How To Clean Your Clothes The Natural Way.
Did you know that most laundry detergents have pretty harsh chemicals in them, and each time you wash your clothes you are coating the fabric closest to your body with them? Well, it’s true - chemicals like diethanolamine and triethanolamine have been found inside most common detergents, and these two chemicals have been shown to be carcinogenic. Add in all the other stuff found in detergents, and you get further and further away from “natural cleaning”! Luckily, there are a few ways to clean your clothes without toxic chemicals:
- First off, if you do buy detergent, look for fragrance-free products made from plant based ingredients. These are the least harmful of store-bought detergents. Look for products from Seventh Generation and Ecover.
- You can make your own detergent from borax, washing soda, and a bar of natural soap. This way, you know what is going into your wash!
- Need bleach? Don’t use the toxic stuff. Check out non-chlorine bleach made from sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate. The companies listed above make this as well.
- Lastly, you could go really natural - wash with soap nuts. Soap nuts come from a tree and contain saponin, a natural detergent, which has been used by people to clean clothes for a very long time. You just throw a few into the wash with your clothes and the natural soap cleans pretty good.
So there you go - the natural way to clean your clothes! The most important thing is to keep the chemicals out of your wash and your wastewater, so choosing a natural alternative does both effectively. Good luck!
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How To Use Coke To Clean Dirty Toilets.
Did you know you could clean out a toilet bowl with just a can of Coke and some light scrubbing? Well, you can! I realize that Coke is not “natural”, but it certainly is nowhere near as toxic as regular bathroom cleaners. Here’s how:
Step 1. Get a can of Coke.
Step 2. Pour said can of Coke into toilet.
Step 3. Let Coke sit for a bit. (an hour or so)
Step 4. Lightly run the toilet bowl scrubber in the bowl
Step 5. Flush
Ah-ha, look at that clean toilet! Certainly easier (and less toxic) than scrubbing with bleach, no?
I wonder what Coke does to our insides if it cleans a toilet this well…
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Natural Uses For Lemon Around The House.
Lemons not only make for good additives to your food, but they also make an excellent natural cleaner for your house! Check out some of the ways to use lemons around the house to make it nice and clean:
- Lemon juice can be used to dissolve soap scum and difficult to remove hard water deposits.
- Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and/or baking soda to make cleaning pastes to be used on tile, grout, etc..
- Lemon juice can clean and shine some metals like brass.
- Mixing 1/2 cup of lemon juice with 1 cup olive oil makes a great furniture polish for your hardwood furniture. (Check in a small spot before using on entire piece)
- Cut a lemon into quarters to clean the garbage disposal. Put each quarter in, one at a time, with the water running the disposal on. This helps to both clean out old stuck food AND make it smell better!
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