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Make Your Own Green Cleaning Products

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Many household cleaners contain materials that may be harmful to the environment. For instance, phosphates, found in many cleaners, detergents and soaps, when washed into waterways can cause water blooms of algae and bacteria that can kill fish and aquatic plants. Other chemicals found in common household cleaners may include neurotoxins, carcinogens, allergens and heavy metals.

Most stores and online retailers sell natural cleaning products that offer environmentally safe, cost-efficient alternatives to the toxic and potentially lethal household cleaning products used in many homes today. When shopping, look at the labels and make the switch to natural products. You can also detoxify your home by making your own environmentally safe and effective products.

Homemade Alternatives to Toxic Household Products:

All Purpose Cleaners:

  • 1 cup of baking soda in 1 gallon of hot water

  • ¼ cup of borax and 1 tablespoon liquid soap in 1 gallon of hot water

Deodorizers:

  • Baking soda or cornstarch

  • Zeolite is a non-toxic mineral that absorbs odors, bacteria and mold

Disinfectants:

  • Citrus-based products

  • Mix ¼ cup borax with ¼ cup white vinegar in hot water

Drain Cleaners:

  • Use ¼ cup baking soda, followed by ½ cup vinegar, cover until fizzing stops, and then flush with boiling water

  • Use a plunger or drain snake on major clogs

Metal Polishes:

  • Brass: Olive oil retards tarnishing

  • Chrome: Polish with baby oil

  • Copper: Use a paste made of lemon juice and cream of tartar, leave on for 5 minutes, wash in warm water

Laundry Products:

  • Use borax instead of bleach

  • To remove blood stains, soak in cold water, club soda or hydrogen peroxide

Oven Cleaners:

  • Apply a baking soda paste, let stand for 1 hour to overnight

  • Self-cleaning ovens work well and use no cleaners

Scouring Powder:

  • Baking soda paste

  • Pumice stick on porcelain surfaces

Toilet Bowl Cleaners:

  • For rings, mix borax and lemon juice into a paste, cover ring with paste, let sit for 2 hours

  • Pumice stone will remove stains

Tub And Tile Cleaners:

  • Use ½ cup of borax in hot water

  • Sprinkle with baking soda