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pinstripeprincess Apr 22, 2007 10:27 AM

natural cleaner

i've just moved into my new rental this friday and decided that i'm going to try to use natural cleaners, ie. baking soda, vinegar, borax, etc. to keep my place spic and span.

i didn't catch any previous posts about this... but i'm pretty sure there are some hounds out there that've been doing this for ages.

i'm specifically looking for an alternative for dishwasher liquid but would love any tips or "recipes" that work particularly well.

thanks!
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›8 Replies . Latest Apr 25, 2007 by soupkitten
  1. s
     soupkitten Apr 24, 2007 12:49 PM

    my fave cheapo kitchen cleaner in a spraybottle: 1 cup water 1/4 cup whit vinegar, 1/2 tsp dish soap.

    but mostly a funny story:
    so i recently purchased "seventh generation" toilet bowl cleaner: biodegradable, nontoxic, safe for wildlife, etc.-- it works great btw-- and was reading their ingredient list (all 5)-- at the end there is color for visibility, and natural scent-- mint. sweet.

    so SK is doing housework one day and i squirt the new bowl cleaner in the john, and leave it there for about 10 mins, as is my custom, before scrubbing it out. minty fresh smell! i leave the bathroom to do laundry or something, and return to find my cat spread-eagled over the toilet bowl SLURPING AWAY!

    i'm like EEW YUCK what the heck are you doing you dumb cat and he just looks at me as if to say-- thanks for getting me this new minty kitty gargle. well at least it's "safe for wildlife"! the other cat showed no interest whatsoever but bc of this cat i must close the door while doing natural toilet cleaning at my house. my mom thinks that it's the botanical link between mint and catnip and since the seventh generation stuff uses the real mint oil and not synthetic petro-crud. . .

    so be aware of unpredictable er, pet response to some products. In my area we love the RESTORE products-- i am particularly fond of their super-concentrated green laundry soap. :)
    ›2 Replies
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    1. re: soupkitten
      pinstripeprincess Apr 25, 2007 06:35 AM

      ha ha.. that's hilarious!

      which reminds me that i'll need to get an assortment of oils/fragrances to help mask over too much vinegariness.

      thanks!
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      1. re: pinstripeprincess
        s
         soupkitten Apr 25, 2007 08:43 AM

        i like lemongrass and lavender for this-- & flies and bugs hate these scents-- bonus!
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    2. Splendid Wine Snob Apr 24, 2007 09:03 AM

      Lemon juice. Works particularly well for disinfecting a wooden cutting board. But I also save my rinds and throw them into my sink when I'm doing dishes. I use less soap that way.
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      1. j
         JennaL Apr 23, 2007 05:17 PM

        Here's fact sheet with more cleaner ideas:
        http://www.greenup.on.ca/images/stori...
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        1. LindaWhit Apr 23, 2007 08:06 AM

          Here's several natural cleaning "recipes" - including for automatic dishwasher soap.

          http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/9684/fabric.html

          If you want to buy it, Seventh Generation makes several natural products; my local Stop & Shop carries a lot of their products.

          http://www.seventhgeneration.com/
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          1. re: LindaWhit
            pinstripeprincess Apr 23, 2007 10:47 AM

            thanks! i ended up finally finding that page after a few different search methods and it's exactly what i'm looking for.

            trying to keep this as package free as possible too! thanks for the input.
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          2. hotoynoodle Apr 23, 2007 07:25 AM

            shaklee has a line of non-toxic cleansers, as does whole foods.
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