Keeping your apartment clean is a necessity. Not only does it make your home more attractive and welcoming, but it also helps reduce germs, allergens and other everyday dirt.
But if you look at the labels on many common commercial cleaning products, you may wonder if the stuff in those bottles is really good for you.
And if you have small children or pets you may be extra concerned about the stuff you’re spraying on your countertops, drizzling on your carpet and using to polish your furniture.
If you’re worried about exposing yourself or your household to toxic chemicals found in cleaning products, there is a better solution: cleaning without chemicals.
It’s true! You can clean your home with natural ingredients found in your grocery store and farmer’s market. Heck, you might even have some of these items in your apartment right now.
Here are just a few of the ways you can make your own non-toxic cleaning products!
How To Make Your Own Sink and Tub Scrub
Keeping kitchen sinks and bathtubs can be a challenge.
Everyday kitchen sinks are exposed to a variety of staining liquids like coffee and juice. Then there are the scraps of food left on plates along with the remnants of various sauces and dressings.
By the end of the week, the inside of your kitchen sink may look like abstract art.
Bathtubs and showers tiles are also exposed to mildew-causing temperatures and moisture. Plus, soap and shampoo build-up. If you don’t keep them clean, you may actually make yourself sick.
While most scrubbing style sink and tub cleaners promise to take care of soap scum, mildew and other tough stains and odors, a lot of them aren’t very effective. And the ones that do work well are loaded with harsh components like bleach.
Instead of purchasing infective and potentially irritating cleaners, you can make a powerhouse cleaning solution of your own.
Simply take a box of common baking soda, mix it with a bit of hydrogen peroxide and stir it in a bowl until it becomes a paste. Take a sponge with a textured side, dip it in the paste and scrub your sinks, shower tiles and bathroom tub.
When you’re done, simply rinse and you’re good to go!
Not only is this homemade sink and tub scrubber effective, it’s also safer for yourself and anyone else in your household. Plus, it’s really good at controlling odors instead of just masking them with fake (and overwhelming) scents.
How To Make Your Own All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
The inside of your refrigerator and microwave. Your kitchen counters, Your coffee table and dining room table. Pretty much every flat surface in your apartment. They’re the areas we use to store, cook, eat and place our food and beverages.
And that means they’re some of the places more prone to spills and splashes.
You could keep them clean with any popular brand of spray and wipe cleaners. But, do you really want to spray potentially toxic chemicals on the places where you store, store and eat your food and beverages?
Rather than risk accidentally consuming food or drinks exposed to these chemicals, you can make a natural all-purpose cleaner that’s safer.
Fill a spray bottle with warm water. Add a splash of vinegar. Squeeze in some juice from a fresh cut lemon. Shake well. Now you can start cleaning!
Hot water and vinegar are ideal for cleaning up stains while the lemon juice acts as a natural sanitizer (and it adds a pleasant scent).
If you’re worried that the vinegar odor may be too strong, just add a little extra lemon juice to the mix.
How To Make Your Own Rug Cleaner and Deodorizer
Area and throw rugs really do take a beating. We walk around on them in our dirty shoes and bare feet. And our pets leave their fur all over the place – and sometimes have accidents on them.
While there are lots of powder cleansers that you can use to clean and deodorize your rugs they’re often not safe for pets. And really, they’re not much better for humans either.
There’s a simple and safer way to keep your rugs clean and fresh: baking soda.
Just sprinkle baking soda on your rugs and vacuum it up.
For fresh pet stains, cover the area with baking soda. Let it sit for a couple of hours to absorb the liquid. Scoop up the biggest clumps and then vacuum up the rest!
Keep Your Apartment More Naturally Clean
With these three solutions at your disposal, you’ll have an easy time cleaning without chemicals.
And this is just a mere sample of the many natural solutions you can make and use in your apartment.
Best of all, these natural cleaning solutions are less expensive than the chemical cleaners.
Whether you’re a resident of 363 Bond Street apartments, a resident of another property or a homeowner, we hope you found this article helpful!