In an age where "environmentally friendly" and "frugal" are big buzzwords, and where green is the new black, lots of people are searching for new ways to do things that are both cheap and effective without resorting to chemicals and practices that will further damage the world around us. One thing we can do in this regard is to make our own cleaning supplies, using readily available ingredients that are non-toxic and even ingestible.

(Though I wouldn't recommend it, since although they won't kill you if you drink them, they sure won't taste nice!)

Simple and effective household cleaning supplies can be made most often with lemons, white vinegar, olive oil, and baking soda. All four of these things can easily be bought from your local grocery store. lemons will be cheaper when they're in season, so it might not hurt to make larger batches of cleaner during that time, to help cut costs even further.

A lot of people shy away from using homemade cleaners not because of the extra work it will take to acquire the ingedients and mix them (which is negligible, really), but because of a pervading belief that using homemade cleaners will not clean as well as harsher chemical cleaners. For regular household work, this isn't the case. Sure, if you're trying to strip the paint from your walls, then vinegar and lemon juice just won't cut it, but for polishing your wooden dining table or washing your windows, then what you can make for yourself is going to be just as effective.

I myself once worked in a place where they used a mix of vingear and water to clean the windows. No harsh cleaning agents, no unpronounceable chemicals. Just good old vinegar and water. And it cleaned them just as well as anything else we could have used. I've used white vinegar at home for removing water stains from metal pots and pans. I didn't need to go and spend $10 on something toxic that would do the same thing.

Vinegar, being acidic, is good for killing bacteria that hangs around on the surfaces of objects. There are very few things that can survive for long in an acidic environment. Scientists have long known that changing the pH level can greatly influence whether bacteria survives or dies off.

As mentioned above, if you mix about 3 tablespoons of white vinegar and 4 cups (1 litre) of water in a spray bottle, it can be used very easily to clean windows or other glass. A small amount of white vinegar rubbed in pots and pans can remove water stains, too, and from my experience, some small amounts of rust.

Mixing 2 cups of white vinegar to equal amounts of water makes an all-purpose cleaner that's great for the little messes around the house. You can add essential oils to this mix, too, to give it a nicer scent.

Be careful, though. Vinegar isn't good to use on limestone or marble countertops. Regular old soap and water works just fine for these things instead.

Like vinegar, lemons are also acidic and thus have antibacterial properties (as well as spermacidal, but that's a Hub for another day!), they also make good deodorizers and can cut down on unpleasant scents in your home.

A good way to clean out your microwave is to place some lemon slices in a microwave-safe bowl, ad at least 1 cup of water, and heat it in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Let it sit in the microwave for an additional 3 minutes without opening the door. The steam produced will make the inside easier to wipe down, and the acidity of the lemon juice will work as an antibacterial agent to kill off germs.

And it leaves your microwave smelling lemony fresh!

Baking soda, because of its gritty texture, is especially good for polishing and shining things things, such as silverware, or anything that's gotten greasy or grimey. To make a good oven cleaner, mix baking soda, salt, and hot water into a paste, and use that to scrub away all the grease.

Baking soda is also good for removing odors from carpets. Simply sprinkle it on the carpet, let it sit for half an hour, and then vacuum it up. Some companies charge high prices for outrageously scented products that do much the same thing, only that will leave your carpet smelling like a chemical version of apple-cinnamon or wildflowers instead. Personally, I'd rather have no scent than chemical scent.

Sprinkling baking soda in your toilet bowl and letting it sit for a while will also make the bowl easier to clean with a brush, in addition to helping to remove those unpleasant odors.

In a pinch, it's also good for brushing your teeth, if you mix a little water with it and turn it into a paste, and use it instead of toothpaste. It may not taste great, and won't have added fluoride, but it does the trick!

Olive oil is good to use as a polish for wooden tables and chairs. Simple rub it on and your table will shine like new!

It can also be used to touch up leather, and to clean scuff marks from shoes and sneakers.

It's amazing just how versatile these things can be when it comes to cleaning around the house. Simple things that you probably already have at home can be used in so many ways. And as innovative as they all sound, they're far from new concepts. People used these tricks 25, 50, 100 years ago to clean their houses, before all these fancy chemical cleaners came along.

And the best part is that they're non-toxic, so you don't have to worry about small children or pets accidentally poisoning themselves.

If you're interested in green cleaning, or in saving a bit of cash in this tight econmy, consider giving some of these tips and tricks a try next time you do some cleaning around the house.