I am excited to announce an upcoming carnival that I am hosting here at Passionate Homemaking on all things related to natural housecleaning! Come and share your favorite recipes, tips and tricks that you have discovered in cleaning your home without the use of chemicals. I want to hear all about how you have solved problems such as mildew, mold, toilet bowl rings stains and the like! Have you found good frugal solutions for everyday cleaning issues? What tools have you found useful? You can share you favorite books, websites, or reviews on natural cleaning supplies on the market. This carnival will be live on Friday, September 4th. You will be able to contribute via your own blog and link up using Mr. Linky or by writing a comment with your tips or links.
This next week will be natural housecleaning theme here in preparation for the carnival. I will be sharing some of my favorite finds and how I have simplified housecleaning at our home!
Stay tuned and start preparing your tips and tricks! Looking forward to it! Pass on the word!
Cannot say enough about good old baking soda…cleans everything from the corelle casserole dishes you don’t want to scratch, to boosting the power of your laundry soap, cleaning the stove top…no need for comet! YAY!!
I have used straight vinegar to clean the mold that accumulates in our bathroom. I have been surprised how well it works. I will spray it on and let it sit for a while and then come back and wipe it off later.
Also, baking soda on a damp sponge works remarkably well for stains and stuck on goup on the counters, floors, or sinks.
I am finding the balance between doing things naturally and keeping things simple. I love making my own laundry detergent. I’m about to start making our own bars of soap. And for general, everyday maintenance cleaning, I use a spray bottle of vinegar – it disinfects and is safe around the kids.
But I do encounter some stains and heavy cleaning instances where vinegar and baking soda (and many other natural things I’ve tried) just don’t cut it. Rather than spend lots of time and energy scrubbing and re-scrubbing and trying to find natural alternatives that work in these instances, there are a few stand-bys I keep on hand to do the job.
These are not natural (gasp) and they include: Comet (double gasp), Store brand Mr. Clean Eraser, Formula 409, and Scrubbing Bubbles. Yes, they’re chemicals, but I use them rarely, buy them cheap (dollar store or sale) and they save me time. It helps me simplify. And with two little ones and another on the way, I’d rather spend my time and energy caring for them.
Works for me!
Shannon
Isn’t September 4th your birthday??
Wow! How did you know? I am planning on scheduling this post but I thought it would be fun all the same!
Ha! I remembered you mentioning it b/c both your kids’ birthdays are on the 4th of the month – and b/c MY birthday is also in September. Hope you have a GREAT one.
I am dying for an all natural drain opener. I have tried hot water, baking soda, vinegar and nothing works!
From what I understand, baking soda and vinegar work as preventative maintenance. When I move into a new place, I usually have to break down and buy Drano once to open the drains.
I can’t wait to see what others have posted. I use vinegar and orange oil and tea tree oil for some of the cleaning…but I can’t find anything like bleach for the mildew. (Although I have used Hubby’s Orange Pumice hand cleaner to clean the bottom of the shower. It is miraculous!)
I was just about to ask for tips, perfect timing!
I would love to hear what people use to get mineral stains out of toilets–apart from scrubbing insanely with a pumice stone and scratching the toilet bowl.
Also, how do you clean drip pans and burner covers on your gas stove??
We’re trying to resist the urge to go out and get some Comet!
)
Thanks,
Sharon
I’m so excited too! Thank you for doing this!
This sounds like fun! I hope to be here, and thanks.
I guess I have something that I’d like to see covered more than a tip. Is there a natural alternative to Mr. Clean Magic Erasers? Baking soda works in its place some of the time, but not always.
I have not tried this at all but I will tell you what our school janitor told me. He said that damp tennis balls work like a magic eraser. I don’t know if these have less chemicals in them, I would imagine a little bit! He swears by it and I have seen him get marks off of the floor. Again, never tried it, I use vinegar and baking soad primarily to clean but goodness I can’t live without my magic eraser!! Of course I primarily use it for scuff marks on sneakers, my car, and the floor.
Thanks. I’ll be sure to try it
Awesome! Looking forward to it!
We recently moved into a new home with a 1980s flat-top stove. I didn’t even know they made stoves like that back then! With every meal I cook, more junk ends up on the cooktop – even just from my cookware, not food! I’ve tried many things, but I can’t get the stains off.
I haven’t bought commercial glass stovetop cleaner because of the chemicals and price. I welcome any and all suggestions from your readers!
Jennifer, I had one of these stoves and the white ceramic top just permanently discolored to a yellow on the burner I always used on high to heat water for tea. Although I often scrubbed it with a commercial cleaner for ceramic cooktops, nothing removed the discoloration. I have wondered if that is why they began making those tops black instead of white!
A wonderful glass cleaner believe or not is just plain old rubbing alcohol. I worked at a jewelry store years ago and that’s what we used to clean all of the glass. It also disenfects. You wouldn’t believe how good it works. I use it all the time. I’m not sure if it’ll work on your stove top but worth a try. Especially when you can get a bottle for $.99!
Thanks, Carla and Becky!
My stovetop is white and has icky brown and black stains. My mom’s cooktop is black, but I hadn’t made Carla’s connection! My pans are black hard anodized cookware.
I already have rubbing alcohol on hand and will try it soon! I’ve tried baking soda and water, leaving Method glass cleaner to soak on the spots, and some other tricks, but nothing has worked so far. Thanks so much!
I use a 1:1 mix of rubbing alcohol and water for my glass (especially mirrors) all the time and it’s better than anything else I’ve ever tried. If it actually removes the discoloration from your stovetop, Jennifer, I want to hear about it! Have to say I’m doubtful, though.
Carla, the vinegar and water worked pretty well. Thanks so much! It didn’t get off all the marks, but many are gone now. I used a microfiber cloth and lots of elbow grease. I’ll try it again for another round and hope that more spots come off this time. Thanks again!
I am SOO excited for this! thank you!
That sounds very exciting!