A New Use For Lemons, Ketchup and Vinegar

Here at KISC as many of the cleaning chemicals we use as possible are eco friendly, but could we come up with an alternative to some of our harsher chemicals? Using natural products, that can be found around the house, to clean with is both eco friendly and cheaper than buying most fancy cleaning products.

VINEGAR  

 
Uses: Multi-purpose cleaner, disinfectant, deodoriser.

Particularly good for: Bathrooms and Kitchens.

How to use it: Mix up a solution of half vinegar, half water. This can be used like a multipurpose cleaner to clean hobs, most appliances, counter tops, floors, bathtubs, toilets, sinks, soap scum and hard water stains.

Pure vinegar can be used instead of toilet cleaner to remove nasty rings around the bowl. ½ a cup of vinegar can be added to your laundry as a natural alternative to fabric softener (just add to section of machine where softener would usually be put).

Beware:  Improperly diluted or undiluted vinegar may eat away at tile grout. Do not use on marble surfaces.

Surprisingly: Doesn’t smell of vinegar after it has evaporated!

LEMONS AND LEMON JUICE

Uses:  General cleaner, stain removal, freshening hands and kitchen appliances, bleaching, polishing.

Especially good for: Bleaching.

How to use it: Use it pure to dissolve soap scum or polish and clean copper or brass. Cut a lemon in half, dip in baking soda and use it to scrub surfaces and dishes. To remove stains on plastic tubs, rub on, leave to dry in the sun then clean off. The same can be done with chopping boards. ½ a cup of lemon juice can be added to laundry for extra strain removing power! Lemon juice can be rubbed on hands after handling unpleasant smelling ingredients such as raw fish to remove the odour.  

Beware: Do not use on marble or stainless steel, it may bleach them!

Surprisingly: Half a cup of lemon juice can be mixed with a cup of olive oil to make furniture polish!

BAKING POWDER

Uses: General cleaner and deodoriser

Especially good for: Removing nasty smells.

How to use it: Baking powder can be used as a general cleaner, just sprinkle on a surface and scrub with a wet sponge. Place some of the powder in a box anywhere that needs nasty smells removing, such as the fridge, stinky shoes or the rubbish bin.  

There are lots more out there; Ketchup is good for cleaning all kinds of metal, white bread can be used to dust and is great for picking up smashed glass, coffee can be added to pot plant soil to deter insects and is a great deodoriser, rice is great for cleaning inside bottles and green tea is great for removing smells and cleaning the inside of microwaves!

Why don’t you try some of these at home? Be careful, any new product you try should be tested on a small, hidden area of the item to be cleaned, to ensure that it doesn’t damage the surface.

If you want to read more about this try this website: http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/a/Homemade-And-Natural-Cleaning-Products.htm

Helen (UK)

STS Winter 2014