Top 10 Green Ways to Clean Your Home

By Laura Sussely-Pope, Pregnancy.org

When your cleaning products have partially corroded their own label, chances are they contain something not exactly earth-friendly. Chances are, you are tired of locking up your kitchen cabinets because most of your cleaning products shout “warning” at you. Heed that scream and go green!

1. Clean the Air: Plants. Who doesn’t love plants? Plants are wonderful because they not only help dress up the room; they clean the air in the room. Not only are they better for your environment, they will save you quite a bit on room fresheners!
2. Lemons: When life hands you lemons, make lemon cleansers! Raw lemon juice is a natural grease cutter. Simply pour ½ cup of raw lemon juice and ¼ cup of water into a spray bottle and you’re a cleaning machine! You can clean just about every appliance to nice shiny shimmer!
3. Baking soda: It’s not just for baking! Allergic to plants? Open a box of baking soda and it will help absorb odors in the room. It can also be used as toothpaste (granted, it might be hard to entice the kiddos to use it.) For cleaning, just mix it with some water and you have an environmentally friendly abrasive for your sinks, toilet bowls, bathtubs and tiles!
4. Vinegar: This is your all-purpose cleanser! Do you need to get rid of bad cooking smells, kitty litter box or smoke odor? Set a bowl of white vinegar on the floor for a few hours and it is gone! Mix vinegar and water and clean all the mirrors and windows to a brilliant shine! Mix vinegar and baking soda and you can unclog and deodorize your drains beautifully. You can use it to wipe away mildew, clean your computer mouse, wipe off stickers – the possibilities are endless!
5. Borax: This long-forgotten product cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and even softens water. You can use it to clean painted walls and wallpaper (isn’t that part of everyone’s spring cleaning?)
6. Isopropyl Alcohol: You probably already know it is an excellent disinfectant. But it can also be used to clean mirrors and windows.
7. Cornstarch: It not only soothes sunburns, it can be used to clean carpets and polish furniture. Just mix it with water to a pasty consistency and you are set to make that living room carpet look clean and fresh.
8. Mayonnaise: Do you have water rings on your wooden table or counter? Put mayonnaise on it!  Put some mayo on a damp cloth and rub it into the ring, but not too harshly. Once the ring is gone, buff the entire surface. Yes, we wonder why this works, too.
9. Hydrogen Peroxide: This is very good for removing mold in bathroom tile grout, which can be a health issue. Use one part 3% hydrogen peroxide with two parts water in a spray bottle and spray it on the tiles. Wait one hour before rinsing. Nice and clean!
10. Soapberries (sapindus): If you can find these in your local supermarket or perhaps an organic market, they make a really cool organic cleaning solution. Take 10 to 12 berries, and boil them in water. Drain the liquid, put it in a bottle, and you can use it as a gentle cleanser for your jewelry to your glassware.  It will lather like a chemical soap and works best when warm.

Have you tried any of these organic cleaning methods? Do you have any methods you can share? 

More "green" tips!

• Green Your Home For Less
• How to Green Your Laundry
• How to Green Your Workout