Use of Natural Products for House-Cleaning
Environment Friendly Ways to Clean Your House
Aug 25, 2008
Housecleaning is a necessity, but an even more compelling one is to protect the environment. Start your cleaning day by getting the products you need ready. They are:
- undiluted lemon juice
- plenty of vinegar
- coarse salt
- lavender essence or bunches of dried lavender
- camomile tea bags
- toothpaste and old toothbrushes
- several natural sponges
- old, torn pantyhose
- old newspapers
- sawdust (if you can get it)
- brushes and brooms with natural bristles
Start by preparing a huge jug of strong camomile tea and a bucket of lavender water, using either the dried variety or the essence. Let steep in hot water for later use. Take one of the natural sponges, soak with vinegar and lavishly drench bathroom and kitchen appliances, such as taps and drains, leaving to soak to soften grime.
Fill a bucket with very hot water and wash your windows with another natural sponge. Don't forget the frames. Dry off with crumpled up newspaper, but leave slightly damp. Then carefully repeat the operation with undiluted vinegar, dry off and finish by polishing with newspaper. Your windows, mirrors, pictures and everything else made of glass, will sparkle. The vinegar also serves as an insect repellent.
Kitchen and bathroom tiles are equally washed down first with hot water and then rubbed clean with lemon juice, which is a natural bleach without the agressivness of chemical products... not to mention the lovely smell. For smaller surfaces, you can use cotton wool instead of old newspaper for polishing.
Panyhose is great for dusting your furniture. No spray or polish is needed. The material provides a good sheen.
Whilst the vinegar will have softened the grime, get to work with toothpaste and toothbrushes to remove the more tenacious residue on taps and drains. Use on the grout between the tiles as well. Rinse with hot water and/or lemon juice.
The coarse salt and sawdust are used to clean your floors, provided they are not made of wood. Sprinkle the floor liberally, take a brush with strong, natural bristles, the bucket with lavender water and scrub. Clean off with another helping of lavender water. For wooden floors you can use dry sawdust, leave overnight, sweep up and polish with a very dry and soft cloth.
The camomile tea is a good disinfectant. Pour down the bathroom and kitchen drains and your toilet bowl and use with another natural sponge on any surface you want to disinfect.
Environment friendly cleaning requires more time and a greater physical effort (vigorous polishing, sweeping, scrubbing) than using industrial chemicals. On the other hand, think of it as a form of exercise which benefits your body. Bear in mind the good you do to protect the earth and , finally, consider how much money you save using natural products or recycled ones like the laddered pantyhose and the old newspapers as opposed to the expensive supermarket products.
