Detergents, degreasers, and solvents are the common chemical cleaners used at home.  Ordinary detergents contain phosphates, which cause oxygen depletion and localized suffocation of aquatic life.  Cleaning products that contain chlorine, potassium hydroxide, solvents and ammonia are equally hazardous to the aquatic life.  Degreasers such as those regularly used on boats tend dry out the natural oil needed by fishes’ gills to take in oxygen.  When safer, chemical-free and cheaper forms of cleaners can be found in our kitchen counters and cabinets, why must you continue to use hazardous toxic cleaning kits?

Using simple ingredients like water, baking soda, white vinegar, and tea tree oil, you can keep your home stain-free, dust-free, mold-free, and sparkly clean.

Replace your bottles of commercial window cleaners with a mixture of vinegar and water.  Put it in your spray bottle and scrub the glass off using old newspapers.  For cleaning up your oven, use baking soda instead of your usual powdered cleansers.  Wipe up the grease with this white powder and flush it off with water to leave your oven stain-free, grease-free and without traces of dish smell.

Polishing your furniture with homemade solutions is a little bit tricky.  Still, try some of these simple recipes to stay far away from chemical-based polishers and cleaners.  First recipe, create a mixture of a cup of olive oil and half a cup of lemon juice.  Put the mixture in your spray bottle and spray it on the surfaces of your furniture.  Buff it off with a soft cloth and you are done.  Recipe number two; if olive oil is not available, use jojoba or liquid wax.  Instead of fresh lemon juice, you may use ¼ cup of vinegar to create the mixture.  Dab a soft cloth into the solution to remove the grits, dust, and dirt on the surfaces of wood furniture.

If you are in the habit of using laundry fresheners, try using your vodka for a change.  You have read it right.  Spritzing pure vodka on your clothes helps freshen up worn jeans and jacket in between washes.  A spritz or two of vodka over your clothes will evaporate not only the booze scent of the vodka but also the noxious odors of worn clothes.  On the other hand, if you wanted to deodorize certain areas in your home, more like in the kitchen, a five percent solution of vinegar in water can be used as a homemade deodorizer.  Spray some on your cutting board or bathroom to eliminate the odor.

If you want to remove molds and mildew from your home’s tiled surfaces, especially in the bathroom and kitchen, put 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil into 2 cups of water and use this solution as your cleaner.  Also, straight vinegar is equally effective in killing molds.

It is a fact that traces of the chemical ingredients if commercial home cleaning kits are found in our water sources.  These chemicals may contaminate the streams, rivers and lakes from which the water in our local water treatment plants may be sourced.  Contaminated food and contaminated water equate to disease.  By using homemade and non-toxic cleaning solutions, you get the personal gratification of protecting the planet as well as your family’s health by reducing the world’s consumption of chemical cleaning agents.  Also, using more earth friendly cleaning kit does not only help the planet recuperate from the pollution and damage caused by chemical wastes, but also yields huge savings on your grocery budget.