cleaner cleaning
April 18, 2007
I’ve discovered the wonders of home-made cleaning products. I got a bottle of Amonia, a bottle of white vinegar, a big box of Baking Soda and some lemons. I’m only going to use a bit of dish soap to clean counters and the floor.
Here are some of the cleaning solutions I”m trying out that are working wonders:
Hardwood floors:
1/2 cup of white vinegar in 2 gallons (about a bucket full) of hot water. Add a few drops of lemon to cut the smell, and a squirt or two of dish soap. I passed this concoction over my hardwood floors and it left them lustrous.
Kitchen vinyl flooring:
1/2 cup of amonia to one gallon of hot water. I added a bit of lemon and baking soda to get some tough stains. I’m not sure what amonia is, other than a distant cousin of bleach, but it did the job. The floor got clean and dried quickly.
Bathroom/kitchen sinks and tubs:
We’ve been sprinkling the baking soda over surfaces for a quick disinfection. The amonia and hot water combo would probably be good for a deeper clean.
Stains on clothes:
I soaked a clothing item with some blood stains (don’t ask) in the sink with a bit of amonia. I also sprinkled some of the baking soda directly on the stain and left it alone for a while. When I came back I scrubbed the baking soda into the stain and rinsed it with the water and it was pretty much gone. Love it!
My goal here is to not have to buy any more floor solutions, bathroom cleaners, spray bottles of disinfectant, etc. So far so good!
Being Mama 
Excellent! I love less-toxic solutions to these problems, too. You know, you can remove tarnish from silver in a snazzy, easy way:
Place a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of a non-aluminum pan, add enough water to cover your silver pieces, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt (or more if you have a lot of silver stuff), and bring to a boil. Add silver pieces, boil 2-3 minutes, making sure the water covers the silver pieces. Remove silver, rinse, dry, and buff with a soft cloth. This method cleans the design and crevices of silver pieces.
I swiped those instructions from a DIY site, and I have used this method. The action does not remove silver from the item and is by its nature gentle, which is a big plus over other methods. The bath you make with the salt, soda and water allows the sulfur in the silver sulfide (that’s the tarnish) to migrate to the aluminum, which is an easier target than silver for lonely sulfur ions. The foil will come out gross, the silver will be pretty (but might lose its patina from patterns, so be careful about that) and the kitchen will smell a little like rotten eggs (that’s the sulfur) for a while. 🙂