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Greener
Cleaning - Green Cleaning Products
Everyone wants a clean and
fresh smelling home, but if you’ve been using commercial cleaners and
air fresheners, you might have a home full of toxins! In fact, the EPA
says that the levels of pollutants in the home can be up to 100 times
higher than the outside air. This pollution can come from gasses given
off by anything from your carpeting to your kitchen cabinets to your
cleaning products.
Greener
Cleaning - Going through a Myriad of Green Cleaning Products
Walk into any grocery store
and you will see a myriad of cleaners – there’s so many it might even be
hard to choose. Most of them are loaded with harmful chemicals, but
there are many now that bear the words “natural” on the label. However,
one should not be fooled by that one little word – many of these
cleaners are anything but natural and there are no standards or
regulation for using this word on product labels.
Greener
Cleaning - Natural Green Cleaning Products
If you really want to go
green with your cleaning, there are plenty of natural things you can
use. Tea tree oil is a great natural cleaner for mold and mildew, baking
soda makes a wonderful abrasive cleaner and white vinegar is a great all
around cleaner that will shine your windows and mirrors like nobodies
business. In addition to the health benefits of no toxic cleaning, using
these substances is also much less costly than most store bought
cleaners.
Greener Cleaning -
Bathtubs and Sinks
For scrubbing surfaces like
bathtubs, sinks and even counters use a mixture of baking soda and
liquid detergent combined to make a paste. Put the paste on a sponge and
scrub away. You can also mix baking soda with a little water if you
prefer.
Greener
Cleaning - Glass Surfaces
For cleaning glass surfaces,
there is nothing like vinegar. Mix 3 tablespoons with 2 cups of water
and just a dab of liquid detergent. Put it in a spray bottle and shake
it up, then just spray on and wipe off as you would any cleaner.
Greener
Cleaning - Green Cleaning Products for Toxic Black Mold
When it comes to moldy
areas, bathroom tile and even cutting boards, you can use straight
vinegar sprayed on the area and let to sit for as long as you want (even
overnight). The vinegar will work to clean and sanitize as well as
deodorize. If you have a mold problem, combine 2 teaspoons tea tree oil
with 1 cup of water and spray directly on the area without wiping off –
it works wonders.
Greener
Cleaning - Natural Green Cleaning Products
You can even use natural
ingredients as an effective furniture polish and olive oil works wonders
for this task. Mix ½ teaspoon with ¼ cup lemon juice – dab onto a rag
and wipe over the wood. This mixture can be stored in a tightly closed
glass jar for quite some time.
Greener
Cleaning - Green Cleaning Deodorizing Products
When it comes to deodorizers
for the home, those store bought sprays are harmful both environmentally
and health wise. Your much better off to open the windows and let the
fresh air in. If that’s not enough then you can always put out bowls of
dried flowers or herbs, use an open box of baking soda to absorb odors
or place some cedar blocks strategically around the house.
There’s no reason why you
can’t clean everything in your home using natural ingredients, so throw
out all those chemical cleaner bottles and arm yourself with some baking
soda, vinegar and tea tree oil not only will your house be less toxic
but you’ll save on your next grocery bill too!
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Green
Home Living