Clean, Green, Lean!...Do-it-Yourself Cleaning Products!!

I love homemade STUFF!!  I like that I can use fresh, basic ingredients with no preservatives, dyes, and other chemicals.  I just feel like it's a purer form of living and eating.....but what about CLEANING?

Did you know that with a few of the same basic ingredients that you cook with, you can clean with too?  Did you know that you probably have these ingredients in your pantry and hopefully in your food storage?  And did you know that they are WAAAAAAAAAAY safer and cheaper than commercial cleaners?

I held a class at my house on how to make your own cleaning products.  They are CLEAN (better than commercial products at getting the job done), they are GREEN (non-toxic, environmentally safe, chemical-free) and LEAN (on your wallet that is!!...costing pennies compared to commercial brands).  So with a little extra time and a little elbow grease, you can have an endless supply of cleaners using ingredients you already have!

FIRST....I need to give credit where credit is due!  Here are a few books I researched that I really liked....I just got them at my local library for FREE!!  Check them out and see what you think:

Naturally Clean (The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning) by Jeffrey Hollender

This is a great lesson in Chemistry, a resource list of toxic chemicals in everyday products, and which "green" products are truly green out there.....you'd be surprised by all the faulty advertising!  There are a few basic recipes to make your own as well.

Clean House, Clean Planet (Clean Your House for Pennies a Day, the Safe, Non-toxic Way)  by Karen Logan

I thought this one was a little out-dated as she still uses a lot of commercial soap products in her recipes.  However, she does give great chemistry lessons...on the toxic and nontoxic side of things, and has some great recipes.

The Complete Guide to Eco-Friendly House Cleaning by Anne B. Kocsis

I really liked this book.....she focuses on all of the above mentioned, but also gives several different recipes for the same thing so that you can pick and choose what works for you, or if you are out of an ingredient you can easily substitute another.  She also goes thru each room of the house and tells you how to clean and with which recipe to use!!  Great resource!!!

I also searched a few websites:

www.savvybrown.com
www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com
www.simplemom.net

I also enjoy reading Natural Home Magazine.

Now....a few things you should know before getting started making the big transition to Homemade Cleaning Products!!!

1.  NO Bubbles:  commercial products have tons of petroleum based chemicals which make our cleaning products foam and bubble.....because for some reason we think foam and bubbles = clean!  However, these products are toxic and really many times make matters worse (ie: carpet cleaners actually attract more dirt!)  When you make your own cleaning products, DO NOT expect foaming, bubbles, suds, etc. becasue there will not be any!!

2.  NO Fragrances:  commercial products contain chemical additives to mask the scents of the cleaning chemicals.  Often these fragrances are made from synthetics and not from actual plant materials.  Unless you add FOOD GRADE Essential Oils to your homemade cleaners, DO NOT expect them to smell!

3.  NO Color:  commercial products often are brightly colored for asthetic value only.  These dyes are, you guessed it, add even MORE chemicals to an already toxic mixture and they do not contribute at all to the cleaning power of the product.  With basic homemade recipes, DO NOT expect colors....they will be clear or white!!

Getting Started

I hope you'll bare with me as I give you a little lesson in chemistry!! :)  I just want you to know why you are using these ingredients and what they do chemically and therefore why they clean so well!

Much of cleaning has to do with the pH scale of acidic and alkaline substances.  The scale is neutral at 7, acidic as the numbers lower to 0 and alkaline as the numbers increase to 14.  Depending on where on this scale the dirt you are trying to clean is, deteremines what kind of "soap" you are going to clean with. 

Soaps tend to be alkaline, while chemical cleaners can be very acidic.  The goal is to battle with the opposite pH as the grime you are trying to eliminate....and "neutralize" or bring it as close to that nuetral 7 on the pH scale.  For example, greasy, oily dishes are acidic so you would attack it with an alkaline substance thus cancelling each other out.....and ending up with clean dishes!  Water spots on a window are alkaline so you would use an acidic cleaner to clear them away.

Make sense?.....so.....keep this in mind as I describe....

The Basic Ingredients 

**White Distilled Vinegar:  is ACIDIC, helps repel grease and grime, prevent mold and mildew, disolves soap film and mineral deposits and even freshens the air. (Logan, 52).  It's a great disinfectant...... I LOVE VINEGAR!!!!  It is AWESOME as a cleaner and I use it on everything!!!
"If you had to get rid of every household-cleaning product you owned and could only use one eco-friendly substance to clean with, VINEGAR would be the one to choose!" (Kocsis, 153).
This is because Vinegar is acidic a most dirt we encounter falls in the alkaline side of the pH scale.

**Baking Soda:  is ALKALINE, absorbs odors and acts as a mild abrasive, de-greasing agent, stain remover, laundry supplement, insect repellant and metal polisher.  It neutralizes acids to stabelize pH levels.  "If you were to add only 1 other non-toxic substance to your cleaning arsenal, it should be baking soda" (Kocsis, 154).

**Water:  is NEUTRAL, so why would you need it for cleaning? It's the universal solvent, the most basic cleaner of all!!  Don't underestimate its power, especially when it's steaming hot, it can dissolve tough stains and built up grime as well as sterilize.  Using purified water is best because tap water (especially hard water) has minerals in it that can inhibit cleaning.

The Other Ingredients

Lemon Juice:  acidic, acting much like Vinegar.
Salt:  alkaline, acting much like Baking Soda, good disinfectant
Washing Soda:  known as Soda Ash or sodium carbonate, used as a water softener for laundry
Borax:  strong alkaline...antifungal properties.
Citric Acid:  found naturally in many fruits, but especially citrus (oranges, lemons, limes)....basically it's a powdered form of lemon juice
Hydrogen Peroxide:  whitening agent
Olive Oil:  for wood, leather, and cleaning plants
Club Soda:  for glass
Essentail Oils:  FOOD GRADE ORGANIC are best!!...for fragrance mostly!

Now that you know the basics, check my next posts for RECIPES!!!.....and have fun Cleaning!!