Top Eco-Friendly Ingredients to Clean Your Kitchen
Tired of toxic and harmful kitchen cleaning products? Then check out these safe and eco-friendly ingredients, many of which you'll already have in your own pantry and medicine chest, to get some easy, cost-effective green cleaning done today!
Fantastic for cleaning stainless steel, porcelain, refrigerators, stoves, and some stone surfaces,baking sodamakes a gentle cleaner due to its alkaline nature and fine powder form, such as whenused in this recipe for an Aromatherapy Cleanser. It's also great at deodorizing, so sprinkle some into your garbage disposal or dishwasher between loads. Finally, it's awesome for removingstuck-on foods as described in "10 Eco-friendly Tips for Getting Pots & Pans Clean (Finally)!"
Get crafty with using castile soap to clean your kitchen. Try it as a non-toxic, eco-friendly dish soap. Mix it with a little baking soda to create a creamy cleanser to scrub sinks, stove tops, and ovens clean. Or, try it for general all-purpose kitchen cleaning, such as when used in this DIY multi-purpose castile soap spray. Castile soaps with essential oils already mixed in, such as some of these top picks, are especially great because they are wonderful for disinfecting kitchen surfaces.
Liven up your kitchen cleaning routine with the wonderful scent of essential oils! They not only smell good, but they are all natural and have powerful antiseptic, antifungal, antibacterial,and antiviral properties — all fantastic properties for cleaning a kitchen, especially if you are preparing raw meats. Add a few drops to your dish soap, automatic dish detergent, or cleaning solutions to add extra germ fighting power. Lemon is a favorite of mine not only because of its antiseptic, antimicrobial, and bactericidal properties, but also because studies have shown it actually helps lift your mood! Check out "Top Five Essential Oils to Use in Your Green Cleaning" for some other great ones to try.
Brighten your kitchen cleaning routine with lemon juice! Lemon juice has a low pH of 2.0 and its citric acid content makes it an inhospitable environment for manyicky microorganisms to grow, so it's great at combatting germs and moldwhile you clean! Create an all-purpose spray with it, such as this Clean Everything Lemon-Lime Spray, or squeeze some lemon juice directly on hard water stains in your sink.Finally, you can't go wrong mixing it with a little baking soda to clean tarnish off of copper pots and pans. Note: Lemon juice is acidic so don't use it on porous stone surfaces, such as marble.
Olive oil is a great polisher for your stainless steel appliances. First, clean the surfaces well with a vinegar-water solution or an eco-friendly stainless steel cleaner, then apply a little olive oil to a soft, cotton cloth. Apply it in a circular motion and spend a few minutes buffing it off, flipping your cloth as necessary, to get the surface like new!
White distilled vinegar, due to its acidic qualities, works really wellkilling germs in your kitchen, breaking down mineral deposits on faucet fixtures, and cutting through grease. I always keep a bottle of DIY All-Purpose Aromatic Vinegar Spray on hand to clean my counter tops, sink, stove top, refrigerator handles, microwave, and more. It's non-toxic and it works! Vinegar is also useful for soaking kitchen sponges and pot scrubbers in because it keeps them fresh and germ-free. Note: Don't use vinegar on porous stone surfaces, such as marble, as it may etch the surface. Also, never mix it with bleach or dangerous fumes may result.
1. Baking Soda
Fantastic for cleaning stainless steel, porcelain, refrigerators, stoves, and some stone surfaces,baking sodamakes a gentle cleaner due to its alkaline nature and fine powder form, such as whenused in this recipe for an Aromatherapy Cleanser. It's also great at deodorizing, so sprinkle some into your garbage disposal or dishwasher between loads. Finally, it's awesome for removingstuck-on foods as described in "10 Eco-friendly Tips for Getting Pots & Pans Clean (Finally)!"
2. Castile Soap
Get crafty with using castile soap to clean your kitchen. Try it as a non-toxic, eco-friendly dish soap. Mix it with a little baking soda to create a creamy cleanser to scrub sinks, stove tops, and ovens clean. Or, try it for general all-purpose kitchen cleaning, such as when used in this DIY multi-purpose castile soap spray. Castile soaps with essential oils already mixed in, such as some of these top picks, are especially great because they are wonderful for disinfecting kitchen surfaces.
3. Essential Oils
Liven up your kitchen cleaning routine with the wonderful scent of essential oils! They not only smell good, but they are all natural and have powerful antiseptic, antifungal, antibacterial,and antiviral properties — all fantastic properties for cleaning a kitchen, especially if you are preparing raw meats. Add a few drops to your dish soap, automatic dish detergent, or cleaning solutions to add extra germ fighting power. Lemon is a favorite of mine not only because of its antiseptic, antimicrobial, and bactericidal properties, but also because studies have shown it actually helps lift your mood! Check out "Top Five Essential Oils to Use in Your Green Cleaning" for some other great ones to try.
4. Hydrogen Peroxide
Instead of reaching for toxic chlorine bleach, why not try hydrogen peroxide? It's gentle non-toxic bleaching action and antiseptic qualities make it great for kitchen cleaning. Add some to your dish water when hand washing dishes or use some full-strength to disinfect a cutting board. You can also add it to a spray bottle to disinfect counter tops (rinse after use).
5. Lemon Juice
Brighten your kitchen cleaning routine with lemon juice! Lemon juice has a low pH of 2.0 and its citric acid content makes it an inhospitable environment for manyicky microorganisms to grow, so it's great at combatting germs and moldwhile you clean! Create an all-purpose spray with it, such as this Clean Everything Lemon-Lime Spray, or squeeze some lemon juice directly on hard water stains in your sink.Finally, you can't go wrong mixing it with a little baking soda to clean tarnish off of copper pots and pans. Note: Lemon juice is acidic so don't use it on porous stone surfaces, such as marble.
6. Olive Oil
Olive oil is a great polisher for your stainless steel appliances. First, clean the surfaces well with a vinegar-water solution or an eco-friendly stainless steel cleaner, then apply a little olive oil to a soft, cotton cloth. Apply it in a circular motion and spend a few minutes buffing it off, flipping your cloth as necessary, to get the surface like new!
7. Salt
If you consider how great salt is as a natural preservative in curing meat, you can get a pretty good idea of how it might be great for cleaning. Salt, which is primarily sodium chloride, is beneficial for scrubbing and fighting mold. Mix fine grained salt with some baking soda and water for a slightly abrasive kitchen cleanser to clean cutting boards and kitchen sinks. To remove rust stains, mix it with a little lemon or lime juice, let it sit, and then gently scrub.8. Vinegar
White distilled vinegar, due to its acidic qualities, works really wellkilling germs in your kitchen, breaking down mineral deposits on faucet fixtures, and cutting through grease. I always keep a bottle of DIY All-Purpose Aromatic Vinegar Spray on hand to clean my counter tops, sink, stove top, refrigerator handles, microwave, and more. It's non-toxic and it works! Vinegar is also useful for soaking kitchen sponges and pot scrubbers in because it keeps them fresh and germ-free. Note: Don't use vinegar on porous stone surfaces, such as marble, as it may etch the surface. Also, never mix it with bleach or dangerous fumes may result.