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June 14, 2013

Vinegar and Other Homemade Cleaning Solutions

You don’t need very fancy or obscure, or even very many ingredients to satisfy some of the most common cleaning needs. In fact, basic kitchen staples like vinegar, lemon, and salt will do!

Part of our work is to educate our clients on trends and products around green house cleaning. We regularly review non-toxic cleaning products, and even occasionally create in-house green cleaning solutions, but we realize some of you might want to be 100% dedicated and make your own. The good news is that you don’t need very fancy or obscure, or even very many ingredients to satisfy some of the most common cleaning needs.

TLC published a great overview of useful green cleaning tips and we are sharing with you some of our favorite easy-to-use homemade green cleaners for basic house cleaning:

  • To clean bare floors: 

Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 gallon of warm water. You can use this for wooden floors but also for linoleum, tile, ceramic, and even vinyl floors. The best part? You don’t need to rinse the floors afterward!

  • To polish furniture:

Furniture polish is usually made out of petroleum distillates and therefore toxic. Avoid the toxins by using 2 parts olive oil with 1 part lemon and applying it with a soft cloth. The olive oil not only removes dirt but leaves your wooden furniture shiny.

  • To clean glass/ windows:

If you don’t like to inhale toxic ammonia from conventional window cleaners, simply mix 4 tablespoons of lemon juice with half a gallon of water for sparkly clean windows!

And an added tip that surely will come in handy during moving time or renovations: there is a natural method for combating the head-ache-inducing smell of fresh paint. Once again, the natural super ingredient vinegar comes to the rescue: just place a few small dishes containing vinegar around the room or house and let it absorb the smell. Make sure to change the dishes daily for optimal absorption, and there you go nature’s trick against harmful fumes!

To learn more useful tips and tricks on green house cleaning methods and natural cleaning solutions, check our tips and insights section regularly!