Green Cleaning

I recently got the book Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity by Ellen Sandbeck, which I haven't even read most of yet but I love, love, love! (And I was just looking at that smiley 5 minutes ago and wondering what I'd ever use it for! )

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Housekeeping...09247913&sr=1-2

Turns out you don’t need a big book, although it’s helpful for zealous people like me. This is a great article to get started with green cleaning. There are just six basic ingredients – baking soda, borax, lemon juice, salt, olive oil and white vinegar – and you usually only need one or two for each task.

I never realized that all those store-bought cleaners are toxic. I remember reading a blog recently about green cleaning that has stuck with me. It said that clean doesn’t have a smell – clean is not the scent of a pine forest or all those other artificial scents they add to cleaners. I have a sensitive nose and don’t even like perfume – the samples in magazines almost always makes me sneeze. I’ve always hated the smell of things like Lysol, Pine-Sol and air fresheners.

The article has all the basics you need to know. Please refer to the article as I cannot possibly sum it up without heavy use of plagiarizing. The reader comments are also very helpful.
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/6-ingr...an-home-155345/

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Apr 26 2008, 03:18 PM

i use all types of cleaners i guess. i do use 'green' many times -- especially how you define green.

my coffee cup i simply rinse out most times.

i use harsh bathroom cleaners sometimes -- but only once every so often. other times i use just a dirty towel, or a green scrubbie with shampoo while i am in the shower.

so, while i use harsh cleaners -- my use of them is probably very low!

I love bleach and amonia, two oldies but goodies. I don't understand why there is so much criticism of bleach as long as you vent the air. It evaporates when used. It is non-toxic in hours. Amonia is a glorious cleaner and it smell good when scented, especially when you have animals and linoleum floors.

Here are more good tips. The links contain simple recipes for cleaning your kitchen, bathroom and other parts of your home.

How to Make a Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your...eaning-kit.html

Non-Toxic Home Cleaning
This one lists dozens of remedies for specific problems such as coffee, tea and carpet stains.
http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

23 Wonderful Ways to Use Salt
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/23-wonder...o-use-salt.html

Granny Knew Best
http://artisticflair2.com/cleaning.html

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Jun 15 2008, 09:11 PM