I had two revelations over this past weekend that furthers the subject of living the “green” life yet another simple and yet important step. The first came while watching a T.V. program which discussed the fact that most of our water pollution today doesn’t come from industrial pollution, although its certainly provides a large element of it in specific locations, but instead comes from the day to day things that we use to better our everday life that are getting back onto the water and earth. Have you ever thought about flushing and old bottle of a prescription drug down the toilet? That gets it out of our way but puts it eventually back into the water supply. The same thing applies to household cleaning products, astringents, oil based products. I remember a time when people changed the oil in their car and just dumped the old oil products into the sewer. I think most people know not to do that anymore but we did it for 100 years before we stopped. With all of this swirling in my mind I ran across a great article on AOL/Home “ ShelterPop! Obsessions and Trends for Your Home/66 ALL NATURAL CLEANING SOLUTIONS.
http://home.aol.com/new_in_home/photogallerytall/_a/66-all-natural-cleaning-solutions/20090615135209990001
I don’t have enough space nor could I keep your attention long enough to list all 66 but I will over the next few blogs touch on several of them that I think are the most important. From that AOL article I want to begin with Lemons and Vinegar.
Lemons:
The acid in lemon juice removes dirt and rust stains. It's especially effective when mixed with salt, which makes "an excellent scouring paste," says Karyn Siegel-Maier, author of The Naturally Clean Home. Price: About 50 cents a lemon. Use them to clean your...
Countertops: Dip the cut side of a lemon half in baking soda to tackle countertops; wipe with a wet sponge and dry. Don't use on delicate stone, like marble, or stainless steel (it may discolor).
Cutting boards: To remove tough food stains from light wood and plastic cutting boards, slice a lemon in half, squeeze onto the soiled surface, rub, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.
Dishes: To increase the grease-cutting power of your dishwashing detergent, add a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Faucets: Combat lime scale by rubbing lemon juice onto the taps and letting it sit overnight. Wipe with a damp cloth.
Garbage disposal: Cut a lemon in half, then run both pieces through the disposal. "The lemon cleans it and makes it smell great," says Linda Mason Hunter, a coauthor of Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home.
Grout: Spilled morning coffee on your tile countertop or backsplash? Here's how to tackle grout stains: Add lemon juice to 1 or 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (an acidic salt that acts as a natural bleaching agent) to make a paste. Apply with a toothbrush, then rinse.
Hands: When you touch raw fish, the smell can linger on your fingers. Rub your hands with lemon juice, which will neutralize the odor.
Laundry: To brighten whites, add 1/2 cup lemon juice to the rinse cycle for a normal-size load.
Plastic food-storage containers: To bleach stains from tomato soup and other acidic foods on dishwasher-safe items, rub lemon juice on the spots, let dry in a sunny place, then wash as usual.
I had written previously about using vinegar to clean your shower head especially when it as become clogged. But ran across a use for vinegar, this past week, that even this author missed. I had a little breakfast bar built in my kitchen and I used ceramic tile for the countertop. When the tile setter was through he said to use simple white vinegar to wipe the tile down when the grout was dry to get rid of the grout haze. IT WORKS! One wipe down and the tile was clean and sparkled. Here are a few more uses for vinegar that I never knew:
Vinegar:
This acidic wonder can wipe out tarnish, soap scum, mineral deposits, and more. Among natural cleaners, it's the clear champ. Distilled white vinegar creates an environment that inhibits the growth of mold, mildew, and some bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella, says Jeffrey Hollender, author of Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning. Price: About $1.80 for a quart at supermarkets. Use it to clean your...
Coffeemaker: Pour equal parts vinegar and water into the machine's water chamber, then switch on the brew cycle. Halfway through, turn off the coffeemaker and let the solution sit for about an hour. Turn it on again to complete the cycle, then run several cycles with clean water.
Dishwasher: To disinfect the interior of the machine, pour 1/2 cup vinegar into the reservoir and run an empty cycle, says Hunter. Or place a small bowl filled with vinegar on the bottom rack and run an empty cycle.
Drains: Clean drains―and the pipes they're attached to―by pouring vinegar down them. After 30 minutes, flush with cold water.
Floors: Add 1/4 cup vinegar to a bucket of warm water to clean almost any type of floor except marble (vinegar can scratch it) or wood (vinegar can strip it).
Glassware: For spotless hand-washed glasses, add 1 cup vinegar to the rinse water.
Moldy walls: Spray vinegar on the affected areas. After about 15 minutes, rinse and let dry thoroughly.
Showerheads: To combat mineral deposits, pour vinegar into a plastic grocery bag and knot the handles over the neck of the showerhead, securing with rubber bands. Let soak overnight. Rinse with water in the morning.
Steam iron: To get rid of mineral deposits, fill the iron with equal parts vinegar and water; press the steam button. Turn off, let cool, empty, and rinse.
Windows: Mix 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 cups water, and a squirt of liquid Castile soap in a spray bottle. Spritz windows and wipe with a sheet of newspaper
I hope you will try some of these non-polluting solutions around your home and read the entire article at the link above and let me know things that we may have missed on how you use lemons and vinegar. Email me or leave a comment here on the blog site.
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