Though they’re so widely available, many of the commonly used commercial cleaning products that are on offer today are made of chemicals that can cause or exacerbate illness in humans. Not only that but these products can also negatively impact the environment.
Luckily, environmentally friendly ingredients can also be used as effective cleaning products. Two of the most common green ingredients used for cleaning are baking soda and vinegar. They can be used separately, together, or mixed with other natural products and are a healthier, less toxic way to clean your home.
Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a mild alkali that not only cleans but also deodorizes and is a gentle abrasive. Vinegar is an acid that is an effective, non-toxic alternative to popular cleaners, including bleach. It deodorizes and is often used for the removal of stains, mould, and rust.
Now let’s get into exactly how you can use them, and what for!
1. Multipurpose cleaner
Make up a natural general cleaner with half vinegar, half water and a sprinkle of baking soda in a spray bottle. Shake to mix well before every spray. You can use this as a DIY everyday cleaner for bench tops, kitchen basins, tiles and lots more. Add a few drops of your favourite essential oils to make your whole home smell amazing.
2. Clean your kitchen sink
Wet the sink, sprinkle baking soda over the surface, and scrub, then rinse. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and the same paste on the rim and caulk. Line the sink with paper towels that you’ve soaked in white vinegar. Leave them there for 20 minutes, then remove to reveal the sparkling kitchen sink of dreams! You’ll be seriously impressed with this one.
3. Clean your drain
You might not remember to clean your drains until they start to smell - and when that happens, it’s usually a sign that you’re one hair or toenail away from a complete blockage. To keep your drain about as clean as a drain can ever be, sprinkle 4 tablespoons of baking soda into it, followed by two cups of vinegar. Once the bubbling stops, flush the drain with boiling water. Use soapy water and vinegar-soaked paper towels to clean the faucet, too.
4. Make a bathroom cleaner
This vinegar and baking soda cleanser works on any bathroom surface. It cuts through soap scum and mildew as well as any commercial bathroom product and costs just pennies. To make the cleanser, mix 1 and a half cups of baking soda and half a cup of liquid soap in a bowl. Dilute with half a cup of water and add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Stir the mixture with a fork until any lumps dissolve, then pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Shake well before using. Squirt the solution on the area to be cleaned, and scrub with a nylon-backed sponge. Finish by rinsing off with water. You can use this to clean the germiest spots in your bathroom - just make sure to keep the cleanser covered between uses.
5. Clean grout
Staying in the bathroom, if you have grout that you know needs to be cleaned and you don’t want to pay a professional cleaning service to get it looking like new, try this vinegar and baking soda combo. Sprinkle baking soda in the grout, then spray vinegar over baking soda. Allow the vinegar to react to the baking soda before cleaning the grout by scrubbing it with an old toothbrush. Follow up with a rag to wipe up the dirt. Dip the toothbrush in a cup of water to rinse in between scrubbing.
6. Clean the outside of your toilet
Another must-know baking soda and vinegar hack in the bathroom is to deodorize the outside of the toilets. Simply make a paste with baking soda and water and rub it around the sides and base of the toilet, including the tile surrounding the toilet. Let this sit for 10 to 15 minutes and then spray vinegar over the top. Once the bubbles have done their thing, wipe everything up with a clean wet rag.
7. Remove stains on the carpet
Of course, baking soda and vinegar are great cleaners, independently. And in most cases, vinegar is a great all-purpose cleaner, but there are a number of things you should never clean with vinegar. One thing you can clean with vinegar is your carpet. To lift light carpet stains with vinegar and baking soda, rub them with a mixture of 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in half a cup of white vinegar. Let the solution dry, wait for 2 hours, then vacuum. For larger or darker stains, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the mixture and use in the same way.
8. Boost laundry detergent
It may sound like a cliché, but adding half a cup of baking soda to your usual amount of liquid laundry detergent really will give you brighter colours. The baking soda also softens the water, so you can actually use less detergent. Adding half a cup of baking soda in top-loading machines also increases the potency of bleach, so you need only half the usual amount of bleach. If you have clothes that need to be thoroughly cleaned, add a cup of vinegar to the mix. Its antibacterial properties will get your clothes clean in no time -
13 июл 2024
