Healthy Household Cleaning Solutions
Healthy household cleaning solutions provide many benefits beyond cleaning. They improve health by avoiding harmful chemicals; they save money compared to using commercial, chemical-laden cleaners and they lead to a deeper awareness of other ecological and natural living choices and solutions. Housecleaning in a healthy, natural way means making some changes after a thoughtful consideration of your habits, options and needs. Using healthy household cleaning solutions can be the first step in a larger overall plan for positive changes. Does this Spark an idea?
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Do Your Homework
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In "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning," authors Linda Formichelli and Mary Findley recommend checking out the products you use by researching them. Look at product ingredients and look them up to find out the effects of using them and research natural ingredients such as lemon juice and olive oil for cleaning. They also recommend not using spray products and switching everything that you spray to a gel or natural liquid cleanser to avoid human and animal respiratory irritation exposure. Take all toxic household cleaning products that you want to get rid of to your local waste disposal facility for safe disposal.
Simplify Tools
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Build up a supply of healthy, reusable, durable cleaning tools to use instead of expensive, disposable cleaning products. Collect worn out old towels to cut up for cleaning cloths, a sturdy mop with a supply of two or three new sponge and scrubbing mop heads, a pot scrubber, an old toothbrush, a stiff utility brush, a utility bucket and a spray bottle for cleaning solutions. Use these instead of aerosol sprays, phosphate-based soaps, chemical-laden scented fresheners or disposable cleaning aids.
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Make Your Own
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Simple, safe household cleaning solutions are easy to prepare. White vinegar, baking soda, club soda, fresh lemon juice, borax and table salt are all good cleaning agents for a variety of household cleaning issues. Use a spray bottle with a ratio of one part cleaning agent to three parts water for window cleaning with vinegar or borax for laundry stain treatment. Club soda is another stain treatment for clothing and fabrics. A bit of baking soda mixed with a couple of drops of water makes a great scrubbing abrasive for oven cleaning, grill rack cleaning and scrubbing pots and pans. Use a half-cup of white vinegar and 1 tbsp. of baking soda for a bubbling toilet bowl cleanser. Use olive oil with a clean cotton cloth for furniture polish and wood treatment, adding a couple of drops of oil from fresh pressed lemon peel if desired.
Do the Math
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In their book "Green Cleaning for Dummies," Elizabeth Goldsmith and Betsy Sheldon write that cleaning green means saving money. Go through your cleaning closet, look at the cost of every specialty cleaning product and compare it to the cost of a healthy, natural cleaning solution. Also consider the cost of exposure to toxic aerosols, toxic chemicals and adding harmful substances to the water supply compared to the minimal impact of using cleaning items like baking soda and vinegar.
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References
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