In my quest to be healthier, I'm venturing into the area of home cleaning products.
Lately, I've become more sensitive to the scents and chemicals used in everyday cleansers.
For the past month I've been experimenting with using borax, baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice to clean my bathroom and kitchen. My goal was to narrow down the ingredients to 1 or 2 basic items that would do most of the work for me.
Here's my choice:
I already use borax in my homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent so it was one of the first products I tried.
To clean my sinks, I simply wet a sponge, sprinkle a bit of the borax on it and scrub the sink. Then I rinse the sponge out and use it to rinse the sink. I dry and polish with an old dish towel. My sink comes out clean and shiny. I do the same with my shower and bathtub. As for cleaning the toilets, I simply sprinkle some borax into the toilet (@ 2 Tbl.), scrub with the brush, and let it sit for a few hours. I swish again with the brush and flush. *I would let it sit longer, but I can't wait any longer to go to the bathroom - I know, TMI!
The amazing thing I've discovered is that the rings I have in my toilets due to well water are slowly disappearing. I've tried every other chemical known to man to get rid of those rings. Believe me, every chemical! The rings aren't gone completely, but they're fading fast!
Borax works well because it's an alkali which cuts dirt, grease, and oil. You can also add vinegar, lemon juice (or scrub with a lemon, cut in half) to get rid of soap scum.
I'm really pleased with the results of my experiment. I'm able to breath easier too!
Does Borax take care of soap scum too - or do you need to add one of the other ingredients to it. ALSO do you have orange hard water stains? Because I do and, so far, Barkeepers Friend has been the quickest way to clean those - although I don't know how natural it is and I've been working on reducing the amount of cleaners I use and making them as natural as possible too.
ReplyDeleteHey Alexia,
ReplyDeleteBar Keepers Friend contains Oxalic Acid which works great on stainless steel and white tile grout. I keep some on hand for tough jobs. It is one of the few cleaners to get rid of rust marks. It's been around for 100 years or so and many of our grandmothers used it. It's no more toxic than borax but both must be kept away from children.
I'll have to try this. I also heard that Bon Ami is a good natural cleaner, but I haven't investigated that claim.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI did some investigating about Bon Ami and found that the ingredients they use are natural. Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda), Calcium Carbonate (limestone), and Feldspar (a natural mineral) are used to make the powder cleanser. I think I'll stick with my Borax since it costs a few pennies per month to use.