Clean AND Green

Making your own cleaning products can save you money and provide a chemical free environment.  Homemade cleaners are easy to make using things you probably already have on hand.  You can get started with 4 simple products -

Vinegar
Kosher Salt
Baking Soda
Lemon Juice


Vinegar is my very favorite homemade cleaner.  Vinegar can be used on everything - counter tops, mirrors, hardwood floors, and glass.  It's a cleaner and a sanitizer.  Put one part vinegar to three parts water in a spray bottle and you have an inexpensive, effective cleaning product.  It shines mirrors and glass better than Windex.  It does smell a little bit but the smell dissipates within 15 minutes.

Kosher salt makes a good abrasive cleanser for getting stains off sinks and pans.  You can even use kosher salt to clean your oven.  Just make sure you rinse it well.  Kosher salt sprinkled on a halved lemon or grapefruit makes for a good bathtub scrubber too.

Baking soda is not just for baking!  Use a mixture of baking soda mixed with vinegar to get burned grease right off of stove tops.  I also like to use this mixture to clean my sinks.  Baking soda sprinkled on tile and scrubbed with a damp sponge is a great way to clean floors.  A paste made of baking soda and water can be left overnight in the oven and scrubbed off the next day with a sponge.  Baking soda can also be used to scrub counter tops, eliminate odors and polish silver.

Lemon juice on it's own or added to products can help fight stains and cut grease.  Make a homemade bleach using one cup vinegar, one-quarter cup lemon juice and two gallons of water.  It makes your whites very white.  Adding lemon juice to vinegar can help with the smell.

Recipes:

FOR FLOORS:
Clean and shine with 1 cup vinegar + 1 gallon water.

FOR COUNTERTOPS:
Clean and sanitize with 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water.

FOR TUBS:
Scrub and rinse with 1 part water to 1 part baking soda or Kosher salt sprinkled liberally on a cut citrus fruit.