Cleaning without chemicals
Watching the PBS front-line show “Poisoned Waters” the other day was concerning, to say the least. This excellent documentary covers a wide range of water pollution issues, from chicken farm pollution to chemicals, as well as their consequences. The 6-legged frogs and hermaphrodite fish found in the Chesapeake bay today mean similar trends among the human population tomorrow.
In the 21st century the ostrich-like mentality of hiding our heads in the sand seems to dominate over the old and common wisdom of “do not spit into the well you drink from”. Our water filtration systems do not remove most of the chemicals that are released in the waters. Water filters may remove the chemicals that were of common concern 10 years ago, but they do not detect and get rid of the new chemicals (pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, etc). A lot of these chemicals come from the cleaning products that we use - to clean our houses, disperse into the water and then back into our bodies, directly or indirectly.
But when it comes to cleaning products - how much chemistry do we need?
I’ve been experimenting with a few simple and cheap non-chemical solutions, and a few seem to work very well so far:
- Micro-fiber cloth works great for just about anything - stove, furniture, mirrors, kitchen and bathroom counters. Micro-fiber cloth does not sanitize, but do we really need to sanitize food stains and soap residue?
- Tea tree oil (mix 1 cup of water with 1 tbsp of tea tree oil in a spray bottle) works great for removing bathroom mold and preventing new mold from growing
- Baking soda works great on old grease stains (on the stove or stove fan) and removing any kind of gunk - from old coffee stains in cups to the gunk on can openers. To remove bad odors from carpet or upholstery, sprinkle baking soda and then vacuum.
Still looking for non-chemical dish washing and laundry detergent solutions, but the above is a good start.
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right on. fewer nasty chemicals!!
-Vinegar: 1)with water great for glass. 2)pour some dry baking soda down a drain, follow with vinegar, scrubs out the hair and waxy build (must do regularly to keep pipe clear).
-Baking Soda: 1)see # 2 above. 2)Make into a paste with a little water to make a safe scrubbing compound, works for pots and pans, stainless sinks,and mold/gunky build-up 3)AND mix in a little lemon or lime juice instead and becomes a great tooth whitening paste.
-Olive oil: 1)will put back the shine and wipe away streaks on stainless steel appliances
Going to try the baking soda/vinegar drain cleaning solution. Thanks for posting - great advice!
Great post! The two things that I find useful is baking soda and vinegar. They clean almost anything.