Natural Cleaning Recipes

Picture of Lemon Tree and Fruit reproduced under GNU FRee Documentation License by permission of Allen Timothy Chang

Bicarbonate of Soda or Baking Soda

Also known as Sodium Bicarbonate, cuts through grease and oil, while being gentle and non-toxic. Baking Soda has a natural reaction to fatty acids and forms a mild detergent.

It cleans, deodorizes and shines.

Salt

Although abrasive, salt is a gentle and a natural disenfectant, which can be used for cleaning drains and as a scourer in the kitchen.

White Vinegar

Not to be used as a general cleaner, the acidic properties of white vinegar can remove hard water deposits and bathroom scum. It can also remove discoloration from metal, including brass, copper and aluminium and also rust stains.

Lemon Juice

Not only does it smell great but Lemon Juice is a natural bleach that can inhibit mold growth and remove stains, while deodorizing at the same time.

All Purpose Natural Cleaning Recipe

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 heaped tablespoons bicarbonate of soda

Mix together and store in an airtight container

Mild All Purpose Cleaner

4 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda

1140ml or 2½ pints warm water

Uses for both the above recipes

Use neat to wipe down surfaces. Rinse with clean water

Mild Abrasive Cleaner

Few drops of water

Bicarbonate of Soda

Mix to form a paste.

Uses

Use on plastic and on painted walls. Apply with a stiff brush - use an old toothbrush in crevices and in between tiles.

Strong All Purpose Cleaner

110g or 3¾oz or ½ cup) washing soda crystals

4.5 liters or 9½ pints of warm water

Mix ingredients together

Uses

Do NOT use on aluminium or fiberglass. Just wipe down surfaces with a soft cloth and then rinse with cold water.

Natural Scourer 1

1 teaspoon of Borax

2 tablespoon white vinegar

500ml or 17 fl oz or 2 cups of hot water

Combine the ingredients and pour into a bottle with a spray

Natural Scourer 2

125 g or 4½oz or ½ cup bicarbonate of soda

3 tablespoons of sodium perborate

To Use

Use a wet sponge to rub onto areas that need whitening. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes and then rinse.

The natural action of salt means that it can permeate and clean stubborn stains such as blood, like no other cleaner. Salt is also a natural poreservative, which allows it to hold colors, particularly in bright colored fabrics.

However, salt also has a destructive quality, which can be put to very effective use in both the house and garden.

Here's a great natural cleaning recipe that will remove the stains from porcelain without scratching the finish. If you have a porcelain sink, tub or even loo, then you will know you have to be very careful not to scratch the surface with abrasive cleaning products when you try to shift those stubborn water marks and other yukky stains.

Simply mix 1 cup of salt with 1 cup of baking powder. Use as you would any scouring powder. Keep in a sealed container.

This very gentle scouring powder is particularly good for colored porcelain sinks and kitchen worktops that scratch easily.

All you do is add 1 cup of salt to 1 cup of baking soda.

Store in a covered container - I use an old jam jar with a screw lid

One New Year's Eve I was standing with a friend as he lifted an open bottle of red wine, which proceeded to slip out of his hand. Unfortunately the bottle was two thirds full and so the mess it left on our Hostess' BEIGE carpet was a sight to behold!

The trick with red wine spills is to go to work on it immediately, before it has time to permeate the carpet fibers and this home made cleaning recipe should work with small spots of red wine - I doubt it would have worked in our case and the carpet ended up being professionally cleaned.

Take some white wine and use it to dilute the red

Clean it up with cold water

Cover with table salt

Leave the salt to do its work for 10 minutes, then hoover it up.