Green Cleaning

The basics you need in your cleaning kit:

• Baking soda


• Vinegar


• Tonic water (To clean windows and glass)


• Organic olive oil (Use as furniture polish)


• Lemon juice (To freshen and deodorize)

To create an all-purpose cleaner for your counter tops, etc., this recipe works wonders!:

In 1 empty squirt bottle, add the following:
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Squirt Dawn or Ivory dish soap
Fill the rest up with warm water

(You can wash the floors and windows with this solution as well.)

Laundry -- Lemon juice is a great alternative to whitening your whites. Just add one cup lemon juice to your load of whites. For tough stains, soak clothes in water, lemon juice, and baking soda. Since hard water tends to turn our whites gray, adding vinegar to the rinse cycle will soften the water and soften your clothes while reducing cling.

Dishwasher -- Try to find products that are "fragrance-free" and that are made from plant materials. Seventh Generation is a popular and trustworthy choice. Instead of drying products such as JetDry, add vinegar and get wonderfully spotless dishes!

For tougher jobs that need a little grit, try using a thick paste of baking soda as it won't scratch your surfaces. You can also purchase Bon Ami, which is an alternative to Comet and Ajax, and is made with calcium carbonate, a totally natural ingredient! Borax is another popular environmentally-friendly alternative.

To clean your toilet, put white vinegar in a squeeze-able bottle and squirt around the inside rims of your toilet, coating the bowl. Sprinkle about 1/2 a cup of baking soda and allow to sit for a minimum of ten minutes. Scrub.

People feel that we need harsh chemicals to clean our homes, but all of these items work great for proper sanitation and are much safer for us to inhale. It may take a little more work to scrub your surfaces, but as you rinse them down the drain, you will be able to do that guilt-free!