1) LifeTree Home Soap~ That stuff is the greatest!! The only smell is the ingredients, so it's practically unscented and it is concentrated, so you need only use a drop or two per toilet, or sink. And it is the best stuff for stains....esp blood. We buy it wholesale from
Frontier Natural Products co-op, but you can buy it at most health food stores.
2) Bon ami~ how can anyone live without that? It's cheep, does NOT scratch, and you buy it at the
Grocery Store. great for bathrooms, stove tops, scouring sinks, Formica counter tops, tea or coffee stained dishes....the list goes on...
3) GSE~ 10 to 20 drops in a spray bottle of water, will take care of all your disinfecting needs, and for cleaning the cabinet fronts, etc....and if you don't feel so well, add about 15 drops to a little glass of orange juice, stir it up and drink it down! We also gave our little dog 15 drops (or 1 tablet) every day, and he
never had worms! The ducks get a really big, long squeeze in their water from time to time....We buy ours from
Vitamin Shop.
4) Bleach~ I don't actually use that much bleach, but I like to have it around. I like to add a little to a spray-bottle of water, for nastier cleaning jobs.
Also when I wash something light colored and it comes out of the wash looking pinkish or blueish...or just not right...don't put it in the dryer!!! if you don't have time to deal with it right then, then let it air dry til' you can treat it.
To treat it: fill a bowl with water, get garment soaking wet, lift it out, add bleach, put the garment back in the bowl, swish it around, even weight it down if you need to
(with a plate or something like that). Leave it a while, come back to check on it, and maybe swish it around...then you need to wash it
immediately by its self is good so you don't have to
worry about bleaching anything else. I buy store brand at the
Grocery Store.
5) Ecover Toilet Bowl cleaner (pine fresh...
not very strong smelling)~ it works really well, and smells nice too! Purchased from
Frontier Natural Products co-op. But we tend to buy things on sale, so the replacement bottle is a different brand...
hmm...
6) Seventh Generation (free & clear) natural glass and surface cleaner~ great stuff! And yes, we also buy that from
Frontier Natural Products co-op.
7) Dishwasher soap
Powder:
Seventh Generation (Free&Clear) and
Ecover (Free&Clear).
Gel:
Earth Friendly Products, with built in Rinse Aid (Free&Clear).
(All of these are purchased from Frontier Natural Products co-op.)
Not pictured:
8) I use is rags instead of sponges. The only exception to that rule is
Non-Scratch Scour Pad by
ScotchBrite. And
that really is not a "sponge", I use it for cleaning the glass top stove, the
porcelain kitchen sink for really deep cleaning, and I have one for the shower and bathroom sink. I got mine at
Target.
9) And I use
Brillo Steel Wool Pads on the oven racks!
(They are made in the USA!)
10) LifeTree dish soap, works better than Earth Friendly Products
(but it does not smell as good!)
11) Rinse Aid: When we aren't using that Gel Auto Dish with Rinse Aid, and sometimes even if we are, we use plain old
White Vinegar (undiluted!), from the
Grocery Store!
12) I like to wear a cute pink retro apron when I clean.
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So, now you have had a peek into my cleaning
cupboard~
