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Homemade, Healthy Spring Cleaning

By Bridget Avila

With that first hint of spring in the air it feels like time to throw open the windows, let in the fresh air, and roll up your sleeves for some serious spring cleaning. But what if the latest household-cleaning miracle from Chemicals ’R’ Us leaves you with a headache from its formidable fumes or its toxic contents cause you to worry about your children or pets getting into it? What if you don’t like what most commercial cleaning products do to the environment but don’t want to shell out the big bucks for organic cleaning products?

No need to let these concerns deprive you of a good spring cleaning. You can whip up your own nontoxic cleaners with ingredients you may have on hand already. Here’s a list of basic ingredients and what they can do to help you clean up:

• Baking soda —cleans and deodorizes. Use as a scouring powder or to increase the sudsing ability of soap.
• Borax —cleans, deodorizes, and disinfects. Softens water. Find it in the laundry section of the grocery store.
• Soap —yes, soap! Sold in liquid, flake, powder, or bar form, soap is biodegradable and nontoxic. Look for soaps without synthetic scents, colors, or other additives. Grate bars to dissolve more quickly in hot water.
• Washing soda —cuts grease and removes stains. Disinfects. Softens water. Look for it in the laundry section of grocery stores or look for the pure form at chemical supply houses, listed as “sodium carbonate.”
• White vinegar or lemon juice —cuts grease and freshens.

Now that you’ve stocked up with these ingredients, get to mixing them up for nearly every cleaning job. But remember that even milder or homemade cleaners can still be harmful if used incorrectly. Keep them out of reach of children and pets.

GENERAL CLEANERS

Household Cleaner

Mix together

1 teaspoon liquid soap (castile, peppermint)
1 teaspoon borax
Squeeze of lemon
1 quart warm water

or

1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup borax

1/2 cup vinegar
1 gallon water

For surfaces that need scouring, try moist salt or baking soda and a scouring pad.

Window Cleaner

Mix together

2 teaspoons vinegar
1 quart warm water

or

2 tablespoons borax
3 cups water

Rub dry with newspaper to avoid streaking.

Disinfectant

Mix together

1/4 cup borax
1/2 gallon hot water

Air Fresheners

Commercial fresheners work by masking smells, coating nasal passages and deadening nerves to diminish your sense of smell. Instead find sources of odors and eliminate them, keep your house and closets clean and well ventilated, and grow lots of houseplants. Simmer in a saucepan on the stove cinnamon sticks, orange peel, cloves, and water. Place 2 to 4 tablespoons of baking soda or vinegar in small bowls in your refrigerator and around the house to absorb odors and pour 1/2 cup of baking soda in the bottom of trashcans.

SPOT REMOVERS

Here are alternatives to enzyme presoaks and bleach for tough stains on laundry and carpets. Test each of the following remedies on a corner of your fabric first. Wash after application.

• Heavy soils : Rub with solution of 2 tablespoons washing soda in 1 cup warm water.
• Fruit and wine : Immediately pour salt or hot water on the stain and soak in milk before washing.
• Ink: Soak in milk or remove with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol.
• Coffee: Mix egg yolk with lukewarm water and rub on stain.
• Lipstick: Rub with cold cream or shortening and wash with washing soda.
• Mildew: Pour strong soap and salt on the spots and place in sunlight. Keep the spots moist and repeat as often as necessary.
• Grease: Pour boiling water on stains and follow with dry baking soda. Also try ammonia and water.
• Blood: Soak in cold water or remove with hydrogen peroxide. For a more stubborn stain mix cornstarch, talcum powder, or cornmeal with water and apply to stain. Allow to dry and brush away.
• Chewing gum: Rub with ice. Gum will flake off.
• Rust: Saturate with sour milk (or lemon juice) and rub with salt. Place in direct sunlight until dry, then wash.

KITCHEN AND BATHROOM CLEANERS

Drain Cleaner

Pour together

1/2 cup borax in drain followed by

2 cups boiling water

or

1/4 cup baking soda down the drain, followed by
1/2 cup vinegar

Cover drain and let sit for 15 minutes. Follow with 2 quarts boiling water.

You may also try a plumber’s snake and boiling water.

Toilet Bowls

Pour

1/4 cup baking soda into bowl and drizzle with vinegar.

Let sit for 1/2 hour. Scrub and flush. Add borax for stains.

How to Dispose of Prescription Drugs

While you are cleaning out your cupboards you might wonder what to do with expired and unused medications. Having antibiotics and other drugs accumulate in the Bay is hardly appealing. Neither is the thought of a child ingesting improperly discarded medication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently updated its guidelines to consumers for disposing of medications. Here’s what it recommends:

Take unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs out of their original containers and throw them in the trash.

Mixing prescription drugs with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and putting them in impermeable, nondescript containers, such as empty cans or sealable bags, will further ensure the drugs are not diverted.

Take advantage of pharmaceutical take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal. Some communities have pharmaceutical take-back programs or community solid-waste programs that allow the public to bring or send unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal.

Flush prescription drugs down the toilet only if the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so.

For a list of FDA-approved flushable prescription drugs and information on local community waste and national pharmaceutical take back programs, [click here].