Green Cleaning

I'm a day late with this post. I just hate it when life interferes! Well, anyway, here it is.

So many, maybe all, of the conventional cleaners we use contain toxic chemicals. They cause respitory problems and are dangerous to kids and pets. Did you know that vinegar is just as powerful a disinfectant as bleach? But unlike bleach, it won't ruin your clothes and is not harsh like bleach. It's safe for kids and pets and the environment. Vinegar has hundreds of uses. In your laundry, it's a fabric softener and a whitener and brightener. It also nuetralized and eliminates organic odors, such as urine. Spray your pets with apple cider vinegar and fleas will be eliminated. Also add it to their food or water (I've found food works better) for the same result. If you Google "uses for vinegar" you will find many more uses and health benefits for pets. I use it on my counters, tables, floors, in my laundry, sinks, and toilet.

Baking soda is also powerful on odors. We all know to add a box to the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odors. Did you know you can use it instead of the popular and conventional scouring powders? Baking soda works wonders on burned on food on pots and pans, faucets, in the laundry, on toilets..... Google "uses for baking soda" and again, you will find many surprising uses.

Lemon is phenomemol on soap scum and can be used to polish brass and copper. http://housekeeping.ask.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm is a website that can tell you more about how to use lemon. This is something I have not tried yet but will be soon. I am very excited to see how it will work at my house.

I have replaced my laundry detergent. It also contains many chemicals and things that are harmful, not to mention the packaging! I discovered soap nuts. They don't get all sudsy like conventional detergent but my clothes look and smell clean. It is much cheaper than the conventional detergents as well. You can buy them at http://www.buysoapnuts.com.

These are the best cleaning methods I've learned of lately and really there isn't much else you could need. I saw something on green dishwashing soap. I will be looking more into that for next time!