Homemade cleaning solutions

As part of our overall efforts to live a more green lifestyle, we've started using more and more reusable cleaning products and homemade solutions that are safe around our kids and are easy on the wallet.  You too can do this!  In order to accomplish 90% of household cleaning in a more green way, most families would only need to follow two steps.

First, clean with reusable cloths rather than using paper towels.  This is how our grandmothers and great grandmothers cleaned house and it wasn't the end of our species!  You can always cut up your husband's ratty old undershirts, but that makes for thin cloths that can't hold up to a lot of scrubbing.  A more durable alternative would be that flannel shirt that's still hanging in the back of your closet after that 90s grunge phase - take some pinking shears to that bad boy and cut squares or rectangles in a size of your choosing.

Alternatively you can go fancy and choose microfiber cloths.  Microfiber is great dry for dusting, and you can scrub with it if it's wet.  I found microfiber cleaning cloths in the automotive aisle at BJ's for a very reasonable price and bought two 12-packs so that I can use them daily and only wash once a week, but Target, Walmart, and other retailers all carry microfiber cleaning cloths these days.   You simply wash them according to manufacturer's instructions and they're ready to go again.  We keep a stack of microfiber cloths in the closet with my cleaning products, and use a small wastebasket as a bin for the used cloths (we also use this bin for the IKEA baby washcloths that we use to clean Lily's hands and face after meals).

Second, replace your Windex or other all-purpose cleaner with a homemade solution.  You'll find all sorts of recipes on the Internet, but my tried-and-true option is made up of vinegar, baking soda, and water.   In the unlikely event that our 3 year old decides to drink it, she might have an unsettled tummy but there will be no need to call poison control!   My recipe for all purpose cleaning solution consists of 1/4 cup vinegar + 2 tbsp baking soda + warm water to fill a 32 oz spray bottle.

+= CLEAN!

Now, this cleaner doesn't disinfect, but we only disinfect surfaces 1) when raw meat, poultry, or fish has been in contact with them, or 2) during the weekly deep cleaning of the bathrooms.   For either of those situations we use a dilute bleach solution that we make up in a different spray bottle and keep on a high shef well away from the kids.    We don't surround ourselves with antibacterial products and we and the children have not been struck by any heinous diseases or viruses as of yet.   Plus, vinegar itself is a mild disinfectant.   

I keep some of this vinegar solution in a repurposed Windex Touch Up container in the kitchen and in each bathroom (although I think a pump dispenser like this would work well too, and could be decoupaged or otherwise decorated to blend in with one's decor) and use it for everyday wipe downs of countertops and fixtures.