Green Cleaning

Summer’s a great time to clean up the house and make it look fresh and comfortable for the upcoming school year! But how can you make sure you’re cleaning green?

Here are five examples of green cleaning products you can make yourself at home, without doing any harm to the environment or the family!

Baking Soda – Effective for cleaning glassware and removing stains (such as red wine) from carpets. Creating a paste of baking soda and water can make your stainless steel and silver shine and the stains from cups and saucers disappear.

Natural Soaps – Castile Soap (made from olive oil) or Vegetable based liquid soaps mixed with a few drops of essential oil such as tea tree or lavender can be used to clean sinks, counters, toilets, and tubs. Pour one cup of your mixture into the sink if you need to unclog a drain. Use boiling water after to flush drains.

Coarse salt – Need to scour the copper pans and cookware? Just sprinkle salt on fresh spills, especially on the oven, and quickly wipe it off. Salt can be used to wipe off rust stains. Squeeze a lime/lemon over the rust. Let the rust soak in the lemon and rub the red stains off!

Grapefruit Seed Extract – Have irritating mold and mildew in corners of the kitchen? Mix grapefruit seed extract with water and just spray the mold with the odorless extract!

Olive Oil – Great for polishing and lubricating wooden furniture! Make sure to add one part vinegar for three parts of olive oil or one part lemon juice for two parts of olive oil.

These are painlessly easy ways to clean the house and spruce up the inside façade during the summer! Be green and spread the word!