Green Cleaning - Anyone make their own cleaning products?

Making your own cleaning products is ecofriendly and certainly a less toxic alternative to chemicals. And, it's less expensive. Laundry detergent is about the only thing I buy.

For green cleaning tips go to: http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=greencleaning&page=RightChoices

Looks like a good site twelvepole. I am not typically a green freak but there are some ideas on that site that even I may give a shot.:thumbup:

Someone told me half vinegar and half hydrogen peroxide is the best cleaner for fruits and veggies. Do you know anything about this? How do you use it - do you soak it or rinse with these two liquids and then rinse?

I saw something in cooks illustrated where a vinegar water solution (5050?) killed nearly all the bacteria on a tomato. Amazing!

We always keep around vinegar water as a general cleaner, works great on carpet.

Thanks so much. How do you use the vinegar solution? Do you soak the veggies for a certain amount of time or spray it on and rinse off? I recalled hearing about half vinegar and half hydrogen peroxide but also can't recall how it was used.

I need to clean my carpets. How does that work? Thanks for the 2-for-1!!

For veggies and fruits, use 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar to kill bacteria. Keep a jug on hand for convenience.

For carpets, 50/50 white vinegar and water.

Think green! Avoid the use of chemicals. Vinegar is inexpensive. Nontoxic. Works as a sanitizer, deodorizer, and stain remover.

It's also a pretty good weed killer for the lawn - not that that has anything to do with cleaning...

You guys are great with awesome info but I still need the actual directions and not just the ingredients!!

How do you use the vinegar. For instance, do you soak the veggies in the solution for a specific amount of time or spray them and rinse?

For carpets, do you spray it on like spot cleaner and rub it off or let it sit and vacuum it up? I have some carpets that have brown spots where my house plants have overflowed when I water them. I need to know how to use the vinegar.

For the lawn, do you just spray straight vinegar like roundup and it kills weeds??

For veggies and fruits, you use 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar to soak or rinse. Soaking will refresh veggies that are beginning to look a little not so fresh.

Example: I prefer hearts of romaine lettuce. I break off the leaves and place in bowl of vinegar water solution. After doing another chore, I return and dump the leaves into a colander to drain. Rinse again. Let the leaves drain while shaking colander. Place leaves in food storage bag along with paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Romaine is ready for sandwich or salad as needed.

You can mist the vinegar/water solution on carpet stains and blot with paper towel or white rag. For brown stains from flower pots (Always put something beneath them to protect flooring.) you will need an enzyme digester cleaner to digest organic stains (Out, OdoBan, Nature's Miracle, or other) and give enzymes time to digest the stains. If not success, call a pro carpet cleaner. Keep in mind that some stains are impossible to remove, especially if they are old stains.

For more vinegar uses: http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=321124

These are lots of great ideas! I'm still trying to get into the habit of making my own cleaning products. When I do buy them I make sure that I am getting something with natural products and more environmentally friendly than other options. I did find a great video on
better.tv (http://better.tv/bettertv/?cid=713448048&lid=687029621&tid=687001110&ordersrc=rafbettertv) that shows how to make different household cleaning products and what to use them on. It's been a great resource for me.

Rust removal is normally associated with vigorous brushing and toxic chemicals. Or chemicals anyway. Oh come on you can't really clean all the rust off something without any chemicals or heavy scouring.

Yes. It's done in a tub of ordinary water, with a weak electric current. A battery charger typically, and a few hours of ...no effort whatsoever.

Paste in Google: electrolytic rust removal

Have fun. :)

Baby wipes:

Get a roll of "shop towels" - those paper towels that don't turn to mush when wet. Slice the entire roll into three segments. Remove the cardboard core.

Find a plastic container with diameter larger than one of these rolls. Poke a cross through the lid. The wipes will feed out through that.

Now add liquid baby soap, mineral oil, and warm water... a few tablespoons of each. Mix it and vary the proportions until the liquid just barely lathers. Fill container ~1/3 with warm water, give it a final stir.

Insert the towel roll, and feed one end (from the center) through the lid.

I started using a microfiber mop that does not use chemicals at all. It came with a dry and a wet mop. I bought it on eBay @ closeout for about $20. I had researched them extensively and this particular one would have cost over $75. The pads are machine washable on hot water air dry. I can't tell you how great they work. The head of the mop is really thin metal so the pad gets UNDER my fridge, washer/dryer etc. I found all kind of lost treasure when I first got it.:D I've had it almost two years. Yep still using the same pads...they still look almost new. I find that my floors stay much cleaner longer without chemical residue attracting dirt to it. Of course I still use something when cleaning puppy accidents....vinegar or whatever. I have laminated wood floors so I tend to error on the safe side.