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Top 5 Kitchen Cupboard Ingredients for Non-Toxic Cleaning
by Annie B. Bond | October 23rd, 2008 | Comments (7)
topic: Detox, Green Living, Healthy Home
Saturday I drove to New Jersey and spoke in front of a hall full of pregnant women. What a joy to see all 
those round bellies, and even more of a pleasure — given that this was the national convention of the Holistic Moms Network — to know how well-intentioned this group is towards their families’ health and the environment.
It was a great audience to talk with (as is Gaiam’s — I am thrilled to be writing here). I gave them all sorts of tips to detox their homes, hoping to ease their minds about how easy it is to accomplish the task. I also gave them my mainstay list for non-toxic cleaning, the five kitchen cupboard ingredients I believe will clean everything in the home, and I’d like to share it with you as well:
- Baking soda: A non-abrasive cleaner made from soda ash, baking soda is slightly alkaline (its pH is around 8.1; 7 is neutral). It neutralizes acid-based odors in water, and adsorbs odors from the air. Baking soda is indispensable for numerous household cleaning tasks.
- Washing soda: A heavy-duty cleaning and a solvent alternative. Washing soda is a chemical neighbor of baking soda, although more alkaline and even caustic (so wear gloves) — but without harmful fumes.
- White distilled vinegar: Studies show that vinegar kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs. Among its many cleaning uses, vinegar is excellent for removing stains including berry juice, tomato sauce and ink.
- Vegetable oil–based soap or detergent.
- Tea tree oil: A broad-spectrum fungicide.
Well, they aren’t all kitchen cupboard ingredients, but they’re all easy enough to come by or make at home. You can find washing soda in the laundry section of most supermarkets, and look for vegetable-oil soap or detergent, and the tea tree oil, in natural food outlets.
Why do I rely on these ingredients? Because they work!
When the recipe calls for “liquid detergent” what do they mean by that? Laundry detergent or dishwashing detergent? Tide? Dawn?
Instead of distilled vinegar, I’m a big fan of crystalline food-grade citric acid. You can get it in bulk at natural food stores and where canning supplies or beer/winemaking supplies are sold. Unlike vinegar, it’s odorless, and you can also mix it to stronger concentrations when needed (like for bathroom fixture cleaning).
[...] … how to keep line dried clothes from feeling “crunchy” (a 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle…or the same amount of Borax) [...]
[...] Top 5 kitchen cupboard ingredients for non-toxic cleaning {Gaiam Life} [...]
[...] Top 5 kitchen cupboard ingredients for non-toxic cleaning {Gaiam Life} [...]
Cassie, I mean an all-purpose detergent found in health food stores, or green liquid dish detergent.–Annie
Great tips. I’m very interested in this tea tree oil. I hear it can be used for many things. I guess I could purchase it at the health food store, as well?