natural cleaning products
natural cleaning products
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 Quick Clean by Jason Natural Products (75 piece) US $6.47 
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natural cleaning products Frequently Asked Questions
What are some effective natural house cleaning products?
I know you can use vinegar to clean the bath tub. Does anyone have any other good natural products that can be used, eg. to clean the bathroom, to mop hard floors etc. I am keen to avoid chemicals such as bleach. thanks 
Vinegar has a million uses other than tub and tile but excellent at this. It is a fabric softener and a deodorizer. It is a food safe mild disinfectant. It can be used as an air freshener...the pickle smell goes away leaving a clean smell in its place. You can use vinegar medicinally too, both internally and externally. I love to bathe with vinegar in the water, it softens the water to the point that when I'm shaving, I don't need any soap, etc to keep my legs slick. Just shave underwater.
Baking soda has a million uses too. It is a gentle scrub for face, teeth, and scouring surfaces. Can make it into bath products like a baking soda epsom salt soak or scrub.
GrapeFRUIT seed extract in its liquid form (one name brand Nutribiotic) is another one of those do-everything items too. It comes from the seed of the grapefruit (duh) and is a very strong little substance. You can use it medicinally (in and out) and around the house. This stuff is antibiotic, antimicrobial, anti fungal, antiseptic, making it a great addition to any cleaning solution...and since it can be used internally, it is a perfect vegetable wash, and good for baby, food, and pet areas. If you use GSE as a medicine be sure you check for interactions. It is a powerhouse chemical although most people do not have problems to it...heart patients on medications can have deadly reactions to grapefruit of any kind, however...when used internally. Just a quick disclaimer, I know you wanted cleaning ideas so not a problem in this area. You should protect your hands from full strength GSE. It is kind of an acidic oil...so it may burn and stay there, kind of like pepper seeds.
Similar properties and uses as GSE for tea tree oil. There is a company that makes its whole line with this stuff if you don't want to make your own. It is called Melaleuca. Not going into great detail but it is every bit as useful as grapefruit seed extract and very similar to its applications. It does smell, some find it offensive, others think it smells mediciny and clean. Another difference, tea tree oil is strong but can be used "neat" (full strength) and this is great for acne, foot fungus, tough germs, and first aid on cuts.
Borax I have heard a lot about as a laundry booster instead of bleach. I am not personally familiar with it but it deserves research.
Essential oils and herbs, spices, things around the kitchen often have cleaning properties, sometimes as a scent, sometimes other. Lemon juice is a copper cleaner I think. I usually don't have it on hand. It can be used to make a furniture polish when added to olive oil and used sparingly. Coffee is a great scouring powder for dark surfaces, and an excellent odor neutralizer. Vanilla is a good deodorizer, and some say it is a natural insect repellant for cabinets and people. Olive oil is a great alternative to dusting products, used sparingly. And you can use it to loosen crusties.
Other essential oils and herbs and spices can be mixed in a pot for a simmering air freshener. Essential oils usually have a lot of information at the counter as well as a tester bottle to choose scents, where you buy them to help you find the right one.
Live plants are great to have around the house, they help keep the air cleaner. Don't forget fresh air and sunshine to clean and freshen almost anything...and then there are fans to circulate air (which freshens the air) esp when you create a cross vent between two open doors or windows. There are also HEPA vacuum cleaners (some bagless and cyclonic supersuckers that require almost no maintenance) to remove dangerous things from surfaces and the air, and there are air purifiers to place in the corner and work around the clock.
You can dust without anything but a damp rag...or you can vacuum it up with an attachment. Lint can be dealt with using masking tape wrapped around your hand sticky side out and blot the item.
Epsom salts have some cleaning properties that you can look into, I use this for a thousand things, but all as health and beauty.
Murphy Oil Soap is a pretty natural item, I personally love it for wood, walls, and some floors. Another commercial product is OxyClean, there are mixed reviews about this, most people agree it isn't the miracle we expected from the commercials. I do think it is rather natural by comparison to other chemicals.
There are laundry detergent substitutes. Some are soap based, they may still be harsh cleaners (and require proper safety) but they are not as toxic to the environment as synthetic detergents. You use these just like any other liquid detergent. There are also bars of soap for homemade laundry products. Zote is one. They are supposed to be shredded, add water, and borax etc to make gallons of your own safer cheaper product. I haven't ever done this. Other alternatives are things like balls and bars that use magnetism, ionization, etc to soften water and loosen dirt so it comes clean without any chemicals at all. OxyClean makes the laundry balls where the chemical is supposed to be so safe and non-invasive, it just stays in the washer through the rinse cycle without leaving residue on the clothes. I would wonder if cornstarch is an appropriate thing to starch clothing with, mix up with a lot of water, and spray on?
Borrowing from the first aid cabinet you can use peroxide and rubbing alcohol around the house. Both disinfect, peroxide has a bleaching effect so you can probably mix up a good scouring solution if you add it per use to baking soda. Rubbing alcohol would be a great spray and wipe disinfectant or pour directly into the toilet bowl or kitchen sink for tough jobs.
Table salt is good for stain removal, and also can be used as a scouring powder. It is also a natural herbicide for grass in the sidewalk and kills slugs and some bugs in the garden. Oatmeal would be an appropriate scouring agent as well, for extremely delicate surfaces...just use small amounts at a time, working little by little because it gets gooey fast.
There are a couple things that usually boost cleaning power of everything. One is heat, and the other is elbow grease. A bonus third is using time to your advantage. Clean messes immediately if they are spills so stains and buildup and crusties don't form, requiring tougher products to deal with them. Wipe kitchen surfaces often so that tough greasy dust doesn't form. On the flipside, let cleaning products work before you wipe them up.
A last comment, when dealing with any items be careful what you mix, just because they are natural doesn't mean they are chemically stable. You need to research. Also regarding safety, sometimes I think it is perfectly responsible to use appropriate amounts of common cleaners including bleach, ammonia, PineSol etc...if you pick ONE and stay with it. This prevents you from mixing a deadly cocktail, or using something even worse like those horrendous laundry products, specialty bathroom cleaners, and do it all cleaners that are caustic, carcinogenic, or are just so strong you'd swear it could take paint of a wall.
what website can I use to check the safety and "green" ratings of cleaning and body products?
Buying things that are natural or organic, good for me, good for the environment, effective, etc. are very important to me...I have found websites that rate the levels of toxins and such in beauty products, but none for home cleaning products and such...anyone know of any website like this?
I use www.cosmeticsdatabase.com for beauty products. I have also found websites like www.biggreenpurse.com and www.theworldwomenwant.com helpful. They don't rate the safety of specific items, but they give info on some of the chemicals to avoid and why. I've also found the books "Green up your Clean up", "Easy Green Living" and "Gorgeously Green" helpful when selecting cleaning, and body products. They all give info on which chemicals and products to avoid and suggestions on safer alternatives.
I personally use more home made recipes than store bought brands.
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