Natural Home Hygiene 3: More Tips and Tricks

posted on Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 11:11 am

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Lit Match photo by Respres Here are a few more of the practical and Earth-friendly tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years while investigating green home-cleaning solutions. If you have some eco-cleaning wisdom of your own that you think other readers might benefit from, please use the comments section below to share them.

Light a match or burn a candle to eat up bad smells in the bathroom.
Mix water, baking soda, salt and vinegar into your preferred consistency for an all-purpose cleaner.
Place baking soda and tea-tree oil in toilets before scrubbing.
Mix 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 quart warm water for a streak-free window cleaner.
Clean windows with crumpled-up newspaper and buff until shiny.
For clogged drains, put on a pair of gloves and use a channel wrench to open up the easy-to-access plumbing under the sink; it’s the only guaranteed solution.
For clogged-drain wimps: pour baking soda down the drain/disposal, follow with vinegar and allow to foam for several minutes before flushing with boiling water.
To clean porcelain, rub with cream of tartar sprinkled on a damp cloth.
Cover hard-lime deposits around faucets with vinegar-soaked paper towels for one hour before cleaning to soften deposits.
Prevent oven cleanup by placing a sheet of aluminum foil on the oven floor. Reuse the foil as many times as possible.
Sprinkle salt on an oven spill while oven is still warm; scrape away the spill after oven is cooled and wipe clean.
Clean cooking pans while still warm, before hard crusting.
With burnt food in the pan, add more water and heat again to dissolve and soften burn residue before cleaning while still warm.
Rub salt into copper pan stains with half a lemon.
Add 1 cup of white vinegar to automatic dishwasher rinse.
Grind lemon rinds and ice until pulverized in garbage disposal to disinfect and sharpen.
Combine dish soap and hydrogen peroxide to lift red-wine stains like magic before your very eyes.
Remove other stains on carpet and clothing with club soda.
Remove heel marks on floors with a pencil eraser.
Use toothpaste to clean your best silver.
Clean chrome with undiluted vinegar.
Clean stainless steel with a paste of baking soda and water.
Clean brass with equal parts salt, flour and vinegar.
Sprinkle baking soda in shoes to deodorize.
Deter moths with Osage oranges, cedar chips, crumpled newspaper and lavender flowers.