Window Cleaner

1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent,
2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake to blend.

OR

Equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
Or, 1/2 lemon juice and 2 cups water in a spray bottle

Here's the skinny on homemade window cleaner. You may find that even straight vinegar is leaving streaks on your windows. Here's why: some commercial products contain wax. After years of use, they leave a wax buildup and vinegar alone wouldn’t do the job of removing the residue. Adding dab of dish soap to the vinegar and water will remove the buildup. I love Seventh Generation dish soap. You can get a free & clear version.

Commercial Window Cleaner Toxicity:
Most commercial window cleaners contain ammonia. Ammonia fumes can also react with nitrates in the environment to form ammonium nitrate particles, which can linger in the home in dust, carpets, curtains and upholstery. It is extremely toxic when inhaled in concentrated vapors and repeated exposure may lead to bronchitis and pneumonia. It can cause chemical burns, cataracts and corneal damage, and has been shown to produce skin cancer. Disruptions to the ecosystem can result, with toxic effects to plants, animals and fish. The EPA lists ammonia as a toxic chemical on its Community Right-to-Know list. Ammonia ranks among the highest of all chemicals released into American waters.

Furniture Polish Recipe

2 Parts Olive Oil
1 Part Lemon Juice

Shake up really well. Or, if you make a large enough batch, stick it in the blender. Dab soft cloth in mixture, wipe across wood. Give it a minute or two to really soak in, and then wipe excess with clean cloth. Gorgeous wood every time!!

Sheep's wool dusters will draw dust to them with an electrostatic charge - available from Lismore Sheep Farm, River John, NS, http://www.lismoresheepfarmwoolshop.com/.

Commercial furniture polish and sprays contain silicone oil. Silicone oil can penetrate tiny cracks in furniture finish and enter the wood, causing permanent damage to the wood, resulting in refinishing being needed.

Commercial Furniture Polish Toxicity:
Naphtha, diglycol laurate, amyl acetate, and mineral spirits are neurotoxins and central nervous system depressants, which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Diglycol laurate can also be a liver and kidney poison. Mineral spirits can cause upper respiratory tract irritation and can contain impurities including the carcinogen benzene, or nitrobenzene. Nitrobenzene can cause skin discoloration, shallow breathing, vomiting, and death; associated with cancer and birth defects.

All Purpose Cleaner

This is the Vinegar/Water rule:

1 Cup Vinegar
1/4 Cup Baking Soda
1 Gallon Hot Water

Mop bucket or store in a spray bottle.

I swear it's that easy. The vinegar, even diluted with water, is very effective against grease, mildew, odors, stains, wax, soap scum. The baking soda scours, cleans, deodorizes. No, your house won't smell like vinegar all day. The smell dissapates very quickly. I love to use essential oils though, so rarely does my cleaning solution smell like vinegar. Add one of the following essential oils if you wish:

Peppermint Oil: Bugs and mice hate it. 10 Drops
Tea Tree Oil: Absolute strongest proven antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral on earth. 10 drops.
Orange Oil: Cuts through the greasiest, grimiest floors. 10 drops
Lemon Juice: All the benefits of vinegar, plus a fresh scent. 1/2 cup


It's that easy and inexpensive to NOT kill your lungs and brain.

VINEGAR

So far, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about natural home cleaning recipes. Before I post any, I think it's important to first understand why the main ingredient in these recipes work. And work as well, even BETTER than the chemicals you can buy in the store. Vinegar (white, cider, balsamic, etc.) carries a property that makes it an extremely efficient antiviral and antibacterial. A pH (potential hydrogen) of about 2.4. Pure water has a pH of 7 and is neutral. Thus making vinegar a strong "acid". Almost no living organism can maintain life below a pH of 3. Numerous sources show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the same as what you have in your kitchen—kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% of germs (viruses).

Why don't you see this advertised on your bottle of vinegar? Because vinegar companies can't make this claim on their packaging until the company registers it as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Some references state lemon juice carrying a pH of 2.4 also - and another reference states 2.2. However, I prefer vinegar since it leaves absolutely no residue.

Below is a link to the National Institute of Health, on a study done to test the effectiveness of vinegar against E. Coli.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9713753&dopt=Abstract

I haven't listed vinegar's best property yet though. IT'S SAFE. It doesn't hurt my toddler if he happens to open the cupboard and drink it. It doesn't poison the ground water that is the source of life for every living creature around me. It doesn't alter my DNA. It doesn't shred my lungs and burn my eyes.

Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee Job 12:8