I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of flack from my friends for posting an article about cleaning products. I can picture it now, the slaps on the back and name calling. Perhaps I’ll just say NO! when they want to come over to watch the game over the weekend; then we’ll see who has the power. You’re probably wondering why I’m writing this too, so I better go on and tell you. I like stuff to be clean. It’s as simple as that. You probably do too but you don’t go around making a big fuss about it and splashing it all over the internet. You should try it, it’s very liberating. And I would know! The real reason I’m into this right now is, as a dad, you’re always part of a clean up team, and most of it will just laugh back at you if you come at it with a paper towel and some water. It’s more of an evil snickering, to be exact. So, as 1 half of the Adults Cleaning Squad, I’ve employed the assistance of some serious stain-removing, germ-reducing, freshen-the-air-please products. The only problem is that it seems to come standard with noxious fumes and some of them make your skin itch, your eyes water, and I shouldn’t use them within 20 miles of food, pets, livestock, crops and of course, children. This doesn’t seem right. So, if I’m condemned to forever clean something, and clean it well, I’ll need to buy a biohazard suit or fear my lungs imploding and my skin leaving my frame, which seems like something best avoided. My next question then is, what do I have around my house that I don’t need to keep behind a steel door and 14 padlocks, that will clean the yuckies away? It seems what I put on my french fries and even in a stew can dissolve a mess and kill them dodgy bugs. Believe it or not, it’s true, and I’ve got it in my list of Top 5 Natural Cleaning Products.
#5: One of the keys in my list is not only to keep things safe, but also cheap, so starting us off is the humble Lemon Juice. It’s readily available, is probably going in your herbal tea anyway, but can be used to clean almost anything due to it being super acidic. This makes it a good disinfectant and you can rub half a lemon on your cutting boards to kill the germs or rub the lemon on your bathroom taps and other fittings to remove limescale. Let it sit for a few minutes and rinse with clean water. Mix lemon juice with some baking soda to make a paste and rub on brass or bronze to make it shine. Neat juice will take out mildew and mold too. Hard to believe, right? You’d better believe it!
#4: Baking Soda. You already know it goes well with lemon juice, but try mixing it with just plain water to score a bucket load of cleaning applications. To clean grime and burned food in your oven, just spray the inside of your oven with a fine mist of water and then pour baking soda onto the bottom of your oven, applying it in extra measure over the burn food bits. Use your finger to mix it into a paste and leave for an hour or so. Clean with a cloth and watch the grossness vanish. I’ve used it to remove odours in my refrigerator by pouring some of the powder into a small glass bowl and putting it in the back of my fridge. Goodbye garlic and onion smell! You can even sprinkle some into your stinky shoes. Odour-Be-Gone supremo!
#3: You add it to your stew but why not add it to your cleaning arsenal: Corn Starch. It’s great at freshening up your carpets as well as removing oil marks. Simply sprinkle it on your carpets and let it sit for 20 minutes, and then vacuum. Pour the corn starch onto a grease spot on your carpet, leave for 30 minutes and then vacuum. You can use a paste of corn starch mixed with water to clean your silverware too. Just wipe the paste off once you’re done and buff clean with a dry cloth. A corn starch and water paste can also soothe sunburned skin, just by the way!
#2: Hydrogen Peroxide. You might have this in your medicine cabinet to nuke the germs when you clean a cut or graze, but you can use it as a household cleaner as well. Look at us and our multipurpose products! Got a blood stain on a shirt, or a deep red tomato sauce stain on your table cloth? Squirt some H2O2 on there and watch it work its magic! Use it to wash your vegetables before rinsing them in water and chopping them up. No more insecticide residue! Pour some in a glass and soak your toothbrush in it to kill germs. Soak your kitchen sponge or cloths in it to get rid of the bacteria you will otherwise spread while you think you’re cleaning things!
#1. The undisputed king of the natural cleaning products is..drum roll please…White Vinegar! There is nothing as versatile, as cost effective in offering you 101 cleaning solutions or as readily available. You probably have some in your cupboard right now, don’t you, for putting on your french fries! There are so many uses I couldn’t even put them all down here, but I’ll tell you we use it at our house as a natural fabric softener. Put it in a spray bottle and undiluted, it makes a super cleaner for kitchen and bathroom surfaces. It helps remove wallpaper, can be used as a stain remover and makes the best glass cleaner. No streaks for days! It kill weeds, use it as a facial cleanser, to sooth bee stings, or even leave it in a burned-on pot to loosen the gunk and return it to it’s former glory.
After reading this, you may still love your chemical cocktails , but don’t bash my Top 5 list until you’ve given it a whirl. And when you have, why not let us know what you think, and if you have your own natural recipe for a potent cleaner, share it with us. You know at 1Africa, we love to help, but we also love to learn. Happy cleaning.