Tackle the Monsters Under Your Sink
Tonight, I decided it was finally time to brave the monsters under the sink. Mold, you might be wondering? No, these monsters are the poisons of our planet: chemicals. But if you decide to tackle this project at your home as well, consider following these tips and replacing them with the cleaner, greener, CHEEPER alternatives.
1) DO NOT dump the chemicals down the sink. Not only will you be poisoning the ground water and soils of your surrounding area or sending them through the water treatment plant, but you can also create a chemical reaction, sending toxic fumes into the air in your home (kind of the opposit effect we're going for here :o)
2) Contact your local recycling center and ask when and where you can drop them off. For some of you, this may be several hours from home. If so, save them in a safe space outside (where animals can't get to them) until you can transport your chemicals to the recycling center.
3) Consider this list of alternative cleaning supplies that are MUCH cheeper than the store bought versions. You'll be surprised how many things you can clean with just vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
a) Window Cleaner--distilled white vinegar
*Recipe: 2 c. distilled water (or water that won't have minerals build up on your glass), 1/4 c. vinegar, 1/2 tsp. dish soap (helps remove chemical buildup from your synthetic cleaners. After a few uses, you shouldn't need the soap any longer.).
--Lemon juice/Lemon rind *Because of the acid in the juice, it is great for cleaning and smells better than windex. Lemon rind contains natural oils that can also remove stickers and other sticky substances.
b) Toilet Bowl--baking soda or Salt
*Directions: pour 1 Tbsp. of baking soda (or salt) into the bowl. Use a toilet brush to scrub away most of the residue. If you have hard water stains, use a pumice stone (made of lava rock. It turns to dust when broke down).
c) Floor Cleaners (Pine Sol, Bleach)--Vinegar
*While this won't disinfect the floor, it will remove any unwanted stains. 1 qt water to 1 c. vinegar. Safe for sealed hard wood and tile floors too.
--Steam Floor Cleaner
*I invested in a steam floor cleaner. There are a variety on the market today. Because we have a baby and three inside dogs, keeping the hardwood and tile floors, which cover every inch of the house, clean was a priority. The steam kills all bacteria that might have resided in the cracks as well. I would put the vinegar in to the solution in the tank.
--Young Living Theives Household (Green) Cleaner
*I have loved the Young Living company since I was a young girl. I have used this product for two years now and love the smell much better than vinegar. You can use it in about anything. Washing clothes, dishes, cleaning water tanks, floors, etc. Go to https://www.youngliving.org/US/products.asp to check out their products page. If you decide to order anything, please let ME know. I can get you a discount. ;o)
d) Laundry Detergents--Borax
*Though the name makes it sound like its a chemical, borax is actually a naturally occuring, water soluable mineral. It is a deoderizer and inhibits the growth of mildew and mold. It can also be used as a stain/spot remover.
--Hypoalergenic liquid soap
*It's back to the basics with washing clothes. Most people are sensative to the chemicals in laundry detergent, but if you wash the clothes with 1 Tbsp. of liquid soap for a large load, it will do just as well. Try these additives in place of bleach and fabric softner.
*1/2 c. baking soda will keep clothes soft. If you have a dispencer, make sure you mix it with water until runny so it will not clog your washing machine.
*1 c vinegar added in the place of bleach helps keep colors bright.
--Young Living Theives Household Cleaner
e) Dish Detergent--Theives cleaner, lemon juice, lemon oil, vinegar.
*If you add some baking soda or salt to the liquid cleaner it adds a natural abrasive to help remove caked on, greesy food stains and removes hard water build up.
*Check out this website for some other great ideas for inside and outside the house and the reasons why they work. http://www.inspiredliving.com/health/envir~non-toxproducts.htm
*The author of this article does not make an guarantees about the claims in this article or any other article. Reader can implement any suggestions at their own risk.
1) DO NOT dump the chemicals down the sink. Not only will you be poisoning the ground water and soils of your surrounding area or sending them through the water treatment plant, but you can also create a chemical reaction, sending toxic fumes into the air in your home (kind of the opposit effect we're going for here :o)
2) Contact your local recycling center and ask when and where you can drop them off. For some of you, this may be several hours from home. If so, save them in a safe space outside (where animals can't get to them) until you can transport your chemicals to the recycling center.
3) Consider this list of alternative cleaning supplies that are MUCH cheeper than the store bought versions. You'll be surprised how many things you can clean with just vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
a) Window Cleaner--distilled white vinegar
*Recipe: 2 c. distilled water (or water that won't have minerals build up on your glass), 1/4 c. vinegar, 1/2 tsp. dish soap (helps remove chemical buildup from your synthetic cleaners. After a few uses, you shouldn't need the soap any longer.).
--Lemon juice/Lemon rind *Because of the acid in the juice, it is great for cleaning and smells better than windex. Lemon rind contains natural oils that can also remove stickers and other sticky substances.
b) Toilet Bowl--baking soda or Salt
*Directions: pour 1 Tbsp. of baking soda (or salt) into the bowl. Use a toilet brush to scrub away most of the residue. If you have hard water stains, use a pumice stone (made of lava rock. It turns to dust when broke down).
c) Floor Cleaners (Pine Sol, Bleach)--Vinegar
*While this won't disinfect the floor, it will remove any unwanted stains. 1 qt water to 1 c. vinegar. Safe for sealed hard wood and tile floors too.
--Steam Floor Cleaner
*I invested in a steam floor cleaner. There are a variety on the market today. Because we have a baby and three inside dogs, keeping the hardwood and tile floors, which cover every inch of the house, clean was a priority. The steam kills all bacteria that might have resided in the cracks as well. I would put the vinegar in to the solution in the tank.
--Young Living Theives Household (Green) Cleaner
*I have loved the Young Living company since I was a young girl. I have used this product for two years now and love the smell much better than vinegar. You can use it in about anything. Washing clothes, dishes, cleaning water tanks, floors, etc. Go to https://www.youngliving.org/US/products.asp to check out their products page. If you decide to order anything, please let ME know. I can get you a discount. ;o)
d) Laundry Detergents--Borax
*Though the name makes it sound like its a chemical, borax is actually a naturally occuring, water soluable mineral. It is a deoderizer and inhibits the growth of mildew and mold. It can also be used as a stain/spot remover.
--Hypoalergenic liquid soap
*It's back to the basics with washing clothes. Most people are sensative to the chemicals in laundry detergent, but if you wash the clothes with 1 Tbsp. of liquid soap for a large load, it will do just as well. Try these additives in place of bleach and fabric softner.
*1/2 c. baking soda will keep clothes soft. If you have a dispencer, make sure you mix it with water until runny so it will not clog your washing machine.
*1 c vinegar added in the place of bleach helps keep colors bright.
--Young Living Theives Household Cleaner
e) Dish Detergent--Theives cleaner, lemon juice, lemon oil, vinegar.
*If you add some baking soda or salt to the liquid cleaner it adds a natural abrasive to help remove caked on, greesy food stains and removes hard water build up.
*Check out this website for some other great ideas for inside and outside the house and the reasons why they work. http://www.inspiredliving.com/health/envir~non-toxproducts.htm
*The author of this article does not make an guarantees about the claims in this article or any other article. Reader can implement any suggestions at their own risk.
