Skip to main content

Natural Bathroom Cleaner

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!

Comments

  1. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Alexia,
    Bar 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.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll have to try this. I also heard that Bon Ami is a good natural cleaner, but I haven't investigated that claim.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Melissa,

    I 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.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - n...

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.

Rock-what-you-got Muffin Recipe

Back before Christmas I was given a huge amount of persimmons.  In the area I live in, Fuyu persimmon trees produce fruit in the Fall and a small tree can produce a lot of fruit.  The persimmon fruit looks like an orange tomato, but inside, it is firm like a plum.  It is rather sweet, having a honey like flavor. We like to eat them fresh, but after awhile, our huge supply was more than we could handle.  With what was left, I peeled them and pureed the flesh in the food processor.  I froze the puree in 2 cup batches in freezer bags. One of my favorite ways to use this persimmon puree is to make muffins.  I have a basic muffin recipe that I use and it is very adaptable, allowing for any kind of puree to be used. I've used all kinds of pureed fruits and veggies to make these muffins.  I've used sweet potatoes, pumpkin , apples, pears, bananas, zucchini,squash,blackberries,blueberries, and figs.  I've even used a combination of fruits and v...