This is a recipe for a green cleaner that works, because most of them don’t – or not particularly well. The problem with any green (as in environmentally sound) cleaner is finding something that cuts through grease – you know, that horrible gungy stuff that floats on top of the washing up if you haven’t used enough hot water or detergent, or the soap scum that builds up on the tiles in the bathroom (don’t forget that soap is based on oils and fats). Or that revolting sticky stuff that builds up on the tiles behind the stove.
Green Cleaner recipe
This recipe is simple and very cheap to make, cuts through grease, lasts indefinitely, and the house smells beautiful.
You need:
1 cup bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon good detergent such as Cussons Morning Fresh (don’t bother with any weak cheap stuff)
1 teaspoon of your favourite scented essential oil such as rose or lavender oil. Both are antibacterial and antifungal and smell delicious. But you can also use tea tree oil for a good clean scent, or eucalyptus oil, or lovely lemon oil which again smells glorious. Don’t use pine oil – for some reason pine oil smells like public lavatories instead of pine forests.
1 sprayer or atomiser – those squirty things you use to water indoor plants – full of white vinegar (don’t use malt or balsamic vinegar, or you’ll end up with some very interesting stains).
Method
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Mix the bicarbonate of soda, detergent and essential oil together. Add a little more detergent if the mixture doesn’t stick together – it should look like the crumbs that are formed when you make shortbread. Now, take a bit of the lovely scented goo on a sponge, and wipe it on the dirty spot, then spray the spot with vinegar. It will bubble as the acid vinegar hits the alkaline bicarb. Leave it alone for about five to ten minutes, then scrub it all in a bit and wipe it off. You may need a container of water to dampen the sponge with, to get all the bubbly vinegar and bicarb mix away |
Lots of uses
This can be used to clean the bath, the basin, the bathroom floor, the tiles around the shower and the gungy ones above the stove, too. It’s also great for cleaning toilets – just sprinkle a bit on the porcelain, then use the toilet brush to scrub it on. Pour a gurgle of vinegar in and scrub that around too. It’s even good to clean the oven, as long as the oven isn’t too disgusting. A slightly warm oven is easiest to clean but should not be too hot to touch. If you use this cleaner, your home will definitely have a gorgeous scent that it has never had before.
Further information
For more ideas on old fashioned cleaning products see Jackie’s article in the November issue of the Burke’s Backyard magazine.
Other Jackie French ideas are available in her new book Making Money from your Garden (Earth Garden Magazine, 1997, rrp $9.95). Available from book stores and newsagents throughout Australia.
