Lesson 4: Around the house
In this lesson we will look at how to save money on the common products used in the home. The products suggested are not just cheap, they are natural and not toxic chemicals and so will help save the environment as well as money.
How toxic is your house anyway?
We are encouraged constantly by advertising to make our houses toxic by spraying chemicals around them. We use surface sprays that last for months to kill insects we're often not even sure we have, we 'bomb' our houses to get the chemicals into every nook and cranny in the house. They also get into every nook and cranny of our lungs, and on our skin.
We use chemical cleaners, deodorants, air fresheners and carpet cleaners, and we reach for chemicals in the form of pills every time we have the slightest ache or pain. Is the toxicity of our environment the reason so many people suffer these days from allergies.
We will also look at how clutter in your home can cost you money, and look at how to save money and time on housework.
Magic, and cheap cleaning products
This is such a big area, that we could probably do eight lessons on this topic alone! The following suggestions will get you started, but there are a number of books and websites on alternatives to chemical products in the home, such as Reducing Toxic Chemicals and Household Recipes, which are worth looking out for.
Back to Basics by Readers Digest also has a section on household recipes for cleaning products, stain removers, and so on.
You should be able to get the ingredients in supermarket if you look for them, but you may need to get others from a hardware store.
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, bicarb, bicarb soda)
Sodium bicarbonate or baking soda is a truly magical and naturally occurring product. It is extremely cheap and has a hundred uses either as a powder, a paste, or in solution. Here are just a few:
- To keep drains clean, pour about one tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate in the drain, and follow it with half a cup of the cheapest vinegar you can find (or strained waste vinegar). Leave to bubble for a few minutes, and then pour boiling water down the drain. If you do this every week or so you will never get blocked drains! If they are blocked already, this process will unblock them if you repeat it several times.
- Use in place of expensive abrasive cleaning products such as tile cleaners, sink cleaners.
- Sprinkle on your carpets and rugs before vacuuming, in place of carpet deodoriser.
- Keep a small open container of sodium bicarbonate in the refrigerator to absorb smells.
- Remove baked-on oven stains with a mixture of two parts sodium bicarbonate, one part salt and enough lemon juice to make a thick paste. Spread over the stain and leave to dry, and then rub off with a scourer.
- Make a paste of sodium bicarbonate and water to soothe insect stings and bites.
- Use as a personal deodorant (dust on).
- Use a paste of sodium bicarbonate and water as a toothpaste.
- Mix with tartaric acid (proportions 2 parts tartaric acid, 1 part sodium bicarbonate) to make baking powder.
- Make your own lemonade by adding a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, and a teaspoon of sugar to the juice of one large lemon. Add water to taste (makes a small jug).
- To prevent or kill rose fungus, mix 1/2 tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate to 1/2 litre (1 pint) of soapy water, and spray on the roses.
- Make an all-purpose cleaner by mixing 1/2 cup cloudy ammonia, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon sodium bicarbonate and 4 litres (1 gallon) of hot water. (If you double the amounts of everything except water you will have a strong enough cleaner to tackle the heaviest jobs. Make sure you wear gloves, and don't mix the solution with bleach.)
Washing soda (sodium carbonate)
This is a natural product, useful in the laundry for softening the water and for stain removal. For removing stubborn stains on clothes, use a solution of two tablespoons of washing soda in one cup of warm water (but don't use on silk or wool).
A solution of washing soda and hot water is a good degreaser for driveways. It will also remove tarnish from silver.
Toss a few tablespoonsful in a hot bath to ease your aches and pains.
Washing soda can also be used as a poultice to reduce swelling.
Vinegar
Buy the cheapest white vinegar you can find, (and buy in bulk if possible), and store it in among your cleaning products, because this is a cheap and effective cleaning fluid that neutralises grease and dissolves soap residues. It is a natural disinfectant, mild bleach, and deodorant, and leaves surfaces shiny and clean. Mixed with sodium bicarbonate, as noted above, it will even unblock drains. It is environmentally safe in all systems, including septic systems.
Use it to wipe surfaces in the bathroom, to wipe the toilet seat and cistern. Clean the toilet bowl by adding about a cup of vinegar to the bowl and leave overnight. Scrub with a toilet brush the following morning. If there is a lot of staining, add half a cup of sodium bicarbonate and half a cup of vinegar and use a toilet brush to spread the mixture over the bowl. Leave to bubble for a while and then scrub with a toilet brush.
Wash windows and mirrors with a solution of vinegar and water for a streak-free, clean surface.
Stubborn stains on clothes can often be removed by blotting with vinegar in soapy water.
Cloudy ammonia
Use this for cleaning ovens. Turn the oven on low for 20 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup ammonia into a shallow metal pan (not aluminium) and add water to cover the bottom. Turn the oven off, place the pan inside and leave overnight. Next morning, remove the pan and scrub the oven with a sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice paste, using a scourer.
Lemons
Lemon juice is a mild acid, and therefore is a natural degreaser, deodorant, mild bleach and cleaning agent. If you have a lemon tree, the lemons are free.
If you are using a sodium bicarbonate paste, using lemon juice instead of water for the paste makes it doubly effective.
Lemon juice is also an insect repellant. If you have ants in the house, for example, squirt lemon juice at the entry point, and leave a piece of lemon peel to repel the ants. (Chalk, cayenne pepper, talcum powder, damp coffee grounds, and borax also work.)
(As an aside, did you know that lemons are also an anti-viral agent and a contraceptive, and are said to prevent the spread of AIDS? There is a campaign to get lemons planted everywhere that AIDS is in epidemic proportions and condoms are too expensive to buy. See this World Today story.)
Borax
Borax is a cheap, and environmentally friendly disinfectant, bleach, stain remover, and natural deodorant that can be used as a powder, paste or solution. It also softens water and helps soap to function more effectively. Use a borax solution for cleaning especially dirty surfaces such as tiles or sinks.
Borax is also an effective insect repellant. To repel ants, sprinkle on entry points of ant infestations. To repel cockroaches, plug cracks and holes where they could enter, and lightly dust with borax, especially around the refrigerator, stove and ductwork.
Salt
Apart from its culinary uses, salt is an antiseptic and disinfectant. Next time you have a sore throat, gargle with a salt solution instead of an expensive sore throat medicine. A weak salt solution sprayed into the nasal passages also clears blocked sinuses naturally. When you have a hot bath, always add a tablespoon or so of salt as an antiseptic/ disinfectant.
Salt is also an excellent non-toxic scouring agent, so use it in place of expensive abrasive cleaners.
Beer
There are some who would be horrified at using beer in this way, but it doesn't take much! To trap cockroaches and other crawling insects, lightly grease the inner neck of a wine bottle or similar, and pour some stale beer in the bottle and leave out overnight. Alternatively, place the stale beer in a bowl, and leave a stick for the insects to crawl up. Leave overnight. The insects crawl up, attracted by the beer, and then drown. (I believe they have a pleasant death!)
