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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
One of the most difficult rooms to keep clean is the kitchen.
If you look under your sink I'll bet most of the cleaners are meant to be used in your kitchen.
Most likely they floor cleaners, oven cleaners, dish detergent, and one or more surface cleaners. That's a lot of chemicals to be using in our homes and it can get pretty expensive.
This can save money and you can reduce the number of chemicals your family is exposed to by making your own natural cleaners.
Here are some natural cleaners that are easy to make.
Oven Cleaner
Anyone who has ever used an oven cleaner knows they are dangerous, and they stink. Here are some tricks to keep your oven cleaner. When something spills in the oven pour some regular table salt directly on the spill as soon as they occur, while the oven is still hot. When the oven cools down you should be able to scrape the spill right up.
To clean your oven you can make a mix of baking soda and hot water in equal amounts that is very safe and effective. Combine the ingredients to make a paste and apply the paste to your oven. Let it sit for a minute or two. You can then give it a scrubbing and wipe it off.
If your oven is very dirty add an equal part of table salt to the mixture. Apply the paste and turn your oven on to 500 degrees for sixty minutes. Let the oven cool and rinse the paste off.
Dishes
To make your dish soap more effective and less hostile to our environment, add some baking soda to the bottle. You can also find plenty of organic or environmentally safe products in stores. If your local grocery store doesn't carry on you will find a safe dishwashing alternative soap in the health food store. If you have a dishwasher you can combine baking soda and borax to replace your regular dishwasher detergent.
If you add a little vinegar to the rinse cycle of your dishwasher your dishes will all be spot free. The vinegar will also clean the dishwasher for you. To add the vinegar to your rinse cycle you will have to open the door and add it yourself since the rinse additive compartment in the dishwasher wasn't meant to hold vinegar.
Pots and pans loaded with grease and baked on foods are no problem. Soak the dirty pots and pans in a solution made from baking soda and hot water. For those special copper bottom pots there is a secret for cleaning the copper to a bright shine. Combine salt and lemon juice on the copper for a beautiful clean shiny finish.
Drains and Garbage Disposals
If your kitchen drain gets clogged you can clear it by pouring a cup of baking soda and a cup of table salt right down there. Follow this combo with a half of a cup of white vinegar. After letting the drain sit for ten minutes you should flush it out with some boiling water. Clogged drains can often be cleared by pouring a cup of baking soda and a cup of table salt down the drain, followed by half of a cup of white vinegar. Let that sit for ten minutes, then pour in some boiling water.
For the garbage disposal you can use baking soda and vinegar too. Just pour them right into the disposal, let them sit for ten or so minutes, then place some ice cubes in and turn the disposal on. An easy way to keep your garbage disposal fresh between cleanings is to put some orange or lemon peels, or the fruit themselves in there.
Floors
You can use white vinegar to clean your floors if plain water will not do the trick. Vinegar is safe for just about any kind of hard flooring. Dish detergent can be used as well.
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