Perhaps you have sensitive skin, or one of the kids is asthmatic, maybe you don’t want to use harsh chemicals around your home. There are so many products in our supermarkets for use in household cleaning it is absolutely overwhelming. Think about this. If we bought one item for every job in our house, we would most likely end up with hundreds of products in our cleaning cupboard.  Well, I am here to tell you that grandmother was most probably right.  All you need is some simple know-how, elbow-grease and the right ingredients to make your own non-toxic cleaners.

Just go online and look at the many sites, which sell cleaning products. I found too many to surf through and frankly, it became quite a chore. Learning to make some homemade recipes, can really be satisfying, and so much cheaper particularly if you take time to understand how some of the supplies work. Here are some simple ingredients, which are safe, effective, cheap, and make excellent cleaning products.

Bicarbonate of soda – (aka Baking Soda)
Inorganic compound, white, crystalline salt of sodium, chemical formula NaHCO3. It is a weak base and dissociates into water and carbon dioxide gas as it dissolves in the presence of hydrogen ions. In addition to household uses as an antacid, cleaner, and deodorizer, it is used in manufacturing effervescent salts and beverages and baking powder. Industrial uses include production of other sodium salts, treatment of wool and silk, and use in pharmaceuticals, sponge rubber, fire extinguishers, cleaners, lab reagents, mouthwash, used in bath salts and deodorant body powders, and gold and platinum plating.

Sprinkled on a damp sponge or cloth, baking soda can be used as a gentle nonabrasive cleanser for kitchen counter tops, sinks, bathtubs, ovens, and fibreglass. OzFreeOnline.com has an enormous classified section with literally thousands of advertisements.  If you register, log in and search you will find loads of information on all of the basic products I have mentioned here.

Baking soda will eliminate perspiration odours and even neutralize the smell of many chemicals if you add up to a cup per load to the laundry. It is a useful air freshener, and a fine carpet deodorizer and denture cleaning products. It is also found in some anti-plaque mouthwash products and toothpaste.

When baking soda is used as a cleaner in paste form or dry on a damp sponge, its crystalline structure provides a gentle abrasion that helps to remove dirt without scratching sensitive surfaces. Its mild alkalinity works to turn up fatty acids contained in dirt and grease into a form of soap that can be dissolved in water and rinsed easily. A fantastic site is livingthing.net.au, where I searched and found some wonderful natural recipes for cleaning products. This site recommends that natural cleaning or ‘green cleaning’ is a way to clean your home with fewer cleaning products and safer alternatives.