7 recipes for green cleaning products
Do you want to save money and have full control of the ingredients commonly found in your household cleaners? These recipes for green cleaning products you can prepare at home are the answer for you.
Those of us that want to improve the environmental condition of our planet, always expect that the solution will come from above. Most people think that problems are attributable to the large industrial groups. The fact remains that in our small way we can lower the levels of pollution, if we take only a few small precautions.
But how can we achieve this? Making our own eco-friendly detergents for example! The result, we will use less plastic containers and have the guarantee of natural eco-friendly product. You can also buy ecological detergents which are commercially available, but compared to the traditional ones they can be quite expensive. There are however many websites and books that offer us various recipes to make eco-friendly detergents.
Our top recipes for green cleaning products
The following recipes need just a few easy steps that you can replicate at home!
1) You can spray your utensils with baking soda, this solution is perfect for glasses, the oven, kitchen appliances, the refrigerator and will make your sink shine with a single spray after washing the dishes. It can also be used to pre-treat the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
To make this solution you need:
- 48 grams of sodium bicarbonate
- ½ liter of water
It would be better to use distilled water, because tap water can cause limestone, but we should not go crazy, so use whatever is readily available! Put the water in a container and add the baking soda. Make sure the soda is fully dissolved and there are no lumps. Transfer into a clean empty spray bottle.
2) Cleansing cream with sodium bicarbonate is perfect for cleaning and sanitizing, and for pots that have burnt-on food. Add to the cleansing cream sodium carbonate which has a slightly abrasive effect, and the essential oil of thyme or bergamot which have antibacterial properties.
For this, you will need:
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- 2 drops of dish soap: preferably organic
- a few drops of essential oil of thyme or bergamot.
Mix these ingredients together in a plastic bowl until it forms a creamy consistency similar to yogurt adding water little by little. Keep an eye on the amount of water and stop pouring it as soon as you notice a yogurt consistency.
3) A rinse aid for the limescale; here is a rinse aid that doubles as a de-scaling agent. This solution is to be used as a remover of normal scale on the taps in the sink and stainless steel. You can use this rinse aid in your dishwasher and also for cleaning the dishwasher.
Every month pour 1 liter directly into the detergent drawer of the dishwasher or the washing machine and start a program at 60°, you will effectively clean the inside of your dishwasher/washing machines.
To make this solution, you will need:
- 150 grams of citric acid
- 1l of distilled water
Use a plastic bowl to dissolve the citric acid in distilled water and then pour it into a spray bottle. It is important the water is distilled in order not to add further traces of lime deposit on the surface to be cleaned!
If you want a solution that goes directly into the machine then take 100 ml of citric acid and mix it with distilled water. Alternatively, you can use 100 ml of pure white vinegar.
But if you want to reduce the effect of limescale it would be better if the water is distilled. Distilled water can be gathered from the exhaust of air conditioning units) since tap water can often contain limescale.
4) Here is a natural recipe for pre-treating stains on cloths. This solution is used only on white cloths and for an hour before washing. You make a solution made from 5 liters of warm water, 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate. To obtain a disinfectant and sanitizing effect soak the laundry for 30-60 minutes (in case of colored garments) or for one or two hours (in the case of whites) before washing.
5) If you want to make a wiping liquid that cleans your window sills, you will need:
- 100 ml of alcohol (white liquor) at 95°
- 400 ml of distilled water
- 8-10 drops of organic washing up liquid
- a few drops of essential oil of your choice
You need to dilute the organic detergent with alcohol (denatured alcohol which are pink in colour), the essential oil and distilled water and put in a spray bottle. Use when you want because alcohol stabilizes and preserves the solution. After wiping the dirt with this liquid, you can dry it with a newspaper to absorb the limestone from the windows.
6) Do-it-yourself washing-up liquid. In fact, we use an organic washing powder as a base but it is diluted with bicarbonate and essential oil which gives fragrance and a mild antiseptic power.
To make a bottle of 500 ml, you will need the following:
- 1/6 cup of organic washing up liquid
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 15-20 drops of essential oils (your choice, lemon, orange, mint, pine …)
Take an empty detergent container (cleaned with water), put all the ingredients and shake gently to mix. Thoroughly clean the dirty dishes with a damp sponge before putting them in the sink. Pour over the water from the pasta or rice (boiling water is an excellent degreaser). Pour the correct amount of dish detergent on the sponge to wash the dishes. Rinse all the dishes at the end.
7) If the drain is clogged, don’t clean it with highly acidic corrosive solution. These are damaging to your skin and your eyes (so much so that sometimes products warn you to wear safety glasses to protect you from the fumes that come out from the sink), try a great do-it-yourself solution and do not forget the good old plunger. Mechanical action and a bit of elbow grease on your part can perform miracles!
To make a de-clogging solution you need:
- 150 grams of table salt
- 150 grams of baking soda or washing soda (soda ash)
Mix table salt and baking soda in a plastic container (preferably an empty and clean detergent bottle).
Pour the mixture into the drain , and after pour a pot of boiling water. Warning: if you do not pour the water right away you are likely to clog the drain! You can do this procedure every month using a reduced amount of salt and baking soda to keep your pipe clean.
And finally we have a couple of small tricks: always use hot water as these products have strong detergents and do not mix acids and bases, because they react with each other and cancel each other out.
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