Cleanliness is Next to Greenliness

I like to think that Student Saturdays aren't strictly about students, or just kids. I like to think of this section more as a green family primer--not just a blog about student/child activism, but a blog about making a planet we're happy to leave to our children someday, and about making our homes and lives healthy places for kids to be.

In that vein, today I'd like to talk about "green" household cleaners. Not the kind you can buy in the store, because that would be first, a very boring and short blog post, but also kind of a no brainer. No, I want to talk about homemade household cleaners that are not only safe for the enviroment, but dirt cheap, too!

I've been using homemade cleaners in my house for a long time now. Granted, I'll allow that my original motive was not environmental friendliness but rather a desire to ease the breathing problems I experience with commercial cleaners. For years and years I'd darn near asphyxiate myself trying to scrub out the bathttub or the kitchen sink--just the fumes of commercial cleaners made not only chest hurt, but routinely made me sick to my stomach, too.

I know I'm a little more sensitive to this than most people, but there you have it. When our oldest daughter was born, I realized that I couldn't take the chance that she'd have the same reaction to chemical off gassing, so a better alternative had to be found. I did a lot of research online and checked out book from my library called "Clean House, Clean Planet" by Karen Logan. I got a lot of great ideas from all of that research, and the book was awesome for getting some basic ideas of things to try--so much so that I bought it (and you all know my commitment to reducing clutter in my house by not buying books unless they're worth it. It was worth it!).

But I saw a few problems.

What the heck is Washing Soda? Can you buy it at Wal-Mart? And Borax and Castille Soap--this venture could get mighty expensive and time consuming if I let it! There has to be an alternative that doesn't take a degree in chemistry and venture capital to start with. There has to be!

So, I'll let you reap the burdens of my experimentation and failures. I'll post my "recipes" and then a handy shopping list that you can take with you to the store that'll get you started. You might want to tweak a thing or two here and there, but this is what gets stuff done in my house!

Air Fresheners -- I insist on a clean smelling house, but I can't handle air fresheners from a can. First of all, they smell chemically and second, they never make anything smell better--just like whatever the stink is, buried in a vat of perfume. Candles are out, as I've got two small children who are both curious and clumsy, and who thunder around like a herd of wild Girl Scouts. Open flames are no go! So we keep the air in our house smelling clean and fresh in a lot of different ways!

• We have a lot of plants in our house. Plants are constantly freshening the air by recycling stale air into fresh oxygen. And nothing smells better than fresh air!

• If company's on their way and I want things to smell really great and have that citrus-y tang we all associate with cleanliness, I'll boil some orange peels on top of the stove--maybe toss in some other spices if I'm feeling a little crazy. It does double duty, since it's not a great idea to put citrus peels into our worm composting bin, I can use them this way and feel better about what I'm throwing away when it's done. Just fill a pot about halfway with cold water and toss in the peels. Let the water boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and boil until things look mushy and disgusting and stop smelling good. Toss away the disgusting (or add it to your non-worm composting bin) and your house will smell fantastic for the rest of the day! This works well with lemon and lime--any citrus fruit will work--the essential oils of the fruit are in the rind, so you're really just diffusing essential oils into the air.

• Sometimes I don't want my home to smell like fruit, though. Sometimes I want it to smell like lavender. Or mint. Or..something else. So I came up with my own "air freshener spray". It's basically one cup of water to a few drops of essential oil--but a caution on this. Essential oils are strong, so you might use more or less than I do, to your own preference. I don't like strong scents, so I use about three drops, depending on the oil. Also, oil and water don't mix easily, so you need to shake this before you use it. I put my mix in a small spray bottle that had a previous life as a travel-sized bottle of hairspray and spritz it around when I need it. I use some Tea Tree Oil around my trashcan, diaper pail and in the bathroom and kitchen--it's got some natural antimicrobial properties that make it a good idea for germier areas.

• Baking soda is a natural deodorizer. Putting a box in your bathroom and kitchen isn't a bad idea--it's not only useful in the fridge! If you don't want the box to detract from your decor, you could put it in a decorative box that has holes in the top--or hide it behind something. (It also makes an awesome carpet deodorizer--just sprinkle it around, wait half an hour, then vaccum!)

• If you just baked fish or something smelly in the kitchen and have that leftover gross fish smell, fill a pie plate with some pleasant aromatic herbs--or our old friend, the orange peel--and put it in the cooling oven. As it warms, it'll freshen the air around the oven.

Dry "Scouring" Cleaner -- You know when you let the bathroom go a hair too long and the shower gets kind of narsty and scummy? When I was a kid, my Mom used to bust out the Comet for such an occasion, but I value the skin on my hands too much to work with abrasive cleaners anymore. Now I just make a thick paste out of baking soda and use it and a sponge or old toothbrush (or an old scrubber from the kitchen that's worn out it's food related usefulness) to scrub away the scum and slime. This works really great for cleaning out your kitchen sink, too. If it's really bad (who, me? Never!), I'll put some vinegar on it and let it sit for a while, rinse, then scrub. Just be sure to rinse the vinegar before you put the baking soda down, otherwise it's that unfortunate volcano science fair experiment all over your shower walls. Although...you can put that reaction to your advantage--

Drain Cleaner -- Drain cleaners are the most caustic and environmentally dangerous household chemcials you can buy. If you're committed to removing household pollutants, start here. If your drain is just slow, not completely blocked, put about a cup of baking soda in and add a cup of vinegar. Let the foamy reaction occur for a while, then flush it through with an entire teapot of boiling water. DO NOT try this on a completely blocked drain!

Household/Window Cleaner -- One gallon of water and 1/2 cup vinegar. I mix this in an old milk jug and store it under my sink then I just refill an old spray bottle and use as needed--I dry my windows with old newspaper. Even if you don't subscribe to a paper, the grocery store ads we get every week work just the same. Streak free shine, every time! ;)

Toilet Cleaner -- I spray the inside of the toilet with a little bit of my Household Cleaner and then sprinkle on some Baking Soda and then walk away for about 10 minutes. I'll then come back and scrub it down and flush it away.

Disinfectant/All Purpose Cleaner -- Mix two cups of water, 25-30 drops of Tea Tree Oil and a few drops of Castile soap in a spray bottle. This is good for kitchen surfaces and bathroom counters and such--cutting boards, toilets, sinks, tubs. Tea Tree Oil is an excellent anti-microbial product, so it gets rid of germs, but it's safe enough to eat off of.

Fabric Softener -- just substitute an equivalent amount of vinegar for your usual fabric softener and add it at the same time you would ordinarily do. The smell will rinse out in the wash, and your clothes will be just as soft and clean smelling as with your usual fabric softener. My friend Amanda swears by this for washing her towels--they're more absorbent when not covered with all that fabric softener goo!

That's about all we use! It's really easy, and I find I can go about a month or two without re-mixing my products. As promised, here's a handy shopping/find around the house list.

1. Vinegar. I use just plain white vinegar, but I buy a HUGE amount of it. It's good for lots of things--excellent at removing food crud from plates that have sat out a little long.
2. Baking Soda. Again, buy in quantity.
3. Tea Tree Oil. This can be expensive, but it goes a LONG way. Try your local organic market, otherwise it can be found online all over the place--try here.
4. Castile Soap. We use Dr. Bronner's, and I know for sure you can find it at Whole Foods. If you don't have a Whole Foods or would rather buy online, try here. It comes in a lot of scents, but we prefer the Baby Mild. I'm tempted to try the Tea Tree sometime, too. As an added bonus, Castile soap is excellent to use on baby bottles and breast pump attachments--it's mild, natural and leaves no residue that could harm the baby.
5. One spray bottle for each thing you'd like to make. We have four bottles for our mixes, one bottle for straight vinegar one bottle for straight water.
6. Parmesan Cheese Shaker--no easier way to sprinkle baking soda on a surface without wasting a lot of it!
7. Sharpie marker--just like caustic chemicals, you need to label each of your spray bottles with the contents. Not just the name, but what's in the bottle, too--as an added benefit, if you put the recipe right on the bottle, you'll never need to hunt for the recipe.
8. Gallon jug for mixing/storage. There's really only one two of these recipes I make in enough quantity to require storage outside of a spray bottle--the window cleaner and the disinfectant cleaner. I made the disinfectant cleaner in a recycled milk bottle, then just waited until I had another milk jug to make the window cleaner. It only took an extra week and I didn't mind having dirty windows for a little longer.

There you go! That's my low-cost, green way of keeping our house sparkling clean. As an added benefit (besides the green and cheap benefits!) I don't feel bad at all about asking Peyton to help me clean the house--after all, there's no cleaner on my list that would harm her if she got it on herself, nothing that would cause anything more than a small upset tummy if she ingested it. Also, no chemical burns and no respiratory issues. And that's the epitome of cleanlines to me!