7 Minute Read
“Keep things clean, Stay healthy” – it’s a
no-brainer. We always depend on buying expensive cleaners, sanitizers with
complex (sometimes harmful) chemical solutions to cleanse the ways in our home
but never try to realize that we can achieve far better result with our natural and
cheaper household ingredients of regular use. Now more than ever, given then
pandemic situation, they can really accommodate our desire to stay healthy.
Let’s get acquainted with them:
All-Purpose Cleaner
Who doesn’t want a concoction that cleans
everything, right? Here’s some:
Solution 1: For mild cleaning, mix 1/2 cup vinegar,
1/4 cup baking soda, and 4 to 8 cups hot water in a spray bottle. Somehow if you
don’t have baking soda, you can replace it with 2 teaspoons of borax. You can
also add a few drops of essential oil to any mixture only if you want a fresh
scent with it.
Solution 2: Mix 1/3 white vinegar with 2/3 water and add a couple drops of dish
soap. Put them all in a spray.
Window
It’s an irregular job of cleaning but an
important one nonetheless. Nobody wants to look out a dirty window.
Mix 1/2 vinegar with 1/2 water and a good squeeze of dish soap in a bucket.
Wash windows with soft rag and dry with newspaper or tissues.
Glass and Mirror
Cleaning glass and mirror with proper natural
ingredients comes with couple of solutions. Here they are :
Solution 1: Add 1 gallon of water with 1/2 cup white vinegar to get a mild
cleaner.
Solution 2: If you want to make a "non-streak" window cleaner, add 4
cups of warm water with 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1 tablespoon corn starch.
Shake to dissolve the corn starch before spraying. Wipe clean with a microfiber
cloth, then do a final wipe with a dry cloth to avoid streaks.
Metallic Things
Limescale, or in layman’s term, lime building
up on metal, be that on kettle, pipe or even on your precious coin collection
is a menace. Making a paste of 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of vinegar
will get rid of that. Lemon juice works on them like a charm too.
Oven
Cleaning food stains from oven is a bit
tiresome as they are way bigger than microwave ovens.
Add 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of dish soap with 1/4 cup baking
soda and scrub the mixture on the inside of your oven. Allow the scrub dry out and
then wipe clean with a clean rag and warm water.
Microwave Oven
To get rid of food splatters and food odor in
the microwave, add 1 cup water with 6 tablespoons of baking soda or add it with
1/2 cup lemon juice in a microwave-safe glass container. Microwave the mixture
until it boils, which might take 5 minutes more or less, then leave it inside
with the door closed until it cools. The steam will loosen the grime and make
it easy to wipe down the inside of the microwave.
Drains
To prevent or clear out backups in your drains,
dump 1/4 cup baking soda down the drain followed by 1/2 cup vinegar. Cover it
and wait for 15 minutes, then uncover and pour in 8 cups boiling water. You
could also use 1/2 cup borax followed by 8 cups boiling water. For a bad clog,
use a plumber’s snake tool with boiling water.
Bathroom
Toilet: For light cleaning, mix 1 cup vinegar with
1/4 cup baking soda and pour it into the toilet bowl. Scrub with a toilet
brush, and flush after waiting for 3 t0 30 minutes. Scrub with 1 gallon hot
water and 1/2 cup borax mixture to get tougher stains out. For hard cleaning,
sprinkle 1 cup borax around the basin and spray with 1/2 cup vinegar. For your
convenience, do this before you go to sleep and then scrub and flush it as
first thing in the morning.
Bathtub and Tiles cleaning: Use a sponge to
wipe the surface with vinegar, then sprinkle baking soda or non-iodized salt,
scrub with a damp sponge, and rinse well with water. You can also add 1/4 cup
baking soda with 1 tablespoon liquid detergent to make a scrub. Rinse it with
warm water.
Mildew cleaning: Put 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup
vinegar into a spray bottle and fill it with hot water, then spray it in the
shower or bathtub and scrub.
Kitchen
Soap and warm water will clean dirt from
surfaces in the kitchen, but if you want to kill harmful germs like salmonella
and E. coli or even the recent one, COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2, you’ll need to use more complex (don’t worry, they are
still cheap) chemical solution for better result. Heat up 1/2 cup white vinegar
(5%) or hydrogen peroxide (3%) to 54°C, put the mixture into an empty spray
bottle and spray it onto surfaces. Wait for 1 minute and then wipe it dry.
WARNING!!!
We have been mixing so much stuff here. Now, be careful:
DON’T MIX THESE EVER: Although vinegar and hydrogen
peroxide are great sanitizers on their own, never mix these two in a container.
This creates a chemical called Peracetic acid, which can burn your skin and is
dangerous to breathe in. The same goes for ammonia and bleach - mixing them or
using them in the same space can create toxic fumes.
CAUTION AGAINST BORAX: Borax, or chemically known as
sodium borate, is similar to baking soda, but stronger. It’s a natural bleach
and is good for removing dirt and stains from laundry and surfaces. Although
it’s natural, borax could irritate your skin, eyes, or breathing. So, keep it
away from children and pets.
Pandemic or not, regular cleaning always keeps
you safe and sound from disease coming from God-knows-where. Add a natural and
home-grown vibe to that cleaning process and you become extra safe. Happy
cleaning!
