do homemade cleansers work?
Remember Heather’s fatal liquid breakfast drink in the movie Heathers? That scene nearly puts one off drain cleaners for life. On the other hand, last weekend I was faced with the good-for-nothing sink in my bathroom: clogged to the gills. I was doubtful that the weak-sounding lineup of baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water that my roommate Kim whipped up would do a thing… but it was a roaring success. Inspired, I trotted off to The Container Store (might as well go whole-hog) to stock up on spray bottles and squeeze containers.
Armed with natural-cleanser recipes, I headed to Whole Body, where I secured tea-tree oil and liquid soap. Then, alas, a snag: washing soda (an abrasive but fume-free powder) was nowhere to be found at any of the three grocery stores in my neighborhood. Back at my apartment, muttering about how supermarkets are so much better stocked in the suburbs (I live in Brooklyn), I mixed together a mold killer, soft scrub, and window cleaner. (I skipped the all-purpose cleaner, which required the washing soda — go to Care2.com for recipes.)
I’m definitely using the soft scrub again; it smelled all shower-fresh, got stuff clean, and fizzed pleasantly while I scrubbed tub and sink. My least favorite of the three was the window cleaner, which worked but smelled faintly vinegary. My undecided vote goes to the mold killer: So fun to squirt all over the place, but it didn’t appear to destroy any mold. At the same time, I could have put in more elbow grease, and the tea-tree oil (the main ingredient) did smell amazing. — Bunny W.
April 5th, 2006 at 7:00 am
Thank you for these links and tips, i’m def. going to try all of these out!
April 5th, 2006 at 7:07 am
I love this this site! Thank you guys for exploring so many great avenues and keeping it all exciting! Seems like everyday when I read, you are talking about something that I am struggling with . . . or about to!
I hate the way my hands feel after Soft Scrubbing my stove, or Ajaxing the sink. Those rough cleansers really do a number on your skin! (Just chemical wise it feels gross!) And for some reason the prune hands I end up with when wearing the rubber gloves, gives me the creeps! (I know I sound nuts!)
I have recently been considering natural home cleanser options! Over the weekend I opted to run vinegar through my coffee maker to clean it, and it worked beautifully. Also, if you put a bowl of water in the microwave for about 90 seconds, it will steam the stuck on junk, and help it wipe away easily.
Can’t wait to go get the recipies for the above.
Thank you!!!
April 5th, 2006 at 7:19 am
thanks for this, i have been searching the internet for cleaning recipes all week! I love the smell of lemon and know that its good for cleaning and with the windows open lately and the lemon floating through the air, im one happy cleaner! Now i just need some good spring cleaning music!
April 5th, 2006 at 8:25 am
If you add your kitchen sponge and a little lemon juice to the bowl of water you’re nuking it will help kill the bacteria in the sponge and make everything smell nice. (But be careful taking the sponge out because it will be hot. Run it under some cold water before you try to wipe down the microwave.)
April 5th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Hi! I loved this post. Different brands of vinegar smell differently so you might want to try different ones; Heinz has less of an odor and is made from grains not from petroleum derived alcohols. You can also add essential oils like lavender, peppermint, lemon, etc., to your vinegar and baking sodas for nice scents. Karen Logan author of clean House, Clean Planet also recommends Borax, but it is mildly toxic. Another great cleaner is the Castile line of products.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Mirdreams, thanks for the microwaving tip!–sometimes I also just nuke the sponge by itself in the microwave for 60 seconds to zap the bacteria. And, Cathy, thanks for the Heinz vinegar tip. I must say that the mirror cleaner really worked–just smelled a bit. But adding essential oils is a great idea.
April 5th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Wow! It’s happened again. We have a serendipitous posting thang happening again. Check out my piece “Green All Over” at http://sosylvie.typepad.com/
Merci encore.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
I use a homemade “all-purpose” cleanser that doesn’t include washing soda. It’s 2 cups water, 2 tsp liquid soap (I use dishsoap usually, but castile would work), and 10 drops tea tree oil. It’s great for kitchen counters, the stove, the bathroom counter, etc.
April 6th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
The best thing around for cleaning mirrors and windows without chemicals is just plain water.
And some newspaper.
It’s a trick I learned from having to clean the big glass windows at the front of a shop. Just spray some water onto your mirror or window and with a piece of crumpled, slightly damp newspaper give it a good scrub. Then take a piece of crumpled dry newspaper and scrub it again. It works better than anything else I’ve ever tried.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:32 am
what to use instead of arm and hammer? THEY STILL test on animals - so not sure what options I have for a home made recipe…
January 7th, 2008 at 8:03 am
[...] of our favorite household experiments is testing out homemade cleaners. So you can bet we’ll be giving this idea from Casa Sugar a try. They suggest a concoction of [...]
March 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
You can save so much from making these homemade cleaners over the course of just a few months. There is only a couple companies whose cleaning products I would buy, but why spend money when you can make homemade cleaning solutions that are just as effective.