A well decorated home is a clean home. Nothing detracts from a beautifully decorated home more than dirty floors, dusty shelves, greasy stovetops and grimy grout. You’d think every home would be spic & span if you walk down the aisle of your local hardware or grocery store. Every kind of cleaner imaginable is there to make your life ‘easier’! I’ve learned that what you really need to do a fantastic, non-toxic cleaning job is probably right in your pantry.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Since I’m a huge advocate of redesign as green decorating restyling many of things you already own, I think it’s important to be green when cleaning too.
Here are a couple of my favorite household cleaners that do just as good a job, if not better, than their expensive name brand counterparts. Give these a try and let me know what you think.

HOMEMADE GROUT CLEANER RECIPE

Ingredients
7 cups water
½ cup baking soda
⅓ cup lemon juice (or ammonia – I am not a fan of this so I stuck with the lemon juice)
¼ cup vinegar

Instructions
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or bucket
Use a toothbrush or spray bottle to apply to grout
Let sit for a couple minutes and then scrub clean
Use a towel or washcloth to wipe up any excess.
Reapply to stubborn areas as needed.
You’ll literally see the dirt and grime coming up.

red wine stain

WINE STAIN REMOVER

Salt crystals pull the red wine from the carpet fibers without harming the carpet.

Ingredients
Table salt

Instructions
Pour salt straight from a large container onto a damp red wine stain. You will see the crystals begin to change color as they pull wine from the carpet. If you can still see liquid, or if the wine begins to pool, add some more salt to the stain.

Allow the salt to sit on the stain for at least six hours but preferably overnight to allow it to pull all of the wine out of the carpet. Vacuum the salt from the carpet, and rinse the area with club soda. Blot until the towel shows no wine stain and the carpet is stain free. If any of the stain remains and will not lift with the club soda rinse, add more salt and repeat the process.

STOVE EYE & GRILL CLEANER

And probably my least favorite job and best cleaning helper is this one. I don’t know who figured this out the first time, but it’s sweet! Makes cleaning your stove a breeze….

Clean Grill Dirty Grill

Ingredients
Household Ammonia

Instructions
Put about a quarter cup of full strength ammonia in a large ziplock bag along with your dirty stove eye covers and grills. You may need use one bag for each grill. Close the bag and leave sit for a few hours or overnight. The cooked on funk practically wipes off with very little scrubbing!!! Of course, wear gloves and use caution when working with ammonia.

Happy Decorating with a little Green Cleaning!