Non -Toxic Cleaning Ingredients

• Getting away from using toxic chemicals to clean your house is simple to do. You can make homemade cleaners that work for disinfecting, general cleaning, grease cutting and dish and clothes washing.
  
  Eco-cycle.com lists the following ingredients as the basis for most nontoxic homemade cleaner recipes: Baking soda, which is an all-purpose cleaner and deodorizer; soap without synthetic additives, colors or scents; borax, which cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and softens water; washing soda (sodium carbonate) for grease and stain removal; and white vinegar or lemon juice for general freshening and grease cutting.
  
  

Homemade Non-Toxic Cleaners

• Eartheasy.com suggests the following homemade non-toxic recipe for disinfecting surfaces: combine 2 tsp. borax with 4 tbsp. vinegar and mix with 3 cups of hot water. If you like, you can add 1/4 tbsp. of liquid castile soap, for an added boost of cleaning power. Spray this mixture on surfaces with a spray bottle, or wipe it on with a moistened cloth. This recipe could also be added to laundry if you leave out the castile soap, as your regular laundry soap will supply the suds.
  
  A spray of white vinegar can be used for general cleaning of surfaces, including your kitchen and bathroom counters and sinks, mirrors and windows. White vinegar works to remove lime and rust and also acts as a mild disinfecting agent. If you add white vinegar to your dishwasher's rinse cycle, it will help to keep water spots from forming on your drinking glasses and dishes.
  
  For nontoxic toilet bowl cleaning, pour 1/4 cup of baking soda into the toilet and add 1 cup or more of vinegar, taking care to drizzle it around the sides of the bowl. Allow this mixture to sit for an hour and then scrub and flush. If your toilet is stained, add some borax for extra cleaning power.
  
  If you want a nontoxic cleaning alternative to the shampoo that you add to your carpet cleaner, use white vinegar. Follow the filling instructions for the carpet cleaner, substituting 1/2 gallon of white vinegar for part of the water. Do not add any carpet shampoo. The white vinegar helps to loosen soil and remove odors from your carpet. Your carpet will smell of vinegar until it dries, then it will smell very fresh and clean.
  
  Your laundry will benefit from a homemade powdered laundry soap recipe made from 2 cups of grated soap, 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax. The soap should be the kind that has no perfumes or dyes added to it.
  
  Lemon juice can be used to remove hard water deposits and soap scum. A paste of baking soda and lemon juice helps remove stains from surfaces. You can also sprinkle some baking soda onto half a lemon and use it to scrub dishes. Then toss the lemon into your garbage disposal and grind up--it will freshen the disposal.