I was just talking with a friend yesterday about how convenient those pre-producted cleaning wipes are--grab one and dust the whole house, grab a heavy duty one and clean behind the toilet, etc. I don't buy them anymore because it's not a very sustainable practice (even buying a green product like method, you're still generating trash and it's something that has to be manufactured and shipped). But man I've missed them. Then just this morning I ran across this great recipe for making your own reusable versions of cleaning wipes using stuff I've already got around the house:
We found the recipe on bloomacious, a new-to-us site that has some great interior design inspiration and useful how-to's.
What You'll Need:
Old Dish Rags
Orange
Vinegar
Olive Oil
Empty Jar
What You Do:
• Peel the skin from the orange
• Put the peel in a bowl and mix in two cups boiling water. Let sit for a couple of minutes, till you can really smell theorange and can comfortably put your fingers in the water to twist the oils out of the peels. Twist the pieces to extrude as much oil from the rinds as possible. Remove rinds and set one piece aside.
• Add in 2 cups White Distilled Vinegar.
• Add a couple drops of Olive Oil.
• Add in the rags and let them soak a couple of minutes.
• Remove and wring cloths thoroughly - removing as much moisture as possible.
• Fold in thirds and roll up into what should look like a finger towel and is a size that will fit easily through the mouth of your jar.
• Add a piece of the orange rind to the jar for fragrance and store for up to a week. You can also use the towels immediately after wringing without storing, but the Orange essence won't be as strong and pleasant.
Click here for more Simple Green cleaning tips.
Images via Grdn and bloomacious.
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Here is an article from Scott Common Sense that gives a couple great ways to clean without chemicals: http://tinyurl.com/b7xy6b
a good site for non chemical cleaning, the oven cleaning mixture works great it was hard to give up that toxic oven cleaner that takes everything off- happy to be chemical free
http://www.ecocycle.org/hazwaste/recipes.cfm#altcleaners
What a great idea!
At Natural Home we are always looking at ways to clean without chemicals, but we didn't know about this one. Here are a couple of links to our articles...recipes included.
Laundry Detergent
All Purpose Cleaner
NH
Terrific idea. I'm off to the shops tomorrow to buy an orange and some white wine vinegar.
Martigny-- you want white distilled vinegar, not a nice white wine vinegar! =)
That just seems to be way more complicated than keeping a spray bottle of vinegar (w/ or w/out fragrance) and some rags...maybe I'm missing something.
good old fashioned cotton baby diapers make great cleaning rags because they are super soft and are also perfect for car washing too!
Does it have to be olive oil or can I use one with less scent (like vegetable oil)?
Hey - thanks for the feature!!
even buying a green product like method, you're still generating trash and it's something that has to be manufactured and shipped
So...oranges aren't shipped from sunnier parts of the country (or abroad) to your grocery? And vinegar isn't manufactured and shipped places? And when you're done with the vinegar, the glass bottle goes where?
Nice idea, but I am so tired of this argument.
"Tired of this argument?"
The point appears to be limiting the contact inhabitants and guests of your home have with irritants.
Far better than tossing roll after roll of paper towels and sheet after sheet of premoistened cleaners. If that's your starting point. If you already use earth healthy cleaning systems, it's just another version. Handy though...
That seems like a lot more work than just spraying a rag with a homemade cleanser (or "green" cleanser). I agree with Christine.
I do wonder about the energy usage that first5times brings up. How much would producing and shipping cleansers and then laundering the rags be vs. buying a container of disposable wipes? If the wipes biodegrade, then is it really any worse than running a load of laundry to clean some rags that will eventually have to be thrown out (and will take longer to break down)?
Ok I know a lot of people like to come up with some excuse on why buying a small ass bottle of 7th generation or method is better VS using items you already have in your house. Lets say a BIG bottle of vinegar (which has more uses than just cleaning) and lets say Olive Oil, which has many many uses and lets say we put this in a jar (which can be reused and WAS probably reused from pickles, jelly or spaghetti sauce) and lets say we add some cloth (maybe .. um tore up old towels?) and here you have something that was totally upcycled and NOT generated in a factory, for a one use item. Sure you can be lazy and make all kinds of excuses about buying throw away towels (which ALL paper is biodegradable) but WHERE DOES IT COME from is more important! Use your brain. This is a good idea. Buying throw away items, just because it has "natural" or "green!" written on the bottle doesnt mean that its "green". Green should just be. But in this society its treated as a "trend".
And for the comment about buying toss out towels vs buying rags (that will eventually have to be thrown out and takes longer to decompose)
Lets do some math, shall we?
Month supply of cleaning towels (throw away).
Lets round up.
Lets say we clean just the living room surfaces. 2 disposable towels a day. x 5 times a week.
Thats 10 towels (just for the living room) a week.= 10 disposable towels (more in dirtier households) a week
10 towels x 4 weeks (a month) = 40 towels a month.
40 towels x 12 months (1 year) =480 disposable towels a year (just for the living room!)
Lets take an old towel (no longer useable as a bath towel) or an old bed sheet (I recently retired one that had holes and was so thin the mattress was showing through) . Cut it up in 10 wash cloths or more. How long would these last, as rags? My guess at LEAST a year.
480 manufactured towels, used once, then thrown out. VS 10 upcycled reusable hand towels
We can keep going. We can times that by 30,0000 households. How many containers, is that a year?! There is ways of washing clothes, and cleaning house, AND preserving water. HE washers use over half of the water of the conventional washers. LINE dry the towels.
You can reuse the upcycled towels, before they have to be washed. The toss away towels will more likely be tossed out, after one use. Then you have the plastic container from the throw away towels. Takes energy to recycle too.
This article was for those who use the toss away towels. Its a good idea and makes a really good point. For those who don't this wasnt for you. Keep using your spray bottle and towel.