SAFE, HEALTHY, NATURAL HOME CLEANING

Choosing safe, non-toxic cleaning products for our homes has its challenges! It’s not readily available in our A&P or ShopRite, and shopping at Whole Foods or Mrs. Green’s gets expensive. Since we have made a commitment in our family to these products, I have been researching and trying to find the best products at the lowest price. Mostly, I shop at Mrs. Greens or on-line. Mrs. Green’s has sales on products all of the time. I walked in one day and all Seventh Generation products were ½ off!

Below are the products that our family is using right now. Please share your products and ideas so we can learn from each other. If anyone has experience with bulk buying of “green” cleaning products, let me know, maybe we can pool our resources.

By the way, our house has never smelled better!

READY-MADE CLEANING PRODUCTS

I’ve been experimenting with many different products. Right now, I’m using:

1. Seventh Generation:
• Laundry detergent
• Automatic dishwashing powder
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
Be sure to download the coupons from their website. (See links)
Where do I buy?: Mrs. Greens

2. Aubrey Organics:
These 2 products can be used to clean every single thing in your house from floors to countertops to laundry. The Liquid Sparkle Spray Cleanser is great on glass and counters.
1. Earth Aware Household Cleanser
2. Liquid Sparkle Spray Cleanser
Where do I buy?: On-line

3. Vermont Soap:
Similar to Aubrey, Liquid Sunshine can be used on everything, except for glass.
1. Liquid Sunshine
2. Yoga mat wash
Where do I buy? On-line

HOME-MADE CLEANING PRODUCTS

Clean & Green

This site features potions for homemade cleaning products. I discovered it a few years ago and I was quite ambitious there for a while, concocting my own brews in plastic bottles. Although I’ve gotten lazy and buy mostly “ready-made” products (see above), there are a few things that I still do:
1. I keep a few large boxes of baking soda and large bottles of white vinegar in the house, mostly as a natural drain cleaner. It really works!:
Drain Cleaner:
For slow drains, use this drain cleaner once a week to keep drains fresh and clog-free.
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon boiling water
1/2 a used lemon
Pour baking soda down drain/disposal, followed by vinegar. Allow the mixture to foam for several minutes before flushing the drain with boiling water.

More homemade cleaning recipe links (see link list on the right):

CHEC’s HealtheHouse (the resource for environmental health risks affecting your children)
eartheasy – (Non-Toxic Home Cleaning)
Eco-Coach
Harmonious Environment (Clean Mold in Your Shower with Non-Toxic Product)