by Marissa Lenting

Cleaning green.

These days everyone is cutting back on extra costs in their lifestyles. Keeping your home clean shouldn’t cause a pain in your wallet, but the cleanliness of your home shouldn’t suffer either.

A great new way to clean your home is through these handmade recipes, and there is no chemistry set needed! Just mix a few simple ingredients together and you’ve got your very own green-clean team! It is a great way to look out for the environment and your family, as they are kid and pet friendly! These homemade recipes are also a lot more cost effective than your typical chemical-based cleaners.

Try using vinegar for many of your home cleaning remedies. Don’t worry about your home smelling like vinegar, the smell disappears when it dries. A bottle of vinegar will cost around $3.80 for 128 oz. and a 26 oz. bottle of window cleaner can cost $4.79! That’s more than a $20.00 difference! Some simple and common uses for vinegar are:

Bathroom - Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. Scrub down the bowl. Mop the floor in the bathroom with a vinegar/water solution. The substance will also eat away the soap scum and hard water stains on your fixtures and tile. Make sure it is safe to use with your tile.

Kitchen - Clean the stovetop, appliances, countertops, and floor.

Laundry Room – Use as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively.

Use lemon juice to clean your surfaces and rid of smells. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make all sorts of cleaning pastes. A bunch of 5 lemons will cost you around $2.50 and one lemon can cover an entire house! A 12.5 oz. bottle of furniture polish will cost you $3.99 the savings are simple. Simple and common uses for lemons are:

Bathroom – Lemon juice can dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Soak your showerhead in a bowl of lemon juice or rub a mixture of lemon juice and water on your sink or bathtub.

Kitchen – A great way to shine brass and copper. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section and scrub dishes or pans. Put a few slices of lemon in a bowl of water and place in microwave. Cook for 2 minutes and remove bowl. Then easily wipe off any food particles or grease from microwaves surfaces. Put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal, it freshens the drain and the kitchen.

Baking soda can also be used in an all-purpose way of cleaning. Mix it with vinegar or lemon for an abrasive super cleaner! An all-purpose cleaner can cost around $3.00 for only 32 oz., while a 48 oz. box of baking soda costs $2.25 and will last you a lot longer!
If you really want a great way to freshen up your home, add a few drops of lavender essential oil to your cleaning mixture, a 10ml bottle goes for $5 – $10, and can last you a year.

Here are some more really great recipes and ideas for all your homemade cleaning needs!

Furniture Polish: Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar, and 2 tsp. lemon juice and shake well. Dip a clean and dry cloth into polish and rub wood in the direction of the grain. Refrigerate any remaining polish.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Sprinkle bowl with baking soda and drizzle with white vinegar. Let soak 30 minutes, and scrub with toilet brush. For tough stains, let soak overnight.

All Purpose Cleaner: Combine 2 cups of white distilled vinegar and 2 cups of water. Use on counter tops, kitchen floors, windows, mirrors, and any other hard surfaces. For tough jobs, warm the cleaner in the microwave.

Happy Cleaning!

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

Original Article:  http://earthorganization.com/clean-green

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This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Cheap, Clean and Green! is a post from:

What’s round like an orange, textured like a porcupine and green like a lime? It’s the green wash ball. This ball works by bouncing around natural ceramics inside the ball that raise the ph level of the water. This process is much like how traditional detergent works but instead of friction they use chemicals to raise the ph level. Also the texturing on the ball helps loosen dirt and at the same time softens clothes without the use of chemical fabric softeners.

To use, simply place ball in washer without detergent or fabric softener and wash as usual. The green ball can be used 7 times per week and then refreshed by place in the sun for 1 hour. Following this pattern of use will give you enough cleaning power to last 1,000 washes or 3 years worth of laundry. The green ball safeguards clothes, activates water’s natural cleaning power, eliminates odors, cleans with an antibacterial effect, removes dirt without chemical detergents and avoids allergic reactions to clothing detergents and fabric softeners. The green ball is safe for septic tanks and in the production of gray water. Also with college starting the green ball is an easy way for students to do their laundry with one simple ball. So the next time you’re in the detergent aisle think about trying the green wash ball.

Also, while laundry is on your mind think about the art of clothes drying. While fall is quickly approaching, the art of hanging your clothes on the line to dry is liberating and nostalgic. One can hang clothes on the line and enjoy the sun and breeze of the day. This enjoyment continues when the clothes are taken down in their crispness and the scent lingers in your closet and drawers. But if you cannot hang your clothes out or, have allergies, using a dryer to dry your clothes is your only option. However, you can save money, soften your clothes naturally, and save time by using dryer balls. These balls placed as pairs in your dryer beats one’s clothes to soften and speed up drying time.

So even the art of doing laundry can be green. Green wash balls reduce the use of plastic, cut down on unplanned trips to the store when you run out unexpectedly and soften one’s clothes by the tumbling of the ball in the washer much like what has been done for centuries with beating clothes on rocks. The green wash ball can also be used in the refrigerator to help keep fruits and vegetables fresh. The final task on laundry day is drying and it can be the most enjoyable. Mother Earth has provided the most wonderful dryer for clothes, the outdoors. But if you cannot take advantage of Mother Earth’s dryer the dryer balls in the dryer are the next best thing. While this act uses energy the beating of the ball softens clothes, cuts drying time which saves energy and if nothing else creates rhythmic music that spices up a mundane task.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Laundry Day: Try Green Wash Ball is a post from:

In the summer, the hot sun blesses us in so many ways.  It brings people out of their homes and together; it warms our swimming pools and feeds the plants in our gardens.  There is also one thing the sun is perfect for, LAUNDRY.  Hanging up your clothes to dry and letting the sun do all the work not only can save energy, but it can save your clothes. Not to mention, it is really easy.

The clothes dryer accounts for 5.8% of residential energy use per year and is the third biggest user of electricity in your home according to the US Department of Energy.  According to Laundrylist.org, if each American hung their clothes up to dry, we would save enough energy to close down several power plants.

Another plus: Hanging  your clothes to dry not only saves energy but it also saves your clothes.  When clothes are tumbled dried, the fibers of your clothes are broken down, which causes your clothes to wear much quicker.  Where do you think dry lint comes from?  If your clothes are hung up to dry they can last longer, which in turn saves the material needed to buy new clothes.  It also decreases the amount of clothes thrown out into the land fill.

Here are a few simple tips from  the Queen of Clean and a few of my own to help you on the road to line drying your clothes.

• A tension curtain rod hung up in a laundry room can make a great place to hang up clothes.  Project Laundry List also has many styles of clothes lines to choose from.
• Want eye-popping whites?  Hang your clothes in direct sunlight.
• Use caution when hanging colored clothes in direct sun.  Just as the sun bleaches your whites, it can bleach your colored clothes.
• Hanging clothes on plastic hangers with sloped ends will help them dry without “shoulder dimples.”
• Don’t like how your clothes can be a little stiff after line drying?  Toss them in the dryer with a wet washcloth or hand towel for 5 minutes and it will soften the clothes.
• The sun and a little lemon juice works wonders on stains .  Pour a little lemon juice on the stain, sit it out in the sun for 30 minutes and then wash.  No more stains!
• Clothes will have fewer wrinkles when line dried if you don’t spin to much water out of them before you hang them up.  Shut off your washer half way through the spin cycle and then hang up your clothes. You also save a little extra energy that way.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Clothing Lines Save Energy and Clothes is a post from: