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

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:23:08 +0000

Maria,
I always used a translucent bottle until just recently, so I never had that problem. I would either find an opaque container of any kind to store the other half, or just use it full strength for some deep cleaning right away and dilute with water when you can fit it. Then when you buy a new bottle, you can pour into this one. Katie

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:25:04 +0000

Katie, you said you use a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. I just bought a new bottle of hydrogen peroxide at the store and planned to put my sprayer on the top. In order to mix it with 50% water, I would have to pour out half of my new bottle. What did you do when you first got started? Maybe I just need to throw half the bottle out and go from there.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:28:56 +0000

I sometimes add a drop or two of spearmint essential oil to my vinegar mix, because I hate the smell of vinegar but adore the smell of mint. Apparently I’m not the only one!

I never knew there was another way to clean the kitchen besides the commercial stuff until a few years ago. I think it is funny, because the reason I had my eyes opened to using vinegar/hp/baking soda to clean everything is because of rats. I’ve had rodent pets (hamsters, gerbils, and mice) for almost my whole life, but recently got a trio of rats (yes, domestic rats. more likely to get a disease from my dogs ). A rat friend gave me the tip of using vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to get the not-always-nice rat smell out of the cage on cleaning day. It worked like a charm there, and I realized that it would be beautiful replacement for the terrible smelling cleaners I was otherwise using for everything. =P

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:07:09 +0000

Stacy,
Hmmm. I must not have linoleum in the bathroom! I just reviewed Charlie’s Soap All Purpose Cleaner here: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/01/20/charlies-soap-natural-laundry-detergent-and-all-purpose-cleaner-a-mixed-review/ and it’s pretty powerful. Straight vinegar left to sit does a pretty good job on some things, too. Hope you find something that works (other than ignoring the stains). katie

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:53:02 +0000

We use a water bottle with either vinegar or tea tree oil mixed in for the kitchen. My question is what about the bathroom? Bleach seems to be the only thing that works to get the area around the bottom of the toilet even somewhat clean (I hate linoleum)

By: Lenetta @ Nettacow

Lenetta @ Nettacow — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:12:11 +0000

Ooh, ooh, ooh! I just came back over to leave a link to how I made citrus vinegar – it’s here: http://nettacow.blogspot.com/2010/01/homemade-citrus-vinegar.html
I much prefer the smell to regular vinegar myself. :>)

(And, Katie, I linked to your 8 Ways to Wash an Apple post when I mentioned washing the fruit first!)
Lenetta @ Nettacow´s last blog ..Homemade Citrus Vinegar

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:45:59 +0000

you are a woman after my own heart! I am a baking soda and vinegar/water cleaner as well. It is so cheap and works very well. I’m glad to learn about peroxide as well, wonderful! When my daughter was crawling around, she ATE my dishwasher detergent when I wasn’t looking! Fortunately, 1) we had the Trader Joes kind, which is probably only slightly less toxic than the conventional kind, 2) she only got a small amt and poison control didn’t seem concerned, and 3) she is now 2 1/2 and is as feisty as ever! Thanks for the great information!
Amy´s last blog ..Great website!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:51:58 +0000

Frances,
Great tips about the essential oils and the h2o2 for toothbrushes.

My mom always mops with a bucket and regular mop, using vinegar and water just like in the spray bottle. Or you can use the spray bottle system with a long-handled mop and just spray as you go. Hope you find something that works for you! Katie

By: Frances

Frances — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:41:51 +0000

I came to this post looking for help with my floor mopping dilemma: we recently moved into a house with tile floors in the kitchen and eating area, and they’re quite a bit larger than the tiny apartment kitchen floor I used to “mop” by hand. I am anti-mop for the same reason you mentioned (aren’t those things just bacteria colonies between uses and dirt movers in use?) but if I have to do the whole floor on my hands and knees it’s only going to be done once every two months, which is not enough!

Anyway, I thought I’d add that I use hydrogen peroxide to clean my electric toothbrush head when it starts looking fuzzy inside. I put the brush head in a little dish and submerge it in hydrogen peroxide for 20 minutes or longer. Someday I’d love to have an electric toothbrush with one of those UV cleaning compartments, but for now, this is my frugal solution to make the expensive replacement heads last as long as possible.

By: Frances

Frances — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:34:22 +0000

I add essential oil to my vinegar water…the first time I just put in 5 or so drops of lavender and the scent was minimal at first and undetectable after a couple weeks. The next time I needed to refill my vinegar water bottle I added 3 or 4 drops of tea tree oil (for the antibacterial properties) and around 10 drops of peppermint. The scent is great! I would need to add more to cover the vinegar smell more, but even that little bit helps.