ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Clean Using Ordinary Household Items

Updated on October 10, 2017

Cleaning Tips and Tricks

There are plenty of cleansers on the shelf that promise to take away mold, make windows shine, and even make the house smell good for 30 days. These products probably will produce said results; however, they might also release harsh chemicals into the air. Here are a few ideas, using ordinary household items, which are “greener” and produce the exact same results – sometimes even better results.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE is fantastic for cleaning kitchen work surfaces.

  • Keep some in a spray bottle and instead of spraying a chemical cleanser, spray hydrogen peroxide and wipe clean with your dish cloth. Fun experiment – if you have something really dirty on the counters, pour some hydrogen peroxide on it and let the children watch is bubble!
  • Wooden cutting boards breed bacteria’s such as salmonella. To help kill these germs in between a hot dishwasher cleansing (or for those of you who do not have a dishwasher) clean the cutting board and rinse with peroxide.

RUBBING ALCOHOL is an inexpensive alternative to a chemically harsh glass cleaner.

  • Eliminate grim on glass shower doors by cleaning with rubbing alcohol. Transfer the alcohol into a spray bottle and spray the walls and doors, let sit for about 1 minute and wipe clean with a soft cloth. You do not need to rinse because the alcohol evaporates. I spray each day to keep the soap residue to a minimum.
  • Teachers swear by rubbing alcohol. Fill a spray bottle and you have a fix for removing the build up from dry erase boards, the Yuk on the computer keyboards, and the germs from the desks of the little angels in their class. My ex husband's wife is a teacher and she uses rubbing alcohol throughout her entire classroom to reduce germs and aide in cleaning.
  • Use a paper towel (or soft cloth if you are green) and clean the fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen with rubbing alcohol. It makes the fixtures shine. Tip: if you are expecting company, just spray, and wipe. They will think you spent hours cleaning because of the shine.

NEWSPAPERS are for more than just reading.

  • Roll a piece of newspaper into a ball and clean the mirrors in the house. Leaves a great clean shine, no streaks, and no left over remnants like you get from paper towels and cloths. My grandmother taught me this trick and it really does work. Recycle when you can!
  • There is no need to buy fire starters and kindling from a store if you receive the newspaper. Roll newspaper sections and tie them with twine. They make perfect fire starters. Take about three pieces of newspaper (none that are colored - they put off toxins), roll them up, tie them, and set them in a nice container. Enlist the children, they will have a blast!

COTTON BALLS are not just for taking off your fingernail polish, they have multiple uses.

  • Take a cotton ball and saturate it with your favorite scent: essential oil, perfume or body spray. Tuck it in your vacuum cleaner bag or cylinder and as you vacuum the scent will be released throughout the house. If you have animals, you know the vacuum starts to stink after awhile. This really works beautifully.
  • Make the refrigerator smell fresh. We all keep baking soda in the fridge to eliminate the smells; however, that sometimes doesn’t seem to be enough. Douse a cotton ball in vanilla, coconut, or orange extract and place it in the refrigerator on a shelf.

CORN STARCH is not just for thickening sauces.

  • Use it as a carpet deodorizer. Instead of using a powdery product that makes the house smell nice, consider sprinkling corn starch on the carpet instead. It absorbs the smells that linger in rugs and carpets and it doesn’t contain chemicals which could ultimately hurt your children and pets. Mix 1 part baking soda with 2 parts corn starch (corn starch goes a long way) - sprinkle, wait, and vacuum. If you want the house to smell nice, read about the cotton ball and fragrance above.

  • To clean the children’s stuffed animals just sprinkle corn starch on them, rub it in, wait a few moments and wipe it off. I usually take the vacuum hose to remove the corn starch. It works beautifully in getting the smells out of stuffed animals.

  • Have a dog or a cat with long hair that gets knotted? Rub some corn starch into their fur and brush as usual. It detangles the fur and makes it easy to manage.

HAIRSPRAY is for more than keeping your beehive hairdo looking lovely.

  • Have an ink mark on your favorite shirt? Spray hairspray on it, let it sit, then wash. DO NOT wash and dry the shirt BEFORE spraying; otherwise, the ink will set in and it will be very difficult to remove, if at all possible.

© 2011 bellartdesigns

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)