Erika's Blog

Cleaning can be a chore, but it shouldn’t compromise your health, that of your family or the health of our environment. Some of these solutions make cleaning easier to do.

There are many natural cleaning products on sale now: some in health food stores, some in catalogs, and some on the net. In addition to these products, however, there are lots of products that you can get at your local drug store or supermarket in order to make your own cleaning products from common household ingredients: such as vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, tea tree oil, baking soda, borax and even salt. Here are some suggestions for cleaning your home naturally with non-toxic basic household ingredients. Try them for a clean, safe home that doesn’t expose your family and guests to toxic chemicals.

• Australian Tea Tree Oil: An essential oil that has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Add two teaspoons to one gallon of water to eliminate mildew and mold from bathrooms or kitchens, or any kind of tile floor.
• Baking soda: An all-purpose cleaner which disinfects and deodorizes; especially effective on glass coffee pots and glassware; removes red-wine stains from carpeting. Use it instead of scouring powder. Open it and leave it in your refrigerator to absorb odors. Make a paste with water to shine stainless steel and silver or can remove tea, coffee and other food stains from cups and saucers. Make a paste with a Castile- or vegetable-based liquid soap and several drops of tea tree or lavender essential oil to clean sinks, countertops, toilets and tubs. Pour 1 cup down the sink to clear a clogged drain, followed by 3 cups of boiling water.
• Borax: A mineral of natural origin which has antiseptic, antifungal and antibacterial qualities.
• Coarse salt: As an abrasive, it can clean pans and scour cookware. Sprinkle salt on fresh spills in the oven, and then wipe off. Sprinkle salt on rust stains or on spilled wine or food, let sit for several hours and wipe off. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice with the salt for very stubborn stains.
• Lemon juice: Use as a bleaching agent on clothing, and to remove grease from your stove and countertops. Add 2 Tbsp lemon juice to a few drop of food grade oil, olive oil is fine, to clean and polish wood furniture. Also cleans chrome. Use an old lemon that has been squeezed
• Toothpaste (white, plain): Cleans silver. Make a paste with a few drops of oil, wipe it on the silver.
• White vinegar: Cleans linoleum floors and glass (from windows to shower doors) when mixed with water and a little liquid soap (Castile or vegetable). Cuts grease and remove stains; removes soap scum and cleans toilets. Add baking soda to white vinegar and pour down drains once a week for antibacterial cleaning. Add to water and several drops of tea tree oil and spray to kill mold and mildew.

Written by Erika Keller Rogoff, inventor of the Healing Cream.