Natural Home Cleaning Products

Save Money and the Environment

The 5 basics for natural home cleaning products.
So you want to stop using all of those expensive cleaning products from the shop, but what organic products can you use instead?
Here are our top 5 inexpensive cleaning products to save you money and keep your house clean.

Bicarbonate of Soda
Also known as bicarb soda, baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. This inexpensive powder has many uses as a natural home cleaning product. It removes stains, absorbs unpleasant smells, can be used as a deodorant or toothpaste, as well as softening water and polishing.
How did you ever survive without it?

• Stain removal in the kitchen- make bicarb into a paste and rub on. For stubborn stains, let it sit for a while before rinsing it off
• Smells- place a small container of bicarb in the affected area, it will absorb the smell!
• Polishing- sprinkle bicarb onto your sink or benchtops and wipe off for a glistening clean

White Vinegar
Vinegar has such a multitude of uses I cannot believe I never even used it outside of my kitchen until recently.

• Cleaning windows- 1/2 cup vinegar to 1 litre of water, wipe dry with newspaper
• Removing soapy residue on sinks, dishwashers- place a bowl in the bottom of dishwasher, use neat on a cloth to polish sinks
• Clothes- add 1/2 cup to final rinse in washing machine to remove any residue, and yes it even softens your clothes so forget about buying fabric softener
• General purpose cleaner- 1 cup vinegar to 1 cup water, I also add a few drops of essential oil so purely for the 'smell factor'.

Pure Soap
Pure soap, in Australia also known as Velvet Soap or Ivory Soap in other parts of the world.
Pure soap is something our grandmas used to swear by, and now we know why because it is made from all natural ingredients that are biodegradable and it is unlikely to cause skin irritations or allergies.

• Make your own laundry detergent. Great for eczma sufferers who have problems with bought detergents.
• Use straight Velvet soap to handwash any delicate clothes or silk items.

Borax
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral salt. It can be used as a natural home cleaner as a stain remover on surfaces and clothes, a fabric and water softener and a soap booster.

• If you have a flea problem , just sprinkle borax on your carpet, leave for an hour and then vacuum.
• You can also make a mix of borax and sugar to get rid of pesky cockroaches and ants.
• Another great use for borax is as a drain cleaner, to avoid buying those toxic commercial drain cleaners just mix about a cup of borax with some boiling water and pour down the affected drain.
• Like bi-carb soda it can also be used to absorb smells- sprinkle on cat litter, urine stained mattresses or use to freshen up toilets and rubbish bins.

Washing Soda
Washing soda is commonly known as lectric soda, sal soda, or sodium carbonate and again has a number of uses around the home.

• If you want to make your own detergent for clothes it is one of only three ingredients required.
• It can be used to soften hard water and in stain removal will get rid of grease, oil and alcohol on clothes and other surfaces (and yes- even your driveway!).
  Do not use with wool or silk.
• Topically it can be placed in a piece of material and wrapped around a sprain or sore spot and it will absorb excess body fluid from the site. Leave overnight and then use up the washing soda around the house.

Essential Oils
In particular I use tea-tree and eucalyptus oils for stain removal on clothes, washing woolens, insect bites

• Eucalyptus oil can be added to a load of washing for a fresh smell or a wool wash, or used neat to remove stains on clothes.
• Around the home it is also useful to remove sticky marks, or stickers that don't want to budge.
• It is also useful on insect bites, to relieve cold and flu symptoms and mixed with olive oil for easing aches and pains.
• It is toxic when swallowed and should be kept out of reach of children.



• Tea-tree oil is both anti-fungal as well as anti-bacterial.
• It can be used as an antiseptic by diluting with water.
• Around the home it comes in handy where mould removal is required, just add a few drops to your cleaning sponge.
• It can be applied topically to insect bites, ringworm, pimples and burns, as a deterrent to head lice, as well as being diluted to be sprayed or rubbed on as an insect repellent. It is toxic if swallowed.

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