 There are many ways for you to be green while tidying your home at no cost!
Dusting, wiping, and tidying
We all have old towels and linens sitting around the house high on shelves and relegated to the backs of closets. Before you donate these or toss them away with your garbage, considering using them to clean your house. Use old kitchen towels or pillow cases as rags for cleaning bathrooms, wiping down kitchen counters, caring for wood furniture, and dusting. Using these instead of the paper towel or disposable cleaning cloths reduces paper waste in landfills and reduces the amount of chemicals leeching into the soil and groundwater disposable cloths saturated with cleaning products.
 Cleaning up after Rufus & Morris
Old bath and beach towels can make great “dog towels” for wiping paws, drying off after baths, and sopping up the pool left behind after Rufus helps himself to a drink of water. These larger towels also make great car wash towels for drying your car post-wash.
Old washcloths are an effective way to gently remove pet hair from microfiber furniture. Simply dampen a light-colored washcloth slightly and wipe the fabric to collect cat and dog hair. Using a “retired” washcloth reduces the waste sent to the landfill from lint rollers or disposable sheets from pet-hair removers.
The old towels and wash cloths can be washed and reused again and again to keep your house clean. Just be sure to wash them in cold water to conserve energy. And, hang them outside to dry whenever possible.
It’s easy to clean green…With vinegar. Have you ever considered all the possibilities of vinegar? Yep, white distilled vinegar has an amazing amount of uses, particularly for cleaning. Here are just a few of the many:
- If your chrome sink fixtures are experiencing some lime build up, clean them with a paste made from 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar
- Create your own eco-friendly version of comet cleanser by combining 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon liquid detergent and then slowly add white distilled vinegar until it has a thick yet creamy texture.
- You can clean counter tops and remove “baked in” smells with a cloth soaked in undiluted white distilled vinegar.
- Deodorize and clean your drains by pouring 1 cup of baking soda and then 1 cup of hot white distilled vinegar. Let this clever combo sit for about 5 minutes and then run hot water down the drain.
- Your garbage disposal can be deodorized in a similar manner by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Again, let the concoction sit for 5 minutes and then run hot water down the disposal.
- If your microwave is marred by baked on food, clean it by mixing 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil in the microwave. The caked-on food will loosen and odors will disappear. Then simply wipe the microwave clean.
- If your refrigerator has seen cleaner days, clean the shelves and walls of with a solution of 1 part water and 1 part white distilled vinegar.
- Cut the crud that has collected on the top of the fridge with a cloth saturated with full-strength white distilled vinegar.
Who would have thought vinegar was such a hard worker?!
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