I GAVE IT A TRY
I must admit that I tried to do my small part for going 'Green'.
I saw a episode on the 'Today Show' on using products around your home that were considered safe and very effective for cleaning things in your home. They where simple every day things that you might already have in your home. Baking soda for polishing brass and silver, white vinegar for cleaning toilets and lemon juice for the toilet seats and bathroom sinks.
Well that seemed like a inexpensive starting point, so I decided to do my part and try some of these natural cleaning products.
I tried the baking soda first, on some brass. I started with a small brass item, I didn't care for the results. I scrubbed my a*s off. It took a lot of elbow grease just to get that dark film off so I didn't spend a lot of time tying to get that high shine I was hoping for and since this was an old antique I wasn't completely sure that some of the scratches on my brass item wasn't caused by the baking soda, so I wasn't about to try it on my silver.
Perhaps if I would have had the better part of a day to scrub the brass item it would have shined like a diamond but I didn't want to spend my day cleaning one item, I only wanted to try the 'Green way', so on to the next item.
Now comes the vinegar. I cleaned the toilet with the vinegar. I must admit it cleaned very well, in fact it was excellent. It even got a bit of old hard water rust off and the old toilet shined, better then the brass did, haha.
However, a bottle of vinegar where I live cost about a dollar and it took just about the whole bottle to clean the toilet because the water in the toilet bowl dilutes the vinegar.
A huge bottle of bleach also costs about a dollar, but it only takes a small amount of bleach. So do I pay a dollar per one cleaning or do I spend a dollar and get twenty or more uses. What would you do?
I went back to the bleach. But I might have continued to use the vinegar in spite of the cost, if I could have gotten the answer to one question.
You see the issue wasn't with the price of the vinegar, the issue was how much does the vinegar disinfect the toilet.
I looked for the answer everywhere. I went to all of the different green sites that I could find. I found one had the sentence 'it cleans and disinfects'.
But I wanted to know how much it disinfects. As much as bleach? Every site I went to gave me no answer, except for one, which I found very lame.
The answer was 'your home is not a hospital so it doesn't have to be 200% clean'. That's not a good enough answer for me.
The bathroom is the place where most family germs are exchanged, so I went back to my bleach. I want no less then 99% germ free.
As for flouriest lighting, buy a good brand. I bought a generic brand (Wal-Mart) and they blew out faster then my regular light bulbs.
Long before the idea of going 'Green' came along there are a few things that are natural that I have been using all along and I'd like to share them with you. Little did I now that I was green before it was fashionable.
Years ago when I would run out of other cleaners I have used baking soda for cleaning stove tops, ovens and kitchen counters. It cleans alright but it does leave a film so you have to rinse well.
White vinegar will dissolve that white hard build up from hard water. I'm sure many of you already know about that, it's often recommended to use to clean coffee makers.
My favorite, Lemon juice. My son introduced me to the many uses of lemon juice. His truck always shined like it was just polished. His secret, put some lemon juice in your bucket of soapy water and your vehicle will rinse without spotting. Clean home windows with lemon juice mixed with water in a spray bottle.
Here's a good one for you. If the ground in your yard won't grow the flowers you keep trying to grow, start this winter preparing that flower bed. Turn it into a rich flower growing soil by putting all of your coffee grounds and egg shells(crushed) in that garden spot. Saves room in your trash can, one less thing to throw away and your soil will be rich enough to grow anything.
I saw a episode on the 'Today Show' on using products around your home that were considered safe and very effective for cleaning things in your home. They where simple every day things that you might already have in your home. Baking soda for polishing brass and silver, white vinegar for cleaning toilets and lemon juice for the toilet seats and bathroom sinks.
Well that seemed like a inexpensive starting point, so I decided to do my part and try some of these natural cleaning products.
I tried the baking soda first, on some brass. I started with a small brass item, I didn't care for the results. I scrubbed my a*s off. It took a lot of elbow grease just to get that dark film off so I didn't spend a lot of time tying to get that high shine I was hoping for and since this was an old antique I wasn't completely sure that some of the scratches on my brass item wasn't caused by the baking soda, so I wasn't about to try it on my silver.
Perhaps if I would have had the better part of a day to scrub the brass item it would have shined like a diamond but I didn't want to spend my day cleaning one item, I only wanted to try the 'Green way', so on to the next item.
Now comes the vinegar. I cleaned the toilet with the vinegar. I must admit it cleaned very well, in fact it was excellent. It even got a bit of old hard water rust off and the old toilet shined, better then the brass did, haha.
However, a bottle of vinegar where I live cost about a dollar and it took just about the whole bottle to clean the toilet because the water in the toilet bowl dilutes the vinegar.
A huge bottle of bleach also costs about a dollar, but it only takes a small amount of bleach. So do I pay a dollar per one cleaning or do I spend a dollar and get twenty or more uses. What would you do?
I went back to the bleach. But I might have continued to use the vinegar in spite of the cost, if I could have gotten the answer to one question.
You see the issue wasn't with the price of the vinegar, the issue was how much does the vinegar disinfect the toilet.
I looked for the answer everywhere. I went to all of the different green sites that I could find. I found one had the sentence 'it cleans and disinfects'.
But I wanted to know how much it disinfects. As much as bleach? Every site I went to gave me no answer, except for one, which I found very lame.
The answer was 'your home is not a hospital so it doesn't have to be 200% clean'. That's not a good enough answer for me.
The bathroom is the place where most family germs are exchanged, so I went back to my bleach. I want no less then 99% germ free.
As for flouriest lighting, buy a good brand. I bought a generic brand (Wal-Mart) and they blew out faster then my regular light bulbs.
Long before the idea of going 'Green' came along there are a few things that are natural that I have been using all along and I'd like to share them with you. Little did I now that I was green before it was fashionable.
Years ago when I would run out of other cleaners I have used baking soda for cleaning stove tops, ovens and kitchen counters. It cleans alright but it does leave a film so you have to rinse well.
White vinegar will dissolve that white hard build up from hard water. I'm sure many of you already know about that, it's often recommended to use to clean coffee makers.
My favorite, Lemon juice. My son introduced me to the many uses of lemon juice. His truck always shined like it was just polished. His secret, put some lemon juice in your bucket of soapy water and your vehicle will rinse without spotting. Clean home windows with lemon juice mixed with water in a spray bottle.
Here's a good one for you. If the ground in your yard won't grow the flowers you keep trying to grow, start this winter preparing that flower bed. Turn it into a rich flower growing soil by putting all of your coffee grounds and egg shells(crushed) in that garden spot. Saves room in your trash can, one less thing to throw away and your soil will be rich enough to grow anything.
posted by EXSENO at 9:49 PM
16 Comments:
WOW!!
Interesting..... :D
That is one PRACTICAL post! I've tried the baking soda bit, and like you I didn't quite get sold on it for the same reasons as yours, except that I couldn't list the reasons as coherently as you did, hehe.
I think every environmentally conscious person tries to do his bit and more; however, some of the suggestions for growing green have yet to be fine tuned to make them user friendly!
To clean your microwave. Put a bowl of cold water and heat it up for 3 to 4 mins. The steam from the water cleans the microwave, all you need to do is wipe it down.
All natural
Id it is,
Coherently, is that what they call a bleeped word these days. hehehe.
I do agree they do need to revise some of their suggestions or at least be honest about what the products can and can't do and not claim that something is easy if it's not. people that want to help would do some of these things anyway.
Allied,
Thank you for the visit and thanks for the tip too.
pamelastitch,
I hope so.
I've used the baking soda to clean the tub, stainless steel sink, and it is great on my copper cooking pots. But if I go too long I end up using Comet, because of the elbow grease required.
Other than that the only "green" cleaner I have found that is worth it is Simple Green. It does a pretty good job cleaning.
I will have to try the lemons. Sounds interesting.
Shannon,
I've used a product called Simple Green too. I don't think it was 'Green' recommended I thought it had chemicals in it? Not sure but I know it came out long before everyone was talking about going green. Now I'm curious to read the label.
hey there..
yes i'm trying to be greener and greener by the day...
i recycle my plastic water bottles and leave my lights on less and less...i've bought reusable shopping bags...
i think more people would be eco friendly if things were put in their face so that they don't have anymore reasons to not help with the environment...keep at it.. our grandkids,great grandkids, and great adn great grandkids will thank you...
AVIANA,
You're doing a lot more then I am.
I have one more post on the subject not sure if I want to post though. Will see.
You go, girl!
I've been using vinegar and lemon juice for years... did not know about the lemon juice in the car wash water! Cool. I'll give it a try.
Did you know that you can wipe off those nasty love bugs from your car with the dryer softening sheets?
Your car must be really wet and the dryer sheet starts dry. Use just a little elbow grease and those bugs wipe right off. And your car is shiny and pretty when it dries.
Don't know if that is "green" or not, but there aren't any harmful chemicals like that smelly stuff they sell to get the bugs off.
I have always thought of Simple Green as an eco-friendly product. If you look at the bottle it says phosphate free, biodegradable, non-toxic, and septic safe. They have a web site with an msds sheet. One unfamiliar ingredient but it says it's not toxic...
I use the lemon fresh because it works wonders on my wood counters, floors, bird cages and getting the flung strawberry/cherry bits my bird throws off the floor and walls, bathroom, kitchen, etc.
allied- Thanks for the tip about the microwave, I tried it, and it was so easy!
please do whatever you can to help with the environment.. the future depends on it..we are seeing a glimpse of the future as temperatures are climbing...it will be just a desert around the world in the future..we need to keep at it.....
happy turkey otherwise!
I'm afraid I buy harmful chemicals and use them all of the time... I like my short cuts. I'm sure you agree.
P.S. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!
Update!!!
Becky,
Oh Becky, I don't even want to talk holiday, mine was a disaster.
Allied,
O.K. I will.
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