Green Cleaning from your Pantry

This is a partial cut and paste from a wonderful website:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

Here's a collection of my favorite natural cleaning formulas, concoctions and witches brews. MOST are safe and nontoxic, with a few exceptions which are clearly noted. Use the ingredients listed below when making your own alternative cleaners, most are inexpensive and you probably already have many of them in your kitchen cupboards. All can be found at your local supermarket, natural food store or drugstore.Used individually or combined, these cleaners are safe, effective and cost-efficient.

BAKING SODA (sodium bicarbonate): An all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. Cleans, deodorizes, removes stains and softens fabrics.

BORAX (sodium borate): A natural mineral that kills mold and bacteria. An alternative to bleach, it deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. Please note safety precautions at the bottom of this page.

CASTILE and VEGETABLE OIL BASED SOAPS: Cleans everything

CORNSTARCH: Starches clothes, absorbs oil and grease

HERBS and ESSENTIAL OILS: For disinfecting and fragrance

LEMON JUICE: Cuts through grease and removes perspiration and other stains from clothing.A bleach alternative.

SALT (sodium chloride): An abrasive

TOOTHPASTE A mild abrasive

VINEGAR (acetic acid): Cuts grease, removes stains and is an excellent water softener.

WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate): Cleans clothes, softens water, cuts grease and disinfects. Increases the cleaning power of soap.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fw: Stitchin' the Blues - Now at Embroidery Library!

Image
These are so gorgeous, I had to share. I wish you could see the pictures here, but you'll have to go to the site. It's worth the clicks. Hello Corlleen: We're knee-deep in January, and here in Minnesota, we've got the blues. The midwinter blues. Crafty that we are, we've cooked up crisp, cool new designs known as Delft Blue. Delft Blue pottery is nearly 500 years old, and those gorgeous shades of blue remain a timeless and classic design trend. Scenes depicted on plates, vases, platters, cups, and saucers, reflect peaceful and serene Dutch scenes of years gone by. New designs this week celebrate the beautiful art form known as Delft Blue. Fruit and flower arrangements are framed with graceful vines and lush blossoms. The result is designs that are sure to be a cozy addition to towels, table linens, quilts, cozies, and wall hangings. As a special introductory offer, these new Delft Blue designs are on sale now - only $1 each! Click here to find them, an
Read more

The Sabbat of Imbolg

IMBOLG (FEB 2) A. HISTORY Imbolg is the Celtic name for the first Sabbat of the Wiccan faith, as well as some others who fall under the generic name of "witches". Imbolg is often known by other names, such as Candlemas, Brigid's Day, and a host of others. "Imbolg (pronounced `immol'g', with a slight un-stressed vowel between the `l' and the `g') which means `in the belly'. It is the quickening of the year, the first fetal stirrings of Spring in the womb of Mother Earth. Like all the Celtic Greater Sabbats, it is a fire festival-but here the emphasis is on light rather than heat, the strengthening spark of light beginning to pierce the gloom of Winter." (The Witches Bible Complete, hereafter abbreviated to WBC, pg.61-62) Brigid is a classic example of a pagan deity Christianized with little attempt to hide the fact- or, as Frazer put in the Golden Bough (p.177, approx.), she is "an old heathen goddess of fertility, disguised in a threadba
Read more

Pagan Gardening, Part Three-- Vertical Gardening for fun, food, and privacy

This dissertation is about Vertical Gardening. Nearly all my information in this dissertation comes from "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. This book is not the only source for square foot gardening techniques, but it is what I have that you can get right now. :) We will be starting with vertical gardening because it is a technique not exclusive to square foot gardening and is therefore more familiar. Everyone is familiar with tomato cages and staking, if they have done any gardening at all. We will be going beyond those simplistic techniques and into more elaborate uses of the vertical space in your garden. You will find that you begin to think in 3-D after a certain point. There are many vegetables and flowers that benefit from vertical gardening. Tomatoes are just the most famous. Pole beans, peas, summer squash, melons, and cucumbers can be grown this way too. All benefit from being off the ground and in the air where disease and pests are less prevalent. After w
Read more