No, we aren’t going to just live in squalor.Dan and I have made the decision to give up our cleaning supplies and trade them for more natural cleaning agents.
Enter the holy trinity of natural cleaning supplies: baking soda, vinegar and lemon. Instead of purchasing a cleaner for the bathroom, one for the kitchen, one for the floors, bleach for the laundry, etc…trying buying these three items that will cover it all. Not only will you be saving a ridiculous amount of money, but you are also using non-toxic cleaning solutions and opening up a whole bunch of space in your cabinets (go ahead, open your cabinets and see how much space those chemicals take up).
Uses for vinegar:
1. Mopping your floors: vinegar and warm water does wonders and makes them shine.
2. Washing your dishes: add some to your dishwater.
3. Keeping the spots off of your dishes in the dishwasher: I just pour some in the bottom of the dishwasher after I’ve loaded it up.
4. Cleaning your dishwasher: adding it in with each load of dishes will help remove buildup and keep buildup from happening.
5. As a substitute for bleach to whiten your clothes: using this instead of bleach is effective and not as harsh.
6. Cleaning your coffee pot: Fill up the water reservoir, do not put a filter in, and then just run the coffee maker as usual. Afterwards, run a pot of clean water the same way to remove the vinegar scent. You can also use apple cider vinegar for a better smell.
7. Cleaning your oven/microwave/refrigerator: with some hot water or just straight vinegar you can get all of your appliances clean.
8. Taking the buildup off of your shower head/faucets: For the shower head, just put some vinegar in a little baggy, put it up over the shower head and then secure it with a rubber band. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, remove and rinse with clean water. Do the same for the faucets.
9. Cleaning your shower curtain: Vinegar with some hot water should take the scum right off. I’ve also heard that keeping a spray bottle with vinegar and water by the bath tub and spraying the shower curtain before you get out of the shower is a great preventative measure to keep the scum away.
10. Lightening your hair: yes that’s right, rinsing your hair in vinegar will lighten your hair.
Uses for baking soda
1. Making a paste of baking soda and water (the more water the less abrasive the paste will be) makes a great oven cleaner. Spread some on the inside of the oven, then let sit for 20 minutes. Then you should be able to wipe it off with a damp rag. For the tougher spots, keep repeating this process until it’s clean.
2. To relieve itchiness from hives, big bites or other irritants: I am highly allergic to grass, so as a kid I took many baking soda baths. Just run a warm bath and sprinkle in some baking soda (We just eyeball it, so I can’t really give you an exact measurement, I would say at least a cup or two.) Then just soak in the tub for a while.
3. To keep your refrigerator smelling fresh: just place an open container in your fridge and it will soak up the odors.
4. As a bug repellant: putting some near windows/doors and under sinks can keep pesky bugs away
5. As a bathroom/kitchen/all-purpose cleaner: put 3 tablespoons of baking soda into an empty spray bottle, fill with water (leaving about an inch of space), shake and then use it like you would your regular cleaner.
6. Laundry: add some to your next wash load for a stronger cleaning power.
7. Freshen up your carpets: sprinkle some on your carpets, let sit for a few minutes, and then vacuum as usual. It will take away smells and help clean the carpets.
Uses for lemon:
1. Cleaning your garbage disposal: cut a lemon in half and run it down the garbage disposal. The acid will help break down the buildup and it will remove the horrible odors.
2. Laundry: works like bleach. Add some to your wash water.
3. To clean the microwave: quarter a lemon, add to 2 cups of water in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for 3 minutes. The food particles should wipe right off.
4. Cleaning your toilet: empty your toilet of water, make a paste with lemon juice and salt, put paste on tough rust spots. Let sit for 15 minutes, then scrub toilet and rinse.
5. Vinegar/baking soda enhancer: you can add lemon to vinegar or baking soda to use on dirtier projects.
6. Lightens your hair: again, rinsing your hair with lemon juice will lighten your hair.
These are just a few of the many ways that you can use these three items in place of store bought cleaning supplies. Not only are these environment friendly, kid friendly and amazing cleaners, but they are super cheap. For example, Walmart.com has a 2lb box of baking soda for $1.00, 1 gallon of white vinegar (name brand) for $2.56 and a bottle of lemon juice for $2.19. These mixed with water will last forever. Let’s look at the price of household cleaners: on Walmart.com you can get a SC Johnson 6pc cleaning bundle which includes 6 household cleaners (which do the same stuff) for $18.43!!! That’s $5.75 compared to $18.43, and the trinity will last you a lot longer, is much more versatile and doesn’t scare me if my kids get near it.
I’ve already been using baking soda, vinegar and lemons every once in a while, but once we run out of our house hold cleaners we will be switching to baking soda, vinegar and lemons only! (I might want to switch, but I’m not wasteful. I will use up my old stuff before I start with the new stuff.) I’m taking the challenge, will you?
