My Greener, Cleaner Bathroom


A few weeks ago, I posted about the book Healthy Child, Healthy World as part of a blog tour for Mother Talk. In that post, I talked about wanted to go greener with my cleaners, and I am posting today to say that I have!

Today I cleaned the 1/2 bathroom (a miracle in itself, really) using entirely green, home-made concoctions and it was easy-breezy.

Here’s the low-down:

The mirror: 1:2 solution of vinegar/water in a spray bottle, wiped down with newspaper (no streaks!)

The sink/toilet: the green multipurpose cleaner listed below in a spray bottle, wiped down with a cloth rag. It works really, really well.

The toilet bowl: I was too lazy to search for a specific recipe, so I just squirted some multi-purpose cleaner and then used the bowl-brush, and wa-la–it’s clean!

The floor: I have a Swiffer mop, but ran out of Swiffer cloths long ago. So I just attached a microfiber cloth and swept away. You still get that “ew! look what was on the floor!” satisfaction, but get the throw the cloth in the washer instead of the trash.

Multipurpose Cleaner from Healthy Child, Healthy World
1/2 tsp washing soda (I used baking soda, you can also use Borax)
1/2 tsp castile soap (available at Trader Joe’s)
2 c. warm water

Honestly, this stuff works just as well as my 409, and it’s basically FREE to make, and non-toxic.

So that was my foray into green cleaning, and I think it shall continue. I’ve got several bottles of Windex around the house (one for each bathroon, one in the kitchen, one in the garage) and as they are used up, I’m reusing the bottle to hold the vinegar/water solution. The HC/HW book even says you can do a 50-50 concoction with a little essential oil to do walls, floors and cut soap scum.

I’ve also followed Heather’s advice from her comment on the HC/HW post, and I’ve added vinegar in the dishwasher’s rinse aid compartment. My glassware is now BLINDING. I kid you not. As soon as I’m done with my current d/w soap, I’ll be switching to the Borax/baking soda duo.

Are there any other easy, cheap concoctions out there that can encourage the green cleaning I’m trying to implement?

6 Replies to “My Greener, Cleaner Bathroom”

  1. You’ve got most of mine down! My segment on Friday is all green for Earth Day! I’m talking reduce/reuse this time around so it will be ideas like the microfiber Swiffer cloth, baby wipe containers over storage boxes, etc.

    The only other mixture I can think of is for slow drains. Sprinkle about 1/2 c baking soda and add vinegar. It bubbles a la science fair and helps clean the pipes. Rinse with hot water.

  2. I forgot to mention the drain thing–I did that last week and it worked like a charm. The other bonus?? MAM can totally help with such tasks now!

  3. One more twist on the slow clearing drain — I used the baking soda and vinegar as you suggested, but added a few drops of food coloring. My son was extremely entertained!

  4. What about dusting? I have tried just a damp towel, but Pledge always seemed to pick everything up. Any ideas?

    And do you use any type of fabric softener? I was thinking of trying those dryer balls…. I ran out of Downy and will miss my lavendar scent, but I’ve not yet replaced it.

  5. I use vinegar as fabric softener-just fill the fabric softener compartment in the washer. As for dusting, we use microfiber cloths from the auto department. No cleaning product necessary because they are so clingy.

  6. I am so glad you posted all of this! I’ve really been wanting to get rid of all the chemical cleaners I have and now I know more about how:) Thanks!

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