Make Your Own Cleaning Products
Posted on 07/09/2015
If you’ve been shopping around for domestic cleaning products or watching TV, you may be stuck in the mind-set that you have to splash out to get anything decent for your domestic cleaning jobs. While all the ads you’re bombarded with would have you believe that you need a completely different flashy product for each surface and object in your home, there are several effective solutions you can make from inexpensive items you may already have lying around the house. Many of these will not only give you excellent results but tend to be much more eco-friendly than what you’d pick up at the super market. Here’s a brief guide to cleaning your house in the purest sense of DIY.
One great but often neglected cleaning product is white vinegar. The acidic property in vinegar will quickly eat through soap scum, general dirt, and hard water deposits.This may make it sound slightly heavy-duty, but white vinegar is also gentle enough to dilute and use for cleaning hard wood floors without leaving any nasty marks. There’s an added advantage you may not get with expensive cleaning products in that vinegar is a natural deodorant, and I don’t mean because it will make your kitchen or bathroom reek of vinegar, that smell will disperse as the liquid dries on whatever surface you’re tackling. White vinegar’s cleaning qualities go beyond domestic jobs, and can be used as a great fabric softener if you or someone in your household has sensitive skin. To really harness the power of white vinegar, mix it in equal parts with water in a spray bottle, then use it as you would a general surface cleaner. If you find a surface that is proving particularly difficult to get spotless, you can get more power out of this solution by blasting it in the microwave for a few seconds so that it’s just barely warm. If there’s a stain that you’ve noticed for a while, spray the vinegar solution on generously and let it stand for ten or fifteen minutes before scrubbing it away.
Another great homemade cleaning product which you’re more likely to have heard of is baking soda. This common product has a slight abrasiveness and deodorising qualities similar to white vinegar. This will be just as effective if not more so than other scouring agents you’d buy from the shop. Baking soda will prove great for getting rid of especially crusty stains that vinegar simply can’t deal with. Wet a sponge, then sprinkle a good pinch of baking soda before taking it to rings on your bathtub, food deposits in your kitchen sink, or dirty scour vanities. If you have more stubborn dirt that needs cleaning, you can make a fine paste out of baking soda and water, spread it over your basin, tub etc. and let it stand for around fifteen minutes. Baking soda is also great for clearing out slow-running drains. Simply pour about a ½ cup of baking soda down the plug hole, and run just enough hot water to push it down the pipe.
Finally, isopropyl or rubbing alcohol makes a great alternative to branded window and glass cleaning agents. Mixing this, along with equal parts of white vinegar and water and pouring it in a spray bottle will equip you with a cleaner that will make easy work of any marks on your window that have been bothering you. If you take it to a stain you’ve tried absolutely every other product on, adding a small amount of ammonia to the solution may give it the little extra strength it needs.