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A pungent liquid, vinegar is the common ingredient in many natural cleaning recipes. Its inexpensive price tag makes it an economical choice to replace various expensive commercial cleaners. Since vinegar is all-natural, you do not need to dilute it with water. Undiluted white vinegar will kill mold and mildew, remove soap scum and eliminate unpleasant odors. Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and mist curtains, upholstery and carpet. As the vinegar air-drys it will remove the unpleasant odors from the fibers. Furthermore, spray mold and mildew with undiluted white vinegar and let sit for several minutes before wiping the surface clean with a damp cloth.
Baking Soda
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Another option for cleaning your home without chemicals, baking soda removes odors, grease and dirt from your home. One cup of baking soda per every gallon of warm water can be used to clean your sinks, tubs, showers, greasy cabinets and decks. Make sure to rinse off the mixture from the surface with water to remove any mixture residue.
Keep your toilet bowls sparkling by adding 1 cup of baking soda and scrubbing with a toilet scrubber. Let the baking soda sit inside the bowl for several hours before flushing the toilet clean.
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References
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- Photo Credit Cleaning the home image by Photosani from Fotolia.com
