Cleaning and Decluttering: 10 Items That Will Clean Everything In Your House

One of the things we noticed during our de-cluttering phase of this year of downshifting was all the bottles and products we use to clean our house. In addition to all the plastic waste, I got a little dizzy thinking about all the chemicals it adds to our house, and all the money it costs.

Cleaning products are a sneaky line-item in the annual budget. They never cost very much per item, but when I started thinking about how often I buy laundry detergent, liquid dish soap, dish washer detergent and toilet bowl cleaner alone, it was already starting to add up.

So I went on the hunt for a good resource for more natural home cleaning that would help rid me of all the plastic and cost. Enter The Queen of Green, one of the resident David Suzuki bloggers. She created a super handy 2-page PDF of eco-friendly DIY recipes to clean various things around the house.

But I was skeptical. There was no way these simple, cheap, products, when combined could ACTUALLY clean my house as well as the store bought stuff, right?!

Wrong. So, so wrong. My laundry has never been cleaner (or smelled better), my dishes are actually getting clean in the dishwasher, and this weird stain in our toilet that I’ve tried everything on finally came off. I’m a convert.

It’s also saving me money. The total cost of my new cleaning supplies was around $50. The only really expensive item is the castile soap, which costs almost $20. Each recipe uses so little and stretches so far, that I feel fairly confident that this ‘cleaning pantry’ will last me the whole year, but I’ll let you know.

Borax

1. Borax
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral. It is used to disinfect and whiten. It is commonly used in commercial detergents and is also used in some makeup products and in some toothpastes. You’ll find it at most grocery stores in the detergent aisle. While Borax IS naturally occuring and is better for you than many commercial cleaners it is still a chemical and should be kept out of reach of kids and pets.

Washing Soda

2. Washing Soda:
Washing soda is a white powder commonly extracted from salt or limestone, though it was originally extracted from plant ash. It softens water, whitens, and helps cut grease. It can be found in most grocery stores in the detergent aisle. While washing soda IS naturally occurring and is better for you than many commercial cleaners it should still be kept out of reach of kids and pets.

essential oil

3. Essential Oil:
You don’t need this for the actual cleaning part, but essential oils add a nice, light scent. I picked lavender because it is easy to come across in Nova Scotia and is a disinfectant. I picked this one up at the Halifax Seaport Market but you can also find essential oils at health and beauty stores.

Vinegar

4. Vinegar:
While vinegar is typically used for cooking, it is an exceptionally good disinfectant. Vinegar is essentially acidic acid and water and can be diluted and used to clean and disinfect a number of surfaces in the home. You can find it in most grocery stores.

salt

5. Coarse Salt:
Also called sea salt or kosher salt. For cleaning purposes, it is used to fight mould. Find it in the baking section of most grocery stores.

Castile Soap

6. Castile Soap:
A biodegradable vegetable-based liquid soap. It has so many uses in the home, and in the correct combinations it can even be used to wash your face and hair. Look for it at health food stores or order it online – this was the hardest item of the ten to find.

soap granuals

7. Soap Granules:
This is exactly what it sounds like – little pieces of soap. It’s great for lifting dirt and cutting through grease. You can buy bags of soap granules in some grocery stores and health food stores, or, you can do what I did and just grate a bar of soap (but keep an eye on the ingredients in the soap bar if you do this – no sense adding odd chemicals into the mix).

Lemon Juice

8. Lemon Juice:
From the bottle or straight from the lemon, lemon juice is a great multi-purpose cleaner. It disinfects and whitens. The PDF doesn’t mention this, but rubbing lemon on cutting boards, chrome or brass (not brass plated) is a great way to clean and disinfect, and it smells really good! You can also add it as an extra whitener in the wash.

9. Olive Oil:
Another common kitchen item that can be used to clean.  It is used to lift dirt and makes a great wood and steel cleaner.

Baking Soda

10. Baking Soda:
You probably already use this somewhere in your house (other than baking). It’s a well known deodorizer but it is also good for whitening, deodorizing, and lifting dirt. Find it in the baking aisle in the grocery store.

A quick note – you probably don’t need all 10 items to clean. When I (proudly) announced how I’ve been cleaning our whole house with 10 items over dinner with friends, our dinner guest scoffed. “You probably don’t even need 10 items. Vinegar, baking soda, water, newspaper.”

But I like the list above. I bought the raw items a few months ago and I love how easy it is to be able to mix up an appropriate cleaner for all my household surfaces whenever I need it without rushing out to buy anything extra, plus it finally gave me the push I needed to ditch commercial cleaners. I imagine as our downshift year progresses, I might pare down this list, but for now this is my essential cleaning pantry.

You can download the PDF from Queen of Green HERE. Check out her blog while you are there, she has lots of other great tips for reducing your footprint (and consequently saving money). The PDF doesn’t include a recipe for liquid dish soap (which we use in our house) but this recipe from POPSUGAR uses the same ingredients above and works really well: http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Homemade-Liquid-Dish-Soap-28764389 

Want to organize your new cleaning products? Fellow Halifax Blogger DIY Passion has a great post on organizing cleaning caddies for around the house which you can read HERE.

About the author

Drew Moore