Eco cleaning
There are many eco friendly ways to clean your household and avoid exposure to the toxic chemicals in many household cleaning products. You'll find that most eco cleaning products basically amount to three or four types of natural cleaners, mixed into a paste, a spray, or a undiluted and left to set. If you keep baking soda, toothpaste, vinegar, and club soda in the house, there is pretty much nothing that you can't clean. It's as easy as keeping around a hammer and some duct tape to fix little things in the household. Here are some eco cleaning recipes to use to make cleaning a less costly and more environmentally friendly chore for you.
For a soft scrub solution, mix 1 cup of baking soda with 1 cup of soap. Mix and use to scrub tile, bathtubs, toilets, and sinks. The soap can be a mild commercial detergent, but if you want to get really eco cleaning, use a natural soap from the local co op.
For an eco cleaning approach to liquid detergent, mix 1 cup of soap, 1/3 cup of salt, 1 cup of dissolved baking soda (dissolve the baking soda in low heat over the stove), 1 cup of vinegar, 40 drops of grapefruit seed extract, and fill a gallon jug halfway with water. Then pour in the mix, and shake well. Use the solution on tubs, sinks, and tile. The soap and the grapefruit seed oil can be purchased at the co op- don't use grapefruit essential oils, like the kind that are used in incense or eco room fresheners; it's not the same thing.
To make an eco-friendly disinfectant, mix ¼ cup of Borax with a half gallon of hot water. Put in a spray bottle and disinfect. Borax is great, its one of the cleaners that Grandma used, and it is as eco friendly as you can get for a "commercial" product.
For a natural oven cleaner, mix ¼ cup baking soda, 2 tbsp. salt and hot water so it becomes a paste. Let the paste sit for five minutes, then scrub your oven. Make no mistake about it, this will take longer then a chemical spray, but chemical oven cleaners use fluorocarbons and the smell/ fumes can make you pass out. Also, you have to wear gloves with commercial oven cleaners for a reason-they burn like heck if you get them on your skin. Not so with this method.
For a good mixture to clean toilet bowls, put ¼ cup of baking soda into a bowl and add a small amount of vinegar. Let the mixture sit for half an hour. Scrub with a toilet brush and then flush. Use borax to remove remaining stains. The longer you let it set, the easier it will be. If you keep your bowl clean regularly, you shouldn't have any problems using this method.
For an eco friendly way to use foam carpet cleaner, mix ¼ cup of oil-based liquid soap, and 3 tbsp. water. Whip the mixture in a bowl until it becomes foamy. Rub the foam into stained areas of your rug or carpet, and then rinse.
To polish silver, rub white non gel toothpaste on your silver piece. Let it dry, and then rinse it well with water. This is a time tested trick from the sixties. Toothpaste is a great cleaner because it is abrasive enough to get the job done but won't take the surface off your silver-or your teeth.
The only fret I hear about eco cleaning is that the house often smells like vinegar afterward. This is true; most people acquaint the smell of pine with a clean house. The solution for this is citrus or lavender oil mixed with mineral water and sprayed around the house-guess where you can buy that? That's right, the co op.
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This article is property of Anyclean Premium Ltd - the eco cleaning services company in London. For more information on cleaning houses, offices, carpets and upholstery, visit our website http://www.anyclean.co.uk.
Why switch to natural cleaning products
What is Global Warming? Global warming is going on right now this very minute. It is the result of glaciers melting, sea levels rising, cloud forests drying, and wildlife suffering try their best to survive.
People are realizing finally that the cause of these catastrophes have been caused by the humans that live on this planet. For centuries, people have been warming the earth by releasing heat-trapping gases as we use toxic chemicals (toxins in cleaning products) and toxic powers (utilities) in our daily lives.
These gases are called greenhouse gases; their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years. Wow! We call the result global warming, but it is causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather patterns, that changes from place to place.
As our planet spins each day, the new heat swirls with it, picking up moisture over the oceans, rising here, settling there. It is changing the rhythms of climate that all living species rely on to survive.
What can we do to slow down the hazardous effects of global warming?
One thing we can do is change the cleaning products we use. By using natural cleaning products, we can help save the planet! We need to use products that are made by natural substances that are environmentally safe for people and for the planet.
Natural cleaning products present environmentally safe, cost-efficient choices the toxic and lethal house cleaning products used in many homes worldwide. Using natural cleaning products is dangerous as most cleaning products commonly used in the home eventually contact the air, water, and/or soil, where they can cause significant and irreparable harm to animals, plants, drinking water, and food.
The average person uses about 40 pounds of toxic household cleaning products each year. Scary! These cleaning products contain dangerous ingredients, including neurotoxins, carcinogens, allergens, central nervous system depressants, heavy metals, and other agents that cause or contribute to cancer, respiratory problems, reproductive abnormalities, allergic reactions, and behavioral problems, among other serious medical conditions.
Ingredients from household cleaning products make their way into the environment through various ways:
• They are flushed down toilets.
• They are poured down sinks.
• They are sprayed into the air.
• They are thrown into the trash.
• They are dumped onto the ground.
Amazingly, many harmful cleaning products are dumped into lands or incinerated, upon which they release their toxins into the environment and contribute to depletion of the ozone layer, pollute groundwater, contaminate the soil, and harm plant and animal life.
What are people thinking? To help you develop a clear understanding of what the traditional cleaning are doing here are some examples:
• Phosphates found in dishwasher and laundry detergents, cause algae bloom, which kills fish and aquatic plants, and produces chemicals that are toxic to animals and people who drink the water.
• Trisodium nitrilotriacetate is a possible carcinogen in laundry detergents. It can upset the elimination of metals in wastewater treatment facilities.
• Chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite), available alone and in detergents and other products, is toxic to fish and can bind with organic compounds in water to form organochlorines, which slowly make its way into the environment and build up in the fatty tissues of wildlife. Chlorine is especially toxic to organisms that live in water and soil.
• Napthas and mineral spirits, found in furniture polishes, are neurotoxins and considered hazardous waste. Mineral spirits break down very slowly and pollute air and water.
• Formaldehyde, an ingredient in furniture polish and various cleaning products, is a potential human carcinogen and is the leading cause of cancer in many animals.
• Phthalates, found in furniture polish, upset work of hormones causing genetic defects in both animals and people.
• Ether-type solvents, methylene chloride, butyl cellosive, and petroleum distillates, usuakky found in oven cleaners are harmful wastes and can pollute the air, water, and soil.
• Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, in drain cleaners, can change the pH of water and cause fish to die.
This is why people worldwide need to stop and consider the short-term and long-term dangers were infesting into our planet not even realizing it. Natural cleaning products can be used instead of the traditional cleaners that are toxic. Most of the natural products cost the same and some cost less. It is time to make a change. If we don’t who will? In my next article, I will teach you ways on how you can make natural cleaning products in your own home!
Lemons Aren’t Just For Ice Tea
Finally, You don’t Need toxin Cleaning Products Anymore...You Can Clean with Lemons
Lemons are not just to eat. They have many uses. One of their uses is that lemons are used as a cleaning agent.
Lemons (citric acid) is an organic acid. It is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks. Lemons also serves as an environmentally natural cleaning agent and acts as an antioxidant.
People like using lemons as a cleaning resource because the smell of lemons is refreshing and invigorating. For many people, a lemon smell symbolizes cleanliness. For this reason, most over-the-counter cleaners have a lemon scent in their cleaning products for consumers to get pleasure.
Some people ask, “Well how do you clean a come using lemons?”
Here is how…
How to Clean With Lemons
• How to clean laminated countertops with lemons. To start with, take a whole lemon and cut it in half. Squeeze lemon juice onto the counter. Using the lemon as a scrubber, work the juice over the counter. Leave the lemon juice on stains until you see them fade away. Then, you can rinse the surface with water and dry it. The citric acid will quickly remove the stains. This should happen fast, but tough stains may take longer. (Lemon juice from a bottle can be used in place of a real lemon.)
• How to clean copper with lemons. Clean copper-bottomed pots and pans with lemon juice. Copper fixtures can also benefit from a lemon juice cleaning:
1. Slice a lemon in half.
2. Dip it in some salt
3. Clean spots from your copper.
• How to clean countertops using lemons. Countertop stains can be removed by using lemon juice to ferment on the stain for a few minutes. Scrub the area with baking soda and watch the stains fade away. Do not leave the lemon juice sitting for too long. It can be powerful and cause damage if let on too long.
• How to remove countertop stains using vinegar and lemons. Countertop stains can be removed by allowing lemon juice to sit on the stain for a few minutes. Scrub the area with baking soda and watch the stains disappear. Do not leave the lemon juice sitting for too long. It can be powerful stuff. Vinegar can be a great cleaning ingredient, but many people dislike the vinegar smell. Adding lemon juice to vinegar when cleaning can help neutralize the vinegar smell.
• How to clean drains with lemons. Lemon rinds can be ground in the garbage disposal to freshen the drain. Use hot water with a little lemon poured down a drain. This will freshen the drain.
• How to bleach using lemons. Lemon juice acts as a natural bleaching agent. Put lemon juice onto white linens and clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. Stains will be bleached away.
• How to clean cutting boards with lemons. The same procedure works on your bread cutting boards. Rub the lemon onto the stains and let it sit. It will bleach the board, and it disinfects at the same time!
• How to clean brass with lemons. If apiece is brass plated, it will be brass on one side and solid black on the other side. You never want to use lemon on anything brass plated. Use lemons only on solid brass. Brass plated items need to be cleaned very gently with an oil soap. Never use anything acidic on it. Use the same technique for cleaning solid brass that you use for copper:
1. One half of a lemon with salt sprinkled on it
2. Rub until it is clean.
3. Rinse well with water.
• How to remove rust from clothes with lemons:
1. Put lemon juice on the rust stain and then sprinkle cream of tartar onto the top of the juice.
2. Pat it in with your finger and let it sit on the stain until the rust is gone.
The citric acid will take the rust right away. Some stains are tougher than others are, but 15-30 minutes should work just find. Launder as usual.
• How to bleach white clothes with lemon juice:
1. Mix 1/2 cup lemon juice (or use sliced lemons)
2. One gallon of hot water together
3. Soak the clothes that need bleaching.
Do not use this trick on silk. Nevertheless, this is perfect for white socks and underwear—even white polyester shirts. This can sit out from an hour to overnight, depending on how badly the clothing needs bleaching. Once they soak, remove the clothing from the mix, pour the mix into the washing machine, and wash as usual. You cannot over-bleach using lemon juice.
• How to get stains out of Tupperware with lemons. Squeeze some lemon juice in the container and then add some baking soda. Use the lemon as a cleaning tool and rub on the stain. If the stains are bad, you can let it sit overnight before you scrub the stains.
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This article is property of Anyclean Premium Ltd - the natural cleaning company in London. For more information on cleaning houses, offices, carpets and upholstery, visit our website http://www.anyclean.co.uk.
Mopping
Mopping has always been one of the least looked forward to chores of housekeeping. Grandma did it on her hands and knees with a pail of water and a scrub brush, and many people still contend that this is the best way. Since grandma's time, the market has come out with tile and linoleum that is supposed to be easier to mop, and easier to take care of between mopping. Even so, a good, once a week mop is still needed to keep your floors clean and germ free. Here are some tips to make this job easier:
If you fail to seep the floor thoroughly, you're only pushing dirty water and soil around, not mopping it up. The best way to sweep the floor is not to use a broom at all, but to vacuum it before mopping. This way you will get the corners and the crud under the lip of the fridge completely. Use the hose attachment to get every nook.
You'll need to keep your mop and the rinse water clean. Again, failure to do this makes more work for you. Work smarter, not harder by rinsing your mop and changing the cleaning solution in the water often. You don't need much, but you do need to change out old water for clean often. Turn the mop over to the lighter, cleaner side often while mopping; water accumulates on the bottom of the mop, and dirt is subsequently pulled to the bottom. After you've turned to mop over two or three times, soak it in cleaning solution and squeeze out thoroughly.
The proper way to mop using a commercial mop is to go over the floor once with the cleaning solution, wetting the floor. Let it sit a moment to lift off the grime and stubborn dirt. Then rinse the mop and go over the same area again, to lift off the released dirt. If you use the figure 8 motion, you will lift dirt off more efficiently. Using a small paint scraper, you can pry off stubborn, sticky messes such as chewing gum easily. This is an old custodian trick.
You have a choice in mops that grandma didn't have. Sponge mops and string mops are great as long as they are clean and new, so change your mop heads often. Once again, failure to do this will result in the dirt being pushed around, not picked up.
The best way to dry the floor is to let it air dry. If you are in a hurry, though, "skating" across the floor in bare feet on an old towel works wonders.
If you insist on mopping the floors the old fashioned way, on your hands and knees, a foam pad, like the kind used to cushion your knees while working in the garden will lessen the wear and tear on your joints. Use a large, hand held scrubbing sponge with a green back to get all the dirt up, rinse and repeat as often as needed. You can dry the floor with an old towel as you go, too. This way when you're done, you've only had to go over the entire floor once and don't have to wait for it to dry, as you would with a long handled mop.
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This article is property of Anyclean Premium Ltd - the cleaning services London company. For more information on cleaning houses, offices, carpets and upholstery, visit our website http://www.anyclean.co.uk.
