Think Green

I did post a few things on green cleaning while between projects one day. And I fully intend to continue that entire line. Like now.

There is really no need to purchase the hundreds of chemicals whose sole purpose on this planet are to create plastic for land fills and to give everyone in the house a headache among other far worse ailments. The shelves overflow with items that need ventilation while using. I don't know about you but I don't have a vent to turn on in every room and not all messes happen near the hood at the stove.

Remember the commercials from the 50's? Almost every woman that was witnessed cleaning wore yellow gloves that came virtually up to the shoulder when the boom of bleach and ammonia products hit the market full force. I'm sure it occurred to these women that wrapping their hands and arms in a thick yellow rubber plastic wrap was to protect their delicate skin and nails from harm. And while it did that job just fine, it didn't protect their lungs, their cells, the rest of their body from harmful cancer causing agents and other bad stuff.

So lets face it. If you eat it, its probably fairly safe to use around the house, right? Say.. vinegar. Baking soda. Cornstarch. Borax. Castile and veggie based soaps. Lemon juice. Essential oils. Salt. Toothpaste! Mouthwash (I hated this particular one as a kid). These offer a host of home remedies. And this is where I got my start after I gardened with my father. I learned from my grandmother.


For my grandmother there is nothing that sulfur, rubbing alcohol and vics salve couldn't treat. And she was mostly right. When my child's first major injury spontaneously manifested in the form of a screech, a horrible breath stealing thud and then the moment that hung between "Am I ok?" and "No I AM NOT, MOM!!!" came to me, I knew exactly what to do to handle it. And it wasn't a trip to the emergency room. It was a trip to the kitchen table. And I fixed it. Not with everything my grandmother taught me. But some of it mixed with a new idea that has come about since she was a young lady. I got my son wrapped up with some liquid band aid after I cleaned him up in the shower (head wound you know, they bleed and bleed and BlEeD). Bleeding at a manageable trickle saw me drying him up and putting on some liquid band aid. He was right as rain as soon as the last sniffle subsided. Once he was ready, because it takes 3 year olds a chance to get right again after having their head gushing blood, I dabbed on the lavender and started the healing process. Nothing more complicated than that. No staples (he didn't need one, it was a small gash), no stitches, no needles poking into his scalp to numb it. No, I've got a quarter inch rip in his scalp under control here with basic home remedies.

Aloe for burns! That has taken off. I visit seed and plant swaps at some one's house and I see it in the kitchen window in nearly all those homes. Didn't used to though. Glad to see it coming back.

Essential oils for the win. Fragrant, calming and just plain lovely and antibacterial on the homefront graces my medicine cabinet. Lavender for antimicrobial properties. Tea Tree for similar uses. Great for dandruff and ailments of the scalp. Cloves for tooth aches. Ginger for nausea. Cinnamon to settle the upset stomach and if that doesn't work, a teaspoon of baking soda in a tall glass of cool water was around long before fizzy tablets out of paper packages.

We're over run with insect critters this year. When I was a kid and I would find myself eaten alive by the various blood sucking bugs and whatnot. At the end of the day and I've showered, I would scratch until I bled. So what is the remedy for this? Mouthwash on the bite. I know that sounds kinda silly but it works. Listerine works well. A dab of that stuff on the bite leaves it calmed. No more itching. But one must be careful because if it is an open sore, it inflames the open sore and it burns. And while after a while, the angry pounding in the affected area will go down, one has no desire to scratch at it again for fear that the bottle of mouthwash will come back out of the bathroom to give a second round of treatment. Just watch that they are no open sores and save yourself some pain.

For bee and wasp stings, tobacco right on the sting helps to draw out the poison. And then a damp cake of baking soda slathered on the affected area to help out even more. During the summers when I was 4 and 5 I remember that my mother would leave a cup of the stuff sitting on the counter by the phone so that all she'd have to do is just add water.

Such things were used for such simple every day injuries. They can be used in the house, too.

Cleaning solutions that have lavender and clove and cinnamon based on the time of the year that you're cleaning can not only clean but set mood far better than Pine Sol or 409.

Vinegar can destroy virtually any smell. My husband emptied the cat litter and didn't realize there was a hairline crack in the bottom of the pan. So over a weekend where we had the air off and the doors all open, the house heated up a bit and then there was this smell. We tried to follow our nose and we kept ending up in a clean bathroom. I look at my husband, he looks at me and we both look at the cat pan. "I just emptied that not long ago," he warned. "I am smelling it now," I replied. "It must be broken," I say after several long moments of us eyeing the enemy. "Maybe, it was dark, I could have done something to it," I take this in and wonder if he knew exactly what he did but didn't think the results would mean a difference. Bet he won't be doing that again. We bought a new pan and new litter and came back home. When he picked it all the way up, the culprit reveled himself. A line of red liquid. The smell was overwhelming.

I whipped out a quart of white vinegar from under the bathroom sink and a small tub. I poured the vinegar into the tub, filled it up the rest of the way with water and my husband who was considering why I didn't just whip out a bottle of bleach or something went with it like a champ and decided that it was rather nice. The bathroom as a whole didn't get unbearable. He could breath and with his breathing problems, there was no need to torture him with harsh chemicals. In about half the time it would have taken to clean with the other because it would chase him out for an hour until the fumes went down a bit, we got it mopped up, mop cleaned up, tub rinsed out and replaced, new box in place and litter in. That simple. No coughing fits that bring scarlet to the lips which has happened in the past with him.

We're at that point in our relationship where he actually listens to what I say and will accept that sometimes I might have a better idea. He is a city child. I am a country child. We learn from each other. He was amazed at how well it worked and how quickly it worked. Neutralized without a single gag or cough. The cool thing is that the vinegar mixed with a little water is great for fixtures and for cleaning tile and such. I noticed the tub hasn't been scrubbed down recently so I broke out a cloth and the baking soda, made a paste right on the cloth and got the ring of crap that my sons leave on there like daily completely off of there. It took a couple of minutes and I didn't have to get into a biohazard suit to do it and I didn't need to step out of the bathroom to get fresh air either and the tub is just as clean as if I had used a product that is caustic to humans. The coolest thing is that it won't hurt the kids so that cheap slave labor we have is going to be in high use because they can scrub every bit as well as I can and they do. Rack one up for me, they scrub, I garden. Even trade off I think. Considering most of the dirt gets in the tub when they garden.

My husband complained that I cook too much with smelling plants. Onions, garlic, and very aromatic fresh herbs like basil and such. With all that smell being washed off cutting boards and down the sink, it was smelling pretty bad. It was time to freshen up. I whipped out my baking soda and dumped a generous portion down the drain. My husband eyed me as if I were out of my mind. I used the old box out of the refrigerator so that I wasn't tapping into the good stuff in the cabinet. He waited to see how I was going to make this happen. When I motioned to him to watch as I poured the vinegar, he laughed. I made my own foaming snake to get all those smells right out of the sink. Haven't had that problem since.

Buying these things in bulk isn't difficult. Huge containers of baking soda and vinegar can be bought at the local club shop. It doesn't take much borax to go far unless you use it in all your laundry, which I do so I'm buying a box once a paycheck.

These are just the basics. There are a host of ways to use what I have listed here and there are also a host of other things that can be used as well. I plan on exploring this more because it is getting very expensive to buy the cleaners for $5+ a bottle when I can get a box of borax, a box of baking soda and a box of cornstarch for much less.

My cabinet used to be crammed with all sorts of cleaners. Bleach, ammonia, glass cleaner, brass polish, silver polish, all purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, tile cleaner, toilet cleaner, wipes for the house, wipes for the car, wipes for just about everything else... Now that has all been replaced with Baking soda, Borax, cornstarch, Diatomaceous Earth, white distilled vinegar, essential oils, lemon juice, washing soda, vegetable based soaps, and some other non-toxic cleaners.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up everything. I have the dish washing liquid still. The phosphates are not so good from an article I read a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't let that go just yet. And I use shampoo's that are probably on the chopping block next. As I get it all sorted, I'll transition completely and with luck, this article will get out there and get someone else. If it gets one person to make even a partial change, I'll be satisfied. For the moment...