Homemade Cleaning Products

Finding household cleaning products that don’t test on animals, though much easier these days, is still difficult and time-consuming and requires a lot of research. Sometimes we forget that human beings actually managed to survive relatively free from disease in decent hygiene for centuries before supermarkets appeared.

So how did they do it? Mother Nature provided.

Plus they were probably a little less anal about cooking in a germ-free kitchen.

Here’s my quick guide to homemade household cleaning products that are natural, cruelty free, fairly cheap, easy to make and readily available.

1. Vinegar cleaner: white vinegar cleans pretty much everything successfully. Mix with a bit of baking soda and lemon or lavender to scent and essential oils (they disinfect.) You need nothing more than this to clean basically anything.
2. Scrub: slice a lemon and dip it in Borax. Scrub those hard, baked-on or rusty stains off then rinse clean.
3. Brass cleaner: dampen sponge with white vinegar or lemon then sprinkle on table salt. Scrub lightly then rinse and dry with a clean cloth.
4. Deodorizer: for bins, use lemon or orange peel; for carpets, sprinkle baking soda before hoovering; for garages/basements/cellars, leave a sliced onion on a plate for a day.
5. Drain cleaner: 1/2 cup of salt in 4 litres of warm water and pour down drain. For a stronger reaction, try pouring 1/2 baking soda and and then 1/2 cup vinegar. After 15 minutes pour down boiling water to clear.
6. Oven cleaner: wet surfaces inside with water. Use 3/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 salt, 1/4 water, mixed into a thick paste applied throughout oven interior. Leave on overnight and remove with a spatula and wipe clean. Use steel wool for tough grease.
7. Rust remover: salt sprinkled on rusty area, squeeze a lime over the salt until wet. Leave for a few hours then scrub off.
8. Shoe Polish: mix olive oil with a few drops of lemon juice, apply to shoes with thick cloth. Leave for a few minutes, wipe clean, buff with clean cloth.

 

Happy cleaning!