Comments on: Natural Kitchen Cleaners: What’s Under my Sink?

By: things our Grandmother’s knew, « 3,500 Miles Close

things our Grandmother’s knew, « 3,500 Miles Close — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:35:07 +0000

[...] kitchen stewardship: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/15/natural-kitchen-cleaners-whats-under-my-sink/ [...]

By: Sarah B

Sarah B — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:31:37 +0000

I love these recommendations. I recently found your blog and I am enjoying reading old posts nearly daily.

For those of you who are like me and cannot stand an old dirty mop, I have a solution. It is a mop made out of two dowel rods sometimes referred to as a cuban mop. One dowel rod is short and acts as the mop head while the other one is long like a handle. I found mine at Publix. You place a CLEAN cloth over the short dowel rod. This is much easier than hands and knees cleaning. It gets into tight spaces. The cloth is always clean (I use old tshirts or microfiber cloths). This is also frugal . . . no “Swiffer” replacements to purchase. I have had my mop three years now, and it is still working great. I get to use a clean “mop head” every time I mop the floor. I can also switch cloths between rooms AND put on a cloth to dry the floor if time is short for air drying.

This works great paired with a bottle of water and vinegar or a sink of hot water with vinegar added!

By: Laura's Last Ditch--Vintage Kitchenwares

Laura's Last Ditch--Vintage Kitchenwares — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:52:17 +0000

After we juice free apples or pears we find, or peel them for dehydrating or canning, we save the resulting pulp or peels, throw them in a food-grade 5-gallon bucket, add enough water to cover, then cover the bucket with a pillow case (in lieu of cheesecloth). Let it sit a few months, strain out the solids, and there you have free vinegar. It’s incredibly easy.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:56:13 +0000

Amy,
Believe it or not, these same 3 will do good work on carpets, too. I’ve used vinegar water with pretty good success (and elbow grease) on mud stains, hydrogen peroxide works on blood (but be careful if your carpet isn’t light-colored, it might bleach it out a bit), and baking soda for odors like tinkle accidents, etc.

There’s also a homemade carpet cleaner made of equal parts cornmeal and borax: sprinkle on, let sit for 10-60 minutes, vacuum off. I don’t love borax for kids, though.

Good luck! Katie

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:58:45 +0000

HI there! I enjoyed your post on using less harmful cleaners. I was wondering what type of cleaner I could use on carpet stains? I have an outdoor carpeting in our entry way and our dogs sleep there… it tends to get icky really quick. not to mention the occasional dog vomiting or other bodily fluids :O . by the way, we are getting a tile installed in the future, but for now the carpeting will be there.
what would you suggest?

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:34:15 +0000

paws,
I’m from a small town, one where Walmart came in nearby and overtook all the small retailers. I don’t love that tendency about the company, and I don’t like how they hire for 32 hours so they don’t have to pay insurance, etc, etc, etc, labor disputes. That’s all. Katie

By: paws

paws — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:39:58 +0000

Upon what principle do you normally stay away from Walmart? Just curious.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:56:41 +0000

Belinda,
I feel like I’ve seen ideas, but I didn’t log them away in my brain b/c I don’t have wood floors. Something tells me plain water is not a bad option at all… Katie

By: Belinda

Belinda — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:00:47 +0000

Opps-sorry about that! I reread it again an noticed my misinterpretation of your post. I had heard vinegar wasn’t good on wood floors-I’m getting laminate wood floors in a day. Do you have any all natural suggestions to clean those types of floors? Thanks again!

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:44:01 +0000

Belinda,
Thanks for sharing the link! I do spray them separately, always. You may have misread the part about how I’m a bit lazy and use the vinegar and H2O2 mixed with water instead of straight. I edited the post for clarity.

Not sure about granite, but I know that vinegar is NOT recommended for grout or treated wood floors. Would granite be like either of those? I think you could use it on wooden cutting boards, though, for an example of something porous.

Good luck on your baby step changes! Katie