Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth week: clean green

Cleaning products add up in cost, both to the budget and to the earth. Here are several ways to clean green:

Vinegar
  • dilute vinegar in hot water (1/2 cup to 1 gallon) to scrub floors, counters, and bathroom surfaces.
  • cleans refrigerator grime really well
  • shines mirrors too!
Heinz has a great list of ways to use vinegar around the house. Check it out here.

Lemons
  • a natural degreaser, removes grease from stove and cabinets
  • you can even hand wash dishes in dilutes lemon/water mixes
Baking Soda
  • is the wonder ingredient after all...mixed with 1 T salt and 1/2 cup water you can use it as a soft scrub replacement.
  • of course Arm and Hammer has loads of tips right on over here.
If you prefer to purchase safe cleaners here are a few we recommend:

Method soaps, cleaners and detergent
Palmolive Eco + dishwasher detergent
Clorox Green Works products, especially the glass cleaner
Seventh Generation products (cheaper if you buy bulk through amazon fyi)

Share your earth happy cleaning tips too!

4 comments:

The Favorite said...

Thank you so much for these! I have been wondering how I can "green clean."
Can I make a request? It seems that a lot of conversations that I have been having with people lately have been about ironing and I was wondering what sort of ironing tips you may have.

christy said...

thanks for the ?. we will respond with some tips shortly!

kristenita said...

christy just showed me that PALMOLIVE ECO + automatic dish detergent. I've never seen it & I was so excited! it's only available at target (in our area anyway!) for now, but you bet I'm gonna try me some. plus, who doesn't love a trip to target!?

kristenita said...

hey... I am totally abusing my commenting abilities... I know. but I just found this great post of a blog about green cleaning... there are recipes for window cleaner & floor cleaner. thought I would share!