I can provide way too much information about natural and/or child safe cleaning products. While most of my same-age friends were getting their masters degrees 3 years ago, I was using the same energy to research this sort of thing, so this may seem a bit thesis-like. (But without the good spelling grammar and punctuation because I will occasionally need to stop and say, like a minute ago, diaper a baby that was diaper-less and about to pee on the computer, then pull the old PB and J he found on the floor out of his mouth and replace it with a new bowl of yogurt... and I just don't get a lot of typing moments or continuous thoughts). I also want to let you know I am really a germaphobe with raw meat/eggs and stomach flu viruses, so if you are not that way you may not need such an arsenal. Also, I'm trying to be as inexpensive as possible so there may be some new fancy cleaning products out there in stores or online that I can't afford.
There are two main home-made spray bottles around our house:
Vinegar Spray:
One is 1/3 to 1/2 vinegar (cheap white Heinz stuff), 1/2 water. That one is completely baby safe and I've heard kills some sorts of germs and is good on shiny things like windows and already disinfected faucets.
Disinfectant Spray:
The other is a disinfectant spray that I use to combat my enemies (raw meat/eggs and stomach flu virus). It is 24oz warm water mixed with 2T Borax, then with 6T castile soap (Dr. Bronners peppermint) and 50 drops tea tree oil. This one is not safe for babies to eat-mostly because of the Borax, and less so from the tea tree oil, but I don't use it on things babies (usually) put in mouths (toilets, kitchen counters). You can probably put one together that is a disinfectant without borax, or even tea tree oil, I just do an overkill to make me feel better-it's a combo of 3 disinfectant recipes online. Borax is at the grocery store in the laundry aisle, tea tree oil, natural food store/Trader Joe's/Raley's, Dr. Bronner's-which we love instead of soap in the shower for us -best price is at Trader Joe's-$8.99, also at Target but more pricey. You know not to mix bleach and ammonia or vinegar already I'm sure.
To clean -
Dishes:
By hand we are currently using Green Works free and clear dish soap, but there are others with out DEA/phalates, that one is not quite as natural as I would like, but its is cheap and available in Red Bluff. Dishwasher soap-Seventh Generation free and clear powder or Trader Joe's version of the same ingredients. Both are "non-toxic" so I wouldn't mind washing baby dishes and bottles with them, but I would probably avoid feeding the baby the powder straight up. Sometimes plastic sippy cups have residual powder, so I rinse it out before I fill it. We sometimes put toys and other plastic items (pacifiers) into the dishwasher for sanitizing with the hot water (water heater is turned down to 120 degrees F, but the dishwasher has hot cycle where it heats the water at least to germ killing 130 degrees F). We also run sponges through here after each dishwashing event to sanitize.
Kitchen sink (porcelain), bath tub (porcelain), bathroom sink (ceramic):
Spray with disinfectant spray, sprinkle with Bon Ami (about $1.50 at the grocery store on the bottom shelf near Comet.)(Cal calls it chicken soap-there is a chick on the front it does not have any warnings besides dust in eyes, so I think it's pretty baby safe, not to eat a lot of, but to be around), scrub with green Scotch brand sponge (has to be name brand unfortunately). rinse, clean faucet with vinegar spray and dry. If stains occur sometimes I will soak a rag in hot water and fragrance free oxygen bleach powder and let it sit on it for 15 min.
Kitchen counters/stove top:
We don't eat off these, we use flat plastic dishwasher safe cutting boards to cut on, so I use the disinfectant spray and paper towel or washcloth unless we had a vegan meal. My dad uses a hot soapy washcloth for this and washes it in the each time in the laundry, and I suppose that would work too.
Kitchen table/booster seat(we never had a high chair):
Quentin eats a lot of food right off the table, so I use the vinegar spray or hot soapy rag for this. I have also had a lot of luck with taking the booster occasionally out side to hose down using the jet setting after disinfectant spray for those poop-on-the-boosterseat moments.
Oven:
Some times I get in the mood to clean this or, maybe it is smoking every time we turn it on, so I use a flat razor blade to scape off the black yucky stuff, then spray with vinegar and wipe with Mr. green sponge.
Fridge/microwave:
Vinegar spray unless it's something yucky like raw chicken
Floors:
We have no carpet, just hard wood, vinyl and soon to be a bit of tile. After sweeping, when I was using a mop I used a bucket of water, cup or two of vinegar and a few drops of lemon or orange oil, then if something gross got on the floor, disinfectant spray. But then I got a hardwood floor steamer which gets the steam hot enough to sanitize the floor (Haan) and I use that when I get a chance to mop. Mopping is more pressing when the baby is crawling on the floor and eating off it all the time.
Dusting:
I only do this once a year now but I use a microfiber cleaning cloth (cheap in a big pack at Costco or Walmart in the auto section) sometimes slightly wet.
Laundry:
We use Country Save powder. I have to get it in Davis when I visit my parents. It is pretty cheap for natural detergents, and while it is not for eating (Borax strikes again) it does not have extra chemicals or fragrances and it is great for our cloth diapers. I've tried putting vinegar in a Downy Ball for fabric softener, but that's too much work these days. I really have always been a basic laundry person-no ironing, no softener, no sorting, sometimes I throw oxygen bleach in with a stained load or the cloth shower curtain. If it gets too wrinkly, or stained or needs dry cleaning it wasn't meant to be in our house, it just isn't that important to me. Plus, we are lucky if we have clean underwear hiding in a giant stack around here with the time I have for laundry. So, I don't know if I'm missing some sort of product here.
Windows and mirrors and other shiny things:
Vinegar spray and microfiber cloth, if there is a lot of hard water, flat razor blade. Car windows with bugs are a good use for "Magic Erasers" as are I have heard permanent marker stained kitchen tables (although rubbing alcohol-not safe to eat-I've heard works for permanent marker-not as good as keeping them away from kids)
Door knobs, light switches:
If someone is sick, disinfectant spray.
Walls with crayon or who knows what:
Magic Eraser
Really bad things:
Ok, I'm going to bring up the v-word here-vomit. And I'm not talking about cute baby spit up. That stuff might as well be milk in my coffee for all I care. The real stuff- My sister claims that Bio-Kleen Bac-Out is the only thing that gets the smell out (carpet, clothes, favorite stuffed animals). We luckily have not been faced with this yet, but we do love Bio-Kleen Bac-Out for poopy cloth diapers and spraying mattresses with pee/poop on them. Ok, I'm done talking about it, it gives me panic attacks just thinking about it.
Toilets:
I spray all surfaces with disinfectant plus inside water, sprinkle Bon Ami inside the bowl for fun, wipe off with paper towel starting at the cleanest spot to dirtiest, use the brush on the inside and flush. Occasionally I will go after the toilet ring with drywall sandpaper-it looks like a screen in the drywall tool section of the hardware store. I used to use pumice stone but it didn't conform to the shape of the bowl well enough.
Drain cleaning:
When the sink drains get that not-so-fresh-feeling I put 1/4 cup baking soda in them followed with a chaser of cheap vinegar, then after the bubbles die down hot water. That and the 15 buck plumbing snake have saved me hundreds by not using liquid or real plumber(expensive!!).
Bathroom air:
We use the 100% orange oil type air freshener-as Scott says "now it smells like poop AND oranges."
For the car:
When Cal decides it would be fun to wash the car (the only time it gets done) I use the kids baby shampoo soap in a tub with rags so they can play in the bubbles and wash without me being worried about weird chemicals.
No comments:
Post a Comment