Once again, I am going to extoll the virtues of vinegar.
I've got a small spray bottle of straight white vinegar that I use for cleaning. I like to use it undiluted, really cuts the grease.
Today I cleaned my tile kitchen floor and it looked great.
I spray a section, wipe it down with a cloth (everything comes off easy), then move to the next section. I rinse out the cloth every other section and wring it almost dry. The smell is actually appealing to me, and it only lingers for a moment anyway.
When I'm done, the floor is sparkling clean with no fake, cloying "spring breeze," flower or pine scent, just fresh and white.
Thank you, vinegar.
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Paper towels: Not necessary
My third "Sustainable Tip" for Growcology's March newsletter:
With paper towels, "disposable" is an understatement. Their purpose is to be used once and discarded. Many things you do with a paper towel (mop up spills, wipe counters, clean kids' faces, dry your hands) can also be taken care of with a cloth. What's stopping you? Using cloth instead of paper saves both money and trees.
To get started, collect your cloths. You'd be surprised how many cloths you have within reach. You can use stained table napkins, worn T-shirts, clean cloth diapers, old dish towels or pretty much any fabric items that have run their course. Keep a clean stack or two of these in a drawer or under the sink -- possibly separated into a "nice" stack for drying/wiping things and a "yucky" stack for big messes. (You'd wipe your hands or face with cloths from the "nice" stack, but not from the "yucky" one.)
After using a cloth, either rinse and line dry it or rinse, wring and throw it in the washing machine until your next wash. Soon enough, you'll be weaned off your paper towel habit.
With paper towels, "disposable" is an understatement. Their purpose is to be used once and discarded. Many things you do with a paper towel (mop up spills, wipe counters, clean kids' faces, dry your hands) can also be taken care of with a cloth. What's stopping you? Using cloth instead of paper saves both money and trees.
To get started, collect your cloths. You'd be surprised how many cloths you have within reach. You can use stained table napkins, worn T-shirts, clean cloth diapers, old dish towels or pretty much any fabric items that have run their course. Keep a clean stack or two of these in a drawer or under the sink -- possibly separated into a "nice" stack for drying/wiping things and a "yucky" stack for big messes. (You'd wipe your hands or face with cloths from the "nice" stack, but not from the "yucky" one.)
After using a cloth, either rinse and line dry it or rinse, wring and throw it in the washing machine until your next wash. Soon enough, you'll be weaned off your paper towel habit.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Awards for 2010
Baby steps in green became great strides for me this year. Here is a Top 3 List of green actions I tried, followed by an Honorable Mention for something that was not quite so successful:1. Planting a community garden bed. Not only did this succeed wildly in saving me money and giving me peace of mind about where my food comes from, but I ENJOYED the activity immensely. With very little start-up cost and minimum upkeep (I visit about every other day for 5-10 minutes), my 4-by-8 raised bed has already given me loads of lettuce/arugula/greens and promises tons of peas, carrots, onions, radishes, broccoli and strawberries within weeks. The garden also inspired me to start coursework in October 2010 to become a Master Gardener with UCCE.
Awarded the NEVER TOO LATE Green Trophy.
2. Using nontoxic cleaners. Some of the first baby steps I took in this blog were to begin employing vinegar, baking soda and my own safe mixtures to clean around the house. The house remains just as clean as before (wink, wink), yet now I don't put any bleach, Tilex, Drano or other toxic chemicals down the drain or into my family's bodies.
Awarded the NEVER TOO LATE Wreath of Health.
3. Drying clothes on the line. Personally, this project seemed the most unlikely to succeed due to the time expense and the weather conditions. Yet, I was both able to find the time and endure the desert heat for months, which saved me money and gave me some much-needed meditation minutes while hanging clothes.
Awarded the NEVER TOO LATE Cup of Sustainability.
And an Honorable Mention goes to the attempt at diapering my youngest in cloth. She didn't go for it, and I couldn't seem to find the right wrapper. She will soon be toilet trained.
All in all, a successful year. Tentative green plans for 2011 include making a worm composting bin (!), canning some of the abundance from my garden, volunteering locally with the Master Gardener program and using Craisglist and Freecycle instead of buying new.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Somewhat back on track
Doing laundry today, and though it is humid, I will hang what I can to dry outside.
The borax/baking soda mixture in the dishwasher started not working anymore--there was a film on everything. It was wonderful for a couple weeks, and I was prepared to never buy dishwasher soap again. But it began creating a buildup on glasses and wasn't cleaning anymore. In the future I will use it in a pinch (like for a few days when my soap runs out). It may be best just to clean and freshen up the dishwasher every month or so. My current experiment with that is to use a cup of vinegar in the dishwasher and see if it cuts through the film. Stay tuned ...
So that diaper experiment ... when I am prepared to write about it, I will. As of this posting, I am still in the weeds with it.
The borax/baking soda mixture in the dishwasher started not working anymore--there was a film on everything. It was wonderful for a couple weeks, and I was prepared to never buy dishwasher soap again. But it began creating a buildup on glasses and wasn't cleaning anymore. In the future I will use it in a pinch (like for a few days when my soap runs out). It may be best just to clean and freshen up the dishwasher every month or so. My current experiment with that is to use a cup of vinegar in the dishwasher and see if it cuts through the film. Stay tuned ...
So that diaper experiment ... when I am prepared to write about it, I will. As of this posting, I am still in the weeds with it.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My laundry, the volcano experiment
So I had my fun with vinegar and now it is under my kitchen sink, ready to be employed at a moment's notice.
But, my God, there is another? Another super-cleaner that has been sitting in my cabinet for years, used only to make cookies or in my fridge to deodorize?
Once again strolling in Costco, I saw the 13.5-lb. bag of baking soda and couldn't resist buying it for $4.99. Fresh from my acidic cleaning experiments with vinegar, I was ready to go basic.
(Full disclosure. I'd actually just used up my cooking-size can of baking soda for two different projects: cleaning silver over the holidays and creating a rocket out of a plastic milk jug for my son. Neither project turned out well. The silver did not become shiny; I was left with a large metal pot filled with soggy tin foil and hot, tarnished silver. Regarding the rocket, let's just say that experiment ended with Owen and I cowering in the house while we waited for a milk jug to explode. Maybe I'll explain more about these at a later date. But I digress, even though the rocket project has some bearing on the laundry volcano.)
We just put our house on the market, and we had an open house coming up. As an experiment, I wanted to clean using baking soda throughout the house.
Tile grout: I poured a half-cup of baking soda in a small bowl filled with water, then used it on an grout-scrubbing brush to scrub the grout between the tiles of my kitchen floor, which had become dark-grayish. This seemed to work well; it turned a brilliant white. But then when it dried, I saw that it was just a film of baking soda. My husband thought it looked bad. Using a sponge mop and bucket of water, I tried to rinse it all off. I believe the abrasiveness of the baking soda somewhat cleaned the grout to a lighter shade of gray. Could have just been the grout-scrubbing brush and my elbow grease though. Grade: C+
Cleaning counters: I sprinkled some baking soda on a wet sponge and wiped down kitchen and bathroom counters. Seemed to work OK and rinsed off cleanly. It got a little in the kitchen's tile counter grout, but I followed up quick with a clean, wet sponge and we were in business. Grade: B
Carpet and diaper pail freshener: One of our cats must have gotten stuck in the upstairs walk-in closet. The closet smelled awful, and I found evidence in the far back corner on Scott's side. After cleaning up the mess, I poured tons of baking soda on the area, and the closet smells regular again--like old clothes. And the diaper pail, probably the most disgusting thing in our house, it too was freshened by judicious baking-soda sprinkling. Forget Febreze or Lysol! Grade: A
Cleaning stove burners: This didn't work. I'm always searching for new ways to clean the black stuff off the little pans that hold the stove burners. I soaked the burners in the sink with a half cup of baking soda, then scrubbed them really hard. No good. Only steel wool works on those guys. Grade: D
Laundry: Apparently, baking soda helps the detergent to clean clothes better? Something having to do with the pH. Now, my friend had suggested using vinegar in laundry after my vinegar blogpost, and I've been doing it pretty regularly since then. (Vinegar in the rinse cycle helps reduce the buildup of detergent on clothes, working as a fabric softener.) And, silly me, forgetting all chemistry classes and past experience, I dumped a half cup of baking soda in a load of whites, then put in the detergent in the soap hole and slopped some vinegar into the fabric softener area. Of course, as I twisted the knob to turn on the washer, I realized immediately what I had done. Ever made a "volcano" as a science experiment? Ever set off a baking soda/vinegar rocket? Who knows what even happened in there, whether there was some sort of fizzle or the lid came just shy of exploding off or what. The laundry seemed soft afterward. Grade: B
But, my God, there is another? Another super-cleaner that has been sitting in my cabinet for years, used only to make cookies or in my fridge to deodorize?
Once again strolling in Costco, I saw the 13.5-lb. bag of baking soda and couldn't resist buying it for $4.99. Fresh from my acidic cleaning experiments with vinegar, I was ready to go basic.
(Full disclosure. I'd actually just used up my cooking-size can of baking soda for two different projects: cleaning silver over the holidays and creating a rocket out of a plastic milk jug for my son. Neither project turned out well. The silver did not become shiny; I was left with a large metal pot filled with soggy tin foil and hot, tarnished silver. Regarding the rocket, let's just say that experiment ended with Owen and I cowering in the house while we waited for a milk jug to explode. Maybe I'll explain more about these at a later date. But I digress, even though the rocket project has some bearing on the laundry volcano.)
We just put our house on the market, and we had an open house coming up. As an experiment, I wanted to clean using baking soda throughout the house.
Tile grout: I poured a half-cup of baking soda in a small bowl filled with water, then used it on an grout-scrubbing brush to scrub the grout between the tiles of my kitchen floor, which had become dark-grayish. This seemed to work well; it turned a brilliant white. But then when it dried, I saw that it was just a film of baking soda. My husband thought it looked bad. Using a sponge mop and bucket of water, I tried to rinse it all off. I believe the abrasiveness of the baking soda somewhat cleaned the grout to a lighter shade of gray. Could have just been the grout-scrubbing brush and my elbow grease though. Grade: C+
Cleaning counters: I sprinkled some baking soda on a wet sponge and wiped down kitchen and bathroom counters. Seemed to work OK and rinsed off cleanly. It got a little in the kitchen's tile counter grout, but I followed up quick with a clean, wet sponge and we were in business. Grade: B
Carpet and diaper pail freshener: One of our cats must have gotten stuck in the upstairs walk-in closet. The closet smelled awful, and I found evidence in the far back corner on Scott's side. After cleaning up the mess, I poured tons of baking soda on the area, and the closet smells regular again--like old clothes. And the diaper pail, probably the most disgusting thing in our house, it too was freshened by judicious baking-soda sprinkling. Forget Febreze or Lysol! Grade: A
Cleaning stove burners: This didn't work. I'm always searching for new ways to clean the black stuff off the little pans that hold the stove burners. I soaked the burners in the sink with a half cup of baking soda, then scrubbed them really hard. No good. Only steel wool works on those guys. Grade: D
Laundry: Apparently, baking soda helps the detergent to clean clothes better? Something having to do with the pH. Now, my friend had suggested using vinegar in laundry after my vinegar blogpost, and I've been doing it pretty regularly since then. (Vinegar in the rinse cycle helps reduce the buildup of detergent on clothes, working as a fabric softener.) And, silly me, forgetting all chemistry classes and past experience, I dumped a half cup of baking soda in a load of whites, then put in the detergent in the soap hole and slopped some vinegar into the fabric softener area. Of course, as I twisted the knob to turn on the washer, I realized immediately what I had done. Ever made a "volcano" as a science experiment? Ever set off a baking soda/vinegar rocket? Who knows what even happened in there, whether there was some sort of fizzle or the lid came just shy of exploding off or what. The laundry seemed soft afterward. Grade: B
Friday, January 8, 2010
Spit and vinegar
At Costco a few weeks ago I bought a 5-liter (1.32-gallon) bottle of white vinegar. It cost a little over $3. The thing is huge. It was on my kitchen counter for a while as I considered how I would use it.
Apparently, using vinegar is a green way to clean. According to both new (Internet) and old (my mom) wives' tales, when diluted in varying strengths, its acidity breaks up soap scum and stains in the kitchen and bathroom and it spitshines windows and mirrors.
My question: If something works this well and is so cheap, why do we have Tilex, Comet, Windex and other foul-smelling, chemical-filled, expensive cleaners?
Test No. 1: Mirrors. I filled half a large measuring cup with vinegar and then topped off the rest with water. It didn't smell too badly. In my toddler's room I dipped a clean old diaper cloth into the mixture and wiped down his mirrored closet doors. They were filthy, covered with fingerprints. Using a clean newspaper, I made circular motions to dry off the vinegar solution on the mirrors. It worked very well, just as good as--if not better than--Windex. The mirrors dried super-clean, no streaks. Grade: A-
Test No. 2: Windows. Feeling good after the mirrors, I moved on to the kitchen window that always gets hard water stains on the outside and on the inside still had some specks of a shade material I had scratched off last year. Using the same measuring cup solution, I cleaned the outside and dried with the newspaper. All the hard water stains came off with a little elbow grease. Inside, the vinegar was able to dissolve whatever stickiness the specks had left. They all came off. I got anal and saw I could do better outside, so I cleaned it again. Now the sunniest window in my house was sparkling. Grade: A
Test No. 3: Toilet. I was on a roll, cleaning, so I headed to the bathroom. The measuring cup solution was all gone. I poured straight vinegar into the toilet bowl, let it sit a bit, then whisked around with the brush. Some hard water stains came off and the vinegar must have been dissolving something in there because the water looked very dirty. After I flushed, I thought it looked good, but I'll have to get used to no scrubbing bubbles or flower-fresh smell. Grade: B+
Test No. 4: Bathtub. There was a strange red line of something on the edge of the tub where it met the tile. But I eschewed the toxic Tilex Atomic Mold Destroyer spray I own and just poured straight vinegar on the stain. Using a brush, I scrubbed the red right off. Then I used more vinegar and the brush to scrub the rest of the tub very shiny, including soap scum stains off the chrome fixtures. And I did not faint from the fumes, nor need to have an open window, as I would have with Tilex. Grade: A
Approximately 3 cups of vinegar was used, probably about 25 cents worth. I can do this vinegar thing. (But, help! Now what should I do with all those chemical cleaners filling my under-sink cabinets?)
Apparently, using vinegar is a green way to clean. According to both new (Internet) and old (my mom) wives' tales, when diluted in varying strengths, its acidity breaks up soap scum and stains in the kitchen and bathroom and it spitshines windows and mirrors.
My question: If something works this well and is so cheap, why do we have Tilex, Comet, Windex and other foul-smelling, chemical-filled, expensive cleaners?
Test No. 1: Mirrors. I filled half a large measuring cup with vinegar and then topped off the rest with water. It didn't smell too badly. In my toddler's room I dipped a clean old diaper cloth into the mixture and wiped down his mirrored closet doors. They were filthy, covered with fingerprints. Using a clean newspaper, I made circular motions to dry off the vinegar solution on the mirrors. It worked very well, just as good as--if not better than--Windex. The mirrors dried super-clean, no streaks. Grade: A-
Test No. 2: Windows. Feeling good after the mirrors, I moved on to the kitchen window that always gets hard water stains on the outside and on the inside still had some specks of a shade material I had scratched off last year. Using the same measuring cup solution, I cleaned the outside and dried with the newspaper. All the hard water stains came off with a little elbow grease. Inside, the vinegar was able to dissolve whatever stickiness the specks had left. They all came off. I got anal and saw I could do better outside, so I cleaned it again. Now the sunniest window in my house was sparkling. Grade: A
Test No. 3: Toilet. I was on a roll, cleaning, so I headed to the bathroom. The measuring cup solution was all gone. I poured straight vinegar into the toilet bowl, let it sit a bit, then whisked around with the brush. Some hard water stains came off and the vinegar must have been dissolving something in there because the water looked very dirty. After I flushed, I thought it looked good, but I'll have to get used to no scrubbing bubbles or flower-fresh smell. Grade: B+
Test No. 4: Bathtub. There was a strange red line of something on the edge of the tub where it met the tile. But I eschewed the toxic Tilex Atomic Mold Destroyer spray I own and just poured straight vinegar on the stain. Using a brush, I scrubbed the red right off. Then I used more vinegar and the brush to scrub the rest of the tub very shiny, including soap scum stains off the chrome fixtures. And I did not faint from the fumes, nor need to have an open window, as I would have with Tilex. Grade: A
Approximately 3 cups of vinegar was used, probably about 25 cents worth. I can do this vinegar thing. (But, help! Now what should I do with all those chemical cleaners filling my under-sink cabinets?)
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