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RoseBud asked in Home & GardenCleaning & Laundry · 1 decade ago

Regular cleaning products vs. natural products?

Ok guys, this is a serious question. I don't want to hear your political rants. I can't afford to pay someone to clean my house every other week anymore. So, I'm going to have to do it myself. The reason I hired someone in the first place is the my husband and I both work full time and neither of us was cleaning the house. So, it was a mess. We needed a housekeeper just to keep from blaming and getting angry at each other. I hate cleaning. Really hate it. I do not want to put "muscle power" into scrubbing anything. I would like to use natural cleaning products but I think I will have to work twice as hard to get my house clean and if that is the case then I probably won't do it at all and we'll end up with a dirty house again. I don't have children and I'm not having any. So, "safer for kids" or "chemicals can screw up your reproductive system" are not important to me. I don't have allergies and neither does my husband. So "bad for people with allergies" isn't a good argument for me either. I'm going to need natural cleaning supplies that clean without "muscle power" and/or a super-compelling reason for a child-free, no allergy person to scrub her house like a scullery maid.

3 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    simple green is one of the best cleaners for everything i have found. industrial strength and natural added bonus its cheap.

    Source(s): personal experience and a best friend with cleaning OCD who buys tons of it and nothing else
  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    stable question and that i do no longer think of there's an actual/incorrect answer. organic products are plenty greater ideal for the atmosphere, and much less poisonous. i think of on occasion they are no longer as stable at getting issues rather sparkling or sanitary yet they scent greater ideal. a number of my friends that have undesirable hypersensitive reactions are on occasion greater allergic to organic stuff because of the fact its made with flower and vegetation extracts. as far as gentle/dry sparkling merely it rather relies upon on the cloth content cloth, dry cleansing is often the final to maintain them lasting long and actually sparkling, i've got discovered wool infrequently does nicely in water, even gentle cycle and same with leather-based ,in spite of the shown fact that i've got run some footwear for the duration of the wash before.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    Instead of buying a heap of cleaning solutions; one for windows, one for counter tops, one for bathtub, one for toilet, one for floor, one for air freshener, one for bug repellant, one for softening laundry, another for static cling...

    Instead of scrubbing a microwave...

    Instead of folding laundry...

    Instead of chaos:

    You do not want to spend your time chasing around this bottle or that bottle of cleaner or running out running out running out buying buying buying buying throwing away throwing away...Instead get two cleaners that you probably already have: Vinegar and Baking soda.

    Vinegar is an acid and as such it does not allow microorganisms, bacteria and virus to live. Think of how long a bottle of pickles lasts. Vinegar will kill germs except e-coli which has evolved to withstand an acid environment. You can clean with it and it does a lovely job. It cuts through grease. It is streak free. It deodorizes. Do not worry you will not have a house that smells like a pickle. Vinegar does not smell when it has dried.

    For disinfecting use white vinegar straight up. For all purpose use 50:50. See vinegartips.com.

    Vinegar is an acid and as such it will react with substances that are a base or have a positive electrical charge. In this way vinegar will neutralize static cling and soften clothes. Just add a cup to the final rinse cycle of the wash. It disolves soap because soap is a base. It will remove soap residues from clothing and bring back the fluff. Equally it cleans the bathtub and sink. It cleans the toilet not only by disolving subtances but also by killing bacteria. Because it is reactive it will neutralize odors. Leave a bowl out to freshen the air when you are cooking.

    We all know vinegar cleans windows. Get one of those shammy cloths or microfiber cloths instead of paper towels or newpapers because they work faster.

    Vinegar will sometimes clear a plug in the drain.

    Now for the Baking soda. Baking soda is a base. Some people tell you to mix baking soda and vinegar because they think the fizz when the reaction occurs is doing work. It is not. The one is neutralizing the other and you are getting a kind of water as a result. Use vinegar on a base such as bacteria, soap, or grease. Use Baking soda to scub because it is slightly abrasive but very gentle. Baking soda reacts with acids so it will dissolve things with a negative charge. Baking soda will sometime remove a plug in a drain. Scrub the bathtub with soda, scrub the counters, use it as an alternative to removing a laundry stain when vinegar does not work on the matter.

    Now for the chaos:

    Well my favorite way that saves a lot of time is to get a bunch of baskets like those pop up laundry hampers you can get at the dollar store.

    I set up about ten of these and then I run around and throw all the things that are out of place into the baskets. I do not care what order; books, laundry, garbage, mail, magazines everything gets tossed in; pillows, cats, kids, etc.

    The result is that the room is cleared of disorder and all the disorder is neatly in the baskets.

    Now when you have the time, or the inclination, you take a basket and put things away one item at a time. Just work one basket at a time, one item at a time.

    In this way you can sort laundry or rooms.

    If you have help then you can assign a basket to each helper.

    This allows you to get the house in order and the mess out of the way, the chairs cleared and the floor picked up. Now you can sweep or vacuum and wipe the table very quickly because all the stuff is not obstructing you.

    While your helpers clean up the baskets you clean up the house.

    Sometimes there is just too much mess and not enough cupboards to put things away. While your friends are there you have no problem just storing the baskets in the basement or some other place out of the way.

    This is a great method for organizing the house to serve large crowds. Instead of folding all the towels just set up a basket for clean towels and for dirty. Use the basket system to organize the playroom for toys, the bedroom for laundry, the living room for magazines and newspapers and the kitchen chaos.

    As for the microwave, do not scrub it out. First put in a bowl of water with vinegar and heat it up to steaming hot. The steam cleaned microwave is disinfected and the materials loosened up for easy clean out.

    As for the husband, put him out on the next recycle day...

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