Читать книгу Green Homekeeping - Alice Alvrez - Страница 5

Foreword

We all want to live in an enchanted cottage, a clean and charming residence in every sense of the word. Several years ago, however, I learned that all the chemicals in our cleansing products introduce potential toxins into our lives. Who likes the smell of raw bleach, over-perfumed detergents and those scary oven cleaners? They strip away the natural and are simply too harsh. It is a danger to have them around young children whose curiosity could lead them into trouble. I think we can all agree it makes a lot of sense to simply not have anything in your kitchen cabinet that is marked “poison.” There are so many options that are inexpensive and will make your home and anyone who walks in the door, healthier and happier.

Here, I’ll share some of my tried and true DIY recipes for greening your life!

DIY Daily All-Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon liquid Castile soap

3 drops lemon essential oil or 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 quart warm water

Instructions

Pour the ingredients into a bowl and mix well; transfer to a clean spray bottle and shake. If you have a tougher job than usual, add a cup or white vinegar to the other ingredients. Baking soda is a mild abrasive so don’t use it on fine furniture or delicate fabrics. Otherwise, it is quite miraculous for touch stains, rust, ovens, tiles, stain removal, tough greases, smelly fridges, and so many other household chores.

Green Clearing Secrets to Stain Removal

If you spill coffee or red wine on your couch, carpet or table cloth, pour plain table salt into the spill and it will soak right up. The salt turning purple blue as it soaks up red wine is truly spellbinding! Vacuum it up and the stain will be gone.

Stained clothes, linens, etc. should be soaked it in cold water with baking soda or white vinegar and wash in cold water only to avoid “setting” the stain.

There is no need to use bleach in your laundry for white fabric, use a cup of Borax in your load.

Eco Floor Cleaner

Ingredients

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

5 drops lemon essential oil

1 quart warm water

Instructions

Mix everything together, preferably in a big glass bowl, and pour into a clean spray bottle. As always, use caution even with these homely, organic ingredients and avoid getting vinegar, lemon juice, Borax or any of your concoctions in your eyes. Simply aim the spray at your floor and mop with a clean damp mop. Follow by mopping with hot water. Allow the floor to dry a bit and buff with clean dry cloths into which you have sprinkled a few drops of lavender oil. Your floors will look really good and smell even better.

Lemon & Lavender Floor Cleanser

I haven’t used store-bought cleansers since the year 2004 when a health challenge awakened me to the importance of ridding my environment of any toxins or potentially harmful chemicals. I think it is a very good idea for all of us to consider, as our health is precious. I know this made a difference for me and my loved ones. And the smell of a home freshly cleaned with lemons and scentful natural oils feels wonderful. Gather the following:

Ingredients

1 quart of white vinegar

4 lemons

8 drops lavender oil

1 cup hot water

a new mop

Instructions

In a 4-quart glass mixing bowl, pour 1 cup of hot water, a ½ cup of lemon juice, and 8 drops of lavender oil. Stir and steep for a half-hour.

Take a clean bucket and fill with 2 gallons of warm water and a quart of white vinegar. Give it a stir with a wooden spoon. If your floor is delicate or antique and rare wood, leave out the lemon, but otherwise, this is a suitable floor wash for any purpose. Take your brand new mop and dip it into the bucket, wring it out and clean the floor very thoroughly.

Baking Soda is Miraculous

To make your own all-natural cleaning scrub, try this simple scrubbing paste recipe: mix a ½ cup of baking soda with liquid castile soap until it’s the consistency of frosting. Scrub whatever surface needs cleaning, then rinse with water. Do bear in mind that baking soda is slightly abrasive, so fragile fabrics and surfaces may not fare well including glass, mirrors, or antique and rare woods. You can do a little test and if no issues arise, then scrub-a-dub to your heart’s content.

Love Your Linens Eco Laundry Detergent

Want to get away from the chemicals, foaming agents and synthetic fragrances found in most laundry detergents? Using a box grater to grate a bar of pure soap into a powder. Freeze the soap for super-fast grating, and then mix the grated powder with one cup of Borax, one cup of washing soda and a few drops of lemon juice (optional) for cold and warm water loads. Use 1–2 tablespoons per load.

Terrific Tea Tree Wipes

Instead of toxic, chemical-laden wipes you get at the store, make your own to have handy for spills as well as for scheduled cleanings. Mix 1 cup of white vinegar, a ½ cup of lemon juice and 8 drops of tea tree oil. Make these for on-the-go spills by soaking clean cloths or paper towels in the mixture and storing them in a sealable bag.

You Must Have Distilled Vinegar at All Times

If I could only use one item to clean my home with, it would be vinegar. A natural disinfectant that only costs pennies, vinegar deals with dirt, smells, stains, grease and mold—especially in the shower. I’ve cleaned my whole house with just a spray bottle of vinegar and a little liquid soap. To make it smell really clean and good, add a few drops of calming lavender oil (also a natural disinfectant), easily found at a reasonable cost at your local health-food stores. Just remember, you’re not making gallons, you’re making a small bottle. Because they contain no preservatives, DIY cleaning mixes don’t last very long, so use regularly for a clean, green home!

Baking Soda Rules!

Baking soda is wonderful deodorizer around the house and can be used to freshen and launder clothing and freshen furniture or carpets. It can also be used as an eco-friendly oven cleaner. Since the oven is where you cook your food, it’s better to skip the chemicals which leave a residue that could be quite unhealthy. Make a paste by adding water, or equal parts water and vinegar, to 1 cup of baking soda. Coat the inside of the oven and leave overnight. In the morning, turn the oven on low heat for an hour, then let cool. Use a spray bottle of water and vinegar to soften the hardened paste, and use elbow grease to scrub it off. When you are baking that batch of cookies for your loved ones, you can rest assured no fumes are getting in the yummy treat!

Counterintuitive Counter Cleaner – Yogurt

Can you believe that your breakfast yogurt is also a cleanser? Employ plain yogurt to clean and polish copper pans, kitchen accessories and sinks. Most conventional alternatives are very chemical. Coat the copper surface of counters and sinks with plain yogurt, and let it sit until it turns green (about 30 minutes), then wipe away with an old cloth and the copper will shine brilliantly.

Simply Salt

Some people swear by scouring pots, pans, and cooking surfaces with salt. It absorbs oil and grease, making it great for the stovetop which can have cooking splatters that can be tough to remove. Sprinkle it on and scrub away with a sponge. Salt is amazing!

Planet Positive Household Tips

Instead of discarding lemon halves after you’ve used their juice for cooking or lemonade, save them to use as scrubbers for cleaning wood cutting boards without damaging them. You can also use fresh lemon juice mixed with baking soda to brighten white tiles, the sink or tub, or make natural wood polish for floors by mixing a little fresh lemon juice with olive oil. This citrus fruit is a natural lightening agent that you can use in place of bleach which should be used sparingly, if at all. Throw discolored white socks, towels, or shirts in a stockpot with water and a few used lemons; simmer for a little while to lighten. If you hang them outside to dry, the combination of sun and your low-cost lemon whitener will refresh your laundry until it is practically gleaming!

Easily clean cheese graters. Cut the lemon in half and then run it over the grater. The acid in the lemon will help break down the fat in the cheese. If the food is really stuck on the grater you can dip the lemon in table salt and the salt will act as a scrubber; combined with the lemon it will remove most foods.

Sanitize metal jewelry. The acid in lemon juice also works to remove tarnish. Use just a tablespoon of lemon juice concentrate to 1½ cups water. You can also dip your silver into lemon soda and it will come out sparkling. But don’t use this combo on gold or pearls.

Preserve meat and clean your cutting board. Lemon juice creates an acidic environment and bacteria need an alkaline environment to survive, so adding lemon to meat, produce and even water inhibits bacterial growth. A handy antibacterial and natural way to clean your cutting board after cooking meat is to rub lemon juice on it and let sit overnight; rinse in the morning. The lemon juice will kill bacteria and leave your cutting board smelling fresh.

Naturally restore furniture. Mix equal parts mayonnaise, olive oil, and lemon juice together. When rubbed into wood furniture, this mixture will add oil to the wood and the lemon juice will work to cut through any polish build up on the furniture.

Prevent sticky rice. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the pot while the water’s boiling to keep grains from sticking together. Lemon does prevent sticky rice, as do other citrus fruit lines, which help separate grains of rice and enhance the whiteness of the rice itself.

Get rid of grease. Copper pots are cleaned quickly with a half of a lemon dipped into salt. Rub over a tarnished copper bottom pot and you’ll see magic; the same combo works great for removing grease off a cook top and stainless-steel pots and pans, too. If you have a real buildup of grease, use the lemon juice or half lemon with sea salt.

You turn to this citrus to enhance your water, but did you know it can also help perk up limp lettuce and kill weeds? The versatility of this beloved yellow fruit is fantastic.

Kill weeds. Forget chemical weed killers, which can be just as bad for you as they are for the planet. Control weeds with my lemon and white vinegar recipe, which is four parts lemon juice to one part white vinegar. Pour in a spray bottle, give a shake, and head out to the garden.

Love the Planet Flour Paint

Most of us don’t even realize that these “store-bought” corporate paints, varnishes, and latexes are off-gassing and are bad for our lungs, brain, skin, and everything else. There are so many toxins around us that reducing this in our personal environment is essential. Gather the following:

Ingredients

2 cups wheat flower

6 cups cold water

3 cups boiling water

2/3 cup mica filler (available at any art or craft store)

1 cup screened clay (easily found at any art or craft shop)

Natural dye of your choice: tea, turmeric, berry juice, wine, or other organize colorant

Instructions

Whisk the flour into a bowl of 3 cups of cold water; add the flour mixture into 3 cups boiling water and cook at simmer for 10 more minutes. Mix very well. Now remove from the heat and add in the remaining 3 cups of cold water. Let cool while you mix the mica and clay together in a separate bowl thoroughly and fold into the flour paste. Feel free to add natural coloring agents such as tea, turmeric, berry juice, wine, or whatever color you need for your décor. Flour paint is especially useful as a substitute “white wash” for outdoor walls, fences, and sheds. It usually requires more than one coat of paint, especially if used for indoor walls or furniture. As you can tell from the ingredients, this has way less chemicals in it and is a natural as can be. Stop breathing in unneeded toxins; grab a brush and start beautifying!

Use this book as your guide to a happier, healthier, and greener life. Live green and prosper!