The last time you bought a bottle of all-purpose cleaner from the store, did you look at the list of warnings on the back? Many of these products state that they are harmful or fatal if swallowed, or warn you to avoid contact with skin. Since you are buying this product to keep your home clean and safe for you and your family, you want to ensure that the product does not contain harmful ingredients. However, ingredients lists for cleaning products can be very difficult to track down, and many household cleaners do not include a full ingredients list printed on the product packaging, making the quest for non-toxic cleaning products more difficult.
However, you can clean and disinfect your home without using harsh chemicals containing potentially harmful mystery ingredients. In fact, you may have a natural disinfectant already in your kitchen cabinet: white vinegar.
Vinegar has many household cleaning uses. As well as being a natural disinfectant, it is inexpensive, non-toxic, and safe for use on many surfaces. It is also easily available either in small bottles or by the gallon, depending on your needs. In my house, we buy gallon jugs of white vinegar, and then fill a small bottle to store in the cabinet for cooking, leaving the rest for our household cleaning. There is always a spray bottle under the sink, and part of a jug in the cabinet.
But how can you use vinegar the next time you clean your house? For a good all-purpose spray cleaner, mix 1 part white vinegar with 3 parts water. This cleaner is perfect for cleaning your sink, microwave, or stove after cooking. It also works well on windows, eliminating the need for an additional cleaning product.
However, do not mix vinegar with any of your other cleaners. Mixing the products like this can be hazardous, especially with bleach, which gives off hazardous fumes when mixed with an acidic product. When cleaning, treat your spray bottle of vinegar as you would any of your other cleaners, and don't mix it with your commercial products.
If you worry that using a vinegar/water solution will make your house smell, the vinegar scent quickly dissipates. You can also scent the vinegar solution with a lavender essential oil. Lavender is another natural disinfectant that works with vinegar to clean your house, and has a popular, agreeable scent. Add several drops of lavender essential oil to your vinegar solution. You can even place several drops of lavender oil in a small spray bottle of water to create a cheaper, non-toxic version of pricy linen sprays and air fresheners.
You can find lavender essential oils at health-food stores or some grocery stores with organic sections. Prices vary depending on the grade of oil, but it is highly concentrated, so you do not need much when using it in your homemade products.
Vinegar and lavender are two excellent natural disinfectants to use for non-toxic cleaning products. They are also inexpensive compared to many commercial cleaners and do not contain the chemicals. If you clean with vinegar and lavender, you will know exactly what you are using to clean your house.
