Master the Art of Cleaning Almost Anything Without Chemicals!

Ahhhh, yes. Green cleaning. It’s the non-toxic kind of cleaning that folks are raving about these days. After sheltering inside for the better part of a year, just about everybody is focused on pollutant-free cleaning products. We want products that are not just safe for the planet but that, more importantly, support our health. Not many folks have totally mastered the art of cleaning almost anything without chemicals. So we offer this free guide.

From gunky baking pans to caked-up dust on blinds and ceiling fans, this free cleaning guide is about chemical-free ways to tidy up just about anything in your home. The good news? It’s not as costly as some might assume.

Ready to dig in to master the art of cleaning almost anything without using chemicals in the home?

Safest Cleaning Products Straight From the Cupboard

Our customers always want to know which “green” products are safest — and most effective — when cleaning an entire house. Although there are many pH-balanced substances, products, and DIY ingredients that equal “green,” safe cleaning products typically defined as having:

• No Artificial Scents or Fragrances
• No Synthetic Colors
• No Chlorine
• No Phosphates

Two safe and cost-effective ingredients that can clean almost anything spotless are Hot water and a generous squirt of dish soap. Let’s take that up a notch, though. What includes a dash of salt, a twist of lemon, and heightens your senses? Hint:  It’s not a lemon margarita! 

Believe it or not, some of the safest cleaning products to use in your entire home may be sitting right there in your very own cupboard.

• Salt
• Lemons (or Lemon Essential Oil)
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Baking Soda
• White Distilled Vinegar
• Corn Starch
• Olive Oil
• Faucet Water
• Distilled Water
• Castile Soap
• Liquid Dish Soap
• Hydrogen Peroxide

How to Clean Almost Anything in Your Home Without Chemicals

Skip the harsh abrasives, yet still get a good scrub. Sodium chloride, also known as ordinary table salt, is nifty at removing stains and grime. It can clean almost anything when mixed with other ingredients, and it’s non-toxic and inexpensive. Generation after generation has relied on it as a cleaning agent in the home – since medieval times!

Surprising Things You Can Clean With Salt

For a gentle scouring agent, any kind of salt will do:

• Sea Salt (Unrefined)
• Table Salt (Refined)
• Iodized Salt

DIY ABRASIVES YET GENTLE SALT SCRUB RECIPES

For stubborn grease and odor buildup, use hot water, baking soda, and white distilled vinegar with salt to pour down your kitchen drain.

• 1 cup Salt
• ½  cup White Distilled Vinegar
• 1 cup Baking Soda
• Let mixture sit for 15 minutes
• Pour hot mixture down drain

Tackle pots and pans by scrubbing away caked-on grease with a thin paste of salt, dish soap, and water.

• Sprinkle Thin Salt Layer on Pan
• Small Amount of Water
• A Couple Drops Liquid  Dish Soap
• Scrub Grease Away With Bristle Brush

For stubborn stains:  Use a balled-up piece of foil with the above recipes.

BONUS SALT CLEANING TIPS

• Bonus Tip #1:  Use either of the above salt cleaning recipes to gently scrub away almost anything, such as rust, water rings, oven spills, skillets, copper pots, iron, vases covered in slimy old flower water, fridges that need deodorizing, clogged bathroom sinks, stained coffee pots, and soap scum.
• Bonus Tip #2:  Use salt along doorways, windowsills, or anywhere else ants are sneaking into the home from. This is a fantastic way to deter pesky critters (chemical-free!).

Cleaning With Lemons Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

Lemony, sparkling, and pristine. Lemon is a natural antiseptic and a great alternative to bleach. The rinds are filled with oil that adds shine to copper-bottom pans, fixtures, glass, stoves, and countertops.

DIY ALL-PURPOSE LEMON CLEANER

Warning:  We do not recommend using the following recipe on natural stone, marble,  travertine, or tile, as vinegar can cause pitting. 

When cleaning appliances, bathrooms, countertops (solid surfaces), or almost everywhere else in the home, try the following powerhouse lemon all-purpose cleaner recipe and clean almost anything with it:

• Fill Quart Size Glass Jar With Lemon Peels (or Other Citrus Peels)
• Fill Jar With White Distilled Vinegar
• Cover the Jar and Infuse for Two Weeks
• When Ready to Use, Strain the Liquid and Remove Peels
• Funnel Pour Half Cup of the Strained Liquid Into Spray Bottle of Your Choice
• Add Two Cups Water
• Add One Teaspoon Castile Soap
• Vigorously Shake Before Using
• Store Away Until Your Next Use

BONUS LEMON CLEANING TIPS

• Bonus Tip #1:  When using the above recipe, the vinegar smell immediately dissipates when sprayed, leaving the freshest-smelling DIY all-purpose lemon cleaner.
• Bonus Tip #2:  Use the above recipe for cleaning that mile-high-dust on blinds. Place a cotton glove or sock over your fingers. Generously spray all fingers, including your thumb, with the mixture. Then run over each slat to wipe away the grime (fingers on top of slat and thumb underneath).
• Bonus Tip #3:  Use lemons instead of bleach to whiten linens and clothing. Use a splash of lemon juice on any stain, then hang to dry in the sun.

The Absolute Best Household Cleaning Recipes Using Rubbing Alcohol

70% isopropyl alcohol is a miracle solution for many reasons. For one, it can sanitize, disinfect, and clean countless areas inside your entire home.

DIY Air Freshener

Unpleasant smells can overtake homes in an instant, especially laundry rooms, bathrooms, and fishy kitchens! The United States Environmental Protection Agency says that typical air fresheners are filled with hazardous chemicals that irritate allergy sufferers and even cause cancer. So, skip the synthetic candle aisle and customize your own air freshener. Use a funnel to fill a spray bottle of your choice with the following ingredients, then spray into smelly rooms:

• ¼ Cup Rubbing Alcohol
• 1 Cup Distilled Water
• Juice From 2 Whole Lemons
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

DIY Shower & Tub Cleaner Spray

Most folks turn to bleach when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing many items in the home. However, there are too many health hazards from bleach, including potentially dangerous impacts to vision, allergy triggers, respiratory system, and skin.

Rest assured, the following bleach-free cleaning recipe will effectively (and safely) eliminate virtually any built-up scum throughout the home. Keep in mind:  The following recipe is safe for natural stone, marble, tile, or travertine because it does not contain hydrogen peroxide or vinegar.

Use a funnel to pour the following ingredients into a spray bottle of your choice to use on scummy tubs and showers:

• 1 ½ Cups Water
• ¼ Cup Rubbing Alcohol
• Lemon Juice From 2 Whole Lemons
• 1 Teaspoon Dish Soap

BONUS RUBBING ALCOHOL CLEANING TIPS

• Bonus Tip #1:  Use rubbing alcohol to clean and remove streaks from mirrors. Dip a cloth diaper into a small amount of alcohol, wipe the mirror, and voila!
• Bonus Tip #2:  Dip the cloth diaper into a small amount of rubbing alcohol to remove hairspray from bathroom walls and doors.
• Bonus Tip #3:  Use rubbing alcohol to wipe down the TV controller.
• Bonus Tip #4:  To remove caked-on dust from a ceiling fan, grab an old cotton or flannel pillowcase. Lightly dampen the inner rim of the pillowcase. Slip it over each blade to wipe the dust into the pillowcase.
• Bonus Tip #5:  Say no to vinegar when cleaning wood. Say YES to rubbing alcohol when cleaning most wood surfaces, including wood floors.

Are you inspired and invigorated now? I wouldn’t be surprised if you can now master the art of cleaning almost anything without chemicals in the home.

For almost two decades, we’ve vetted and trained crews on how to offer safe cleaning for allergy-suffering customers, pet owners, and parents with small children in the Greater Baltimore areas of Howard County, Columbia, and Silver Spring. Most customers want to avoid paying the cost of a cleaning company using harsh chemicals. And I’m not talkin’ about the cost of money here! I’m talkin’ about the cost of your health.

Trust me when I say your health is important to us here at Park Avenue Cleaning. For a professional clean, contact us today at 877-546-9837.