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| White vinegar and baking soda are great nontoxic cleaning ingredients |
Eliminating toxic substances from my home is the core of my healthy living plan. Processed food, household cleaners, and personal care items contain tons of harmful chemical ingredients including formaldehyde, preservatives, petroleum derivatives, BHA, parabens, phthalates, chemicals in fragrance, VOCs,and artificial colors. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to a wide variety of autoimmune illnesses, fibromyalgia, lupus, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer.
Changing my lifestyle truly changed my life. I recovered from fibromyalgia and have stayed healthy since I started eating real food instead of processed food and switched to safer
household products,
Cleaning products are especially problematical because we spread them on surfaces all over our homes, get them on our skin, and breathe the toxic ingredients into our lungs where they circulate throughout the body with the potential to damage every organ in the body.
You can buy nontoxic laundry detergent, dish washing liquid, automatic dishwasher tabs, all-purpose spray cleaners, and liquid hand soap at Target and Walmart from companies like Seventh Generation and Method.
You can also make your own cleaning products from inexpensive ingredients like plain white vinegar and baking soda. Here are three of my favorites:
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| All-Purpose Cleaner |
All Purpose Cleaner
Mix equal parts of plain white vinegar and water in a spray bottle.That's it!
Use this mixture to clean countertops, mirrors, appliances, chrome, faucets, and anything else you would normally clean with a commercial all-purpose cleaner. Spray the solution on the surface you want to clean. Wipe it off with paper towels or a micro fiber cloth. No rinsing needed. Be sure to use a micro fiber cloth when cleaning mirrors, glass, and chrome. It will leave them clean and shiny without leaving behind paper residue. You can buy large jugs of inexpensive vinegar at any big box store or supermarket.
Interesting factoid: Vinegar contains 5 % acetic acid which kills bacteria and viruses. Vinegar is such an effective germ killer that it is used in many hospital high risk neonatal units to protect vulnerable newborns from exposure to both germs and harsh chemicals.
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| Tile Floor Cleaner |
Tile Floor Cleaner
I have quarry tile floors in my kitchen, den, sunroom, and foyer. I love the natural swirly look of the tile that makes me feel like I'm walking across stones on a creek bed. I don't love that the floors need heavy duty cleaning because this area gets a lot of foot traffic.I experimented with various combinations of ingredients and the one I settled on keeps my floors cleaner than any commercial product I have ever used.
Buy an inexpensive one gallon pitcher with a lid.Fill it half full with warm water. Add 1 Tbs of mild nontoxic dish detergent and 1/2 c baking soda and stir. Add 1/2 c of plain white vinegar. Warning: fizzing will occur! I put my pitcher in the laundry room sink while I'm making this so if it bubbles over, no problem. Go do something else while you wait for it to quit fizzing. After the bubbling subsides,slowly add more warm water to finish filling the pitcher. Stir as you add the rest of the water. You can use your favorite mop and just pour a little of the solution on the floor and mop away. I use a mop that has a pump sprayer, a reservoir to add the cleaning solution, and a micro fiber cleaning pad that can be tossed in the washing machine after each use. It is easy to fill the mop reservoir with the solution since my pitcher has a nice pouring spout. Put the lid on the pitcher when you are done and store any leftover solution for your next mopping task. After you mop the floor with this solution, go over the floor again with a clean damp mop using plain water.Your floors will be sparkling clean and fresh.
Wood Cleaner
This mixture is great for cleaning and restoring scratched wooden surfaces.Use it on tabletops, furniture, doors, or any wooden object in need of a little TLC. I have used it to make 30 year old rocking chairs look brand new and to erase all the scratches on a dining table I purchased at a huge discount because it had been a floor sample. I used some on the scratched closet door pictured below. The scratches disappeared as soon as I put the solution on the door.
To make the wood cleaner: Mix 3/4 of a cup of canola oil with 1/4 of a cup of white vinegar. Apply to the marred wooden surface with a clean rag, micro fiber cloth, or a paper towel. Leave the mixture on for at least an hour. You can leave it on overnight if you want. Buff with a clean dry cloth.The wood usually soaks up most of the mixture so there may be little or no residue of the oil to wipe off as you buff. If you are unsure about using this on a specific type of wood or a treasured family antique, do a test run first. Apply some of the mixture to an inconspicuous spot on the back or underside of the piece of furniture and leave overnight to see if you like the results before doing the entire piece of furniture.
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| Before using wood cleaner |
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| After using wood cleaner |
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