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Clean can be green, too. That’s a philosophy we try to stick to here at The Cleaning Frenzy Blog. Most of the time, that means using DIY all purpose cleaning solution (white vinegar and water). Other times it means choosing a greener alternative to household cleaning chemicals. But one way to begin greening the cleaning products in your home is to build a ready-to-go arsenal of green cleaning solutions. Make up all of these at once and utilize when appropriate!

Green “Soft Scrub” Alternative

This natural alternative to SoftScrub can replace your harsh bleach cleansers for scrubbing your bathroom tile. To make this, put about half a cup of baking soda into a bowl and add just a little bit of water. Mix it up until it has a texture like frosting. Add a bit more water or baking soda accordingly. Now, just scrub it in to your tile like it was SoftScrub.

If you’re making extra for later, add one teaspoon of vegetable glycerin. Seal it in a glass jar to seal in the moisture.

Green “Endust” or Natural Furniture Polisher

We discussed this in an earlier post, but in case you missed it, you can just mix up a little bit of olive oil and a couple drops of lemon juice to make a pretty awesome green alternative to Endust or Pledge. For more dusting tips, read Dusting Without Chemicals.

Natural “Windex” Alternative

The green alternative to Windex is so simple I’m not even sure why Windex exists. To make a great natural window cleaner, mix:

• about half a teaspoon of liquid detergent
• 3 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar
• 2 cups of water

Shake it all up in a spray bottle and use some crumpled up newspaper to wipe it dry (just like the homeless folk).

Green Oven Cleaner/Natural Degreaser

Bacon’s the silent killer, both in the way it clogs our arteries and causes us to pull out our hair trying to wipe up those greasy stains from our ovens. If you have a glasstop  stove or a good ol’ fashioned range, you probably resort to commercial cleaners under most circumstances. We admit – we do, too, sometimes. But you can make up a natural degreaser that works pretty well on your stovetop as well. Try this:

Wet the oven or stove with water. Then, sprinkle it amply with baking soda so it’s completely covered. Sprinkle some more water on top and let it sit overnight. Wipe away the grease the next morning and then scrub the remainder with a bit of liquid detergent and a sponge. It works!

Just Use Vinegar

Vinegar makes a great deodorizer and cleaner. Keep some vinegar handy to spray on cutting boards and toilet rims and just let it sit overnight without rinsing. The vinegar smell dissipates after a few hours and the offending odor disappears, too.

Mold Destroyer

For getting rid of mold, you can refer to our Mold Removal Task Force post. But you can also use 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil mixed with two cups of water. Shake it up and spray it on and let it sit.

Green All Purpose Cleaner

As a natural alternative to 409, try mixing half a teaspoon of washing soda, a dab of liquid soap and two cups of hot water. Shake it up in a spray bottle and use it to wash just about everything.

Green Toilet Cleaners

A green solution for “drop in tablet” convenience for cleaning your toilet is the holy grail of natural home cleaning solutions. But it’s yet to be discovered. The thing with slow release tablets is that they do require a bit of chemical fiddling in order to get it to work. But you can come up with some almost as easy solution for cleaning your toilet which only require dumping it in and letting the natural cleaners do their magic.

Try some of these:

Pour ½ cup of white distilled vinegar in your toilet tank (the back part, silly) and let it sit for 30 minutes. Do this once a week. Also, add about a fourth cup to the toilet bowl and let that sit as well. Naturally disinfected and deodorized!

Another “drop in” toilet solution is to mix 1 cup borax with ¼ cup lemon juice or vinegar. Just dump it in the toilet bowl and let it chill for about 15 minutes. Scrub stains, if needed, then flush.

Lastly, try mixing ¼ cup baking soda with 1 cup of vinegar and dumping it in the toilet. Enjoy the fizzing action for five minutes, then scrub and flush.

Check back to this post from time to time – we’ll be updating it as we discover new, green ways to keep the home clean!