Coming clean when you clean

You can play a crucial role in easing the hazardous-waste problem by selecting cleaning products that don’t give off toxic emissions or accumulate as household hazardous waste.

Changing the hazardous-waste patterns of industries comes at great expense and effort and often involves lengthy political and legal battles. Changing your purchasing patterns at home, on the other hand, is simple, thrifty and healthy. It can also support those industries that don’t add to the toxics problem.

What’s the alternative?

A basic stock of baking soda, borax, washing soda and white vinegar -- all easy to find in your grocery store -- can tackle many household cleaning jobs.

Baking soda cleans, deodorizes, softens water to increase sudsing and cleaning power of soap, and it can be used as a cleanser. Borax cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and softens water. Washing soda cuts grease, removes stains, disinfects and softens water. White vinegar cuts grease and freshens.

In the laundry, experiment with using less detergent. Softened water may clean a full load of clothes with as little as one tablespoon of detergent.

Mixing your own cleaning substitutes

Air freshener:

• Herbal mixtures and potpourri
• Scented candles
• Cotton balls soaked in vanilla
• Boil cinnamon and cloves in a small amount of water
• Simmer small amount of cinnamon, orange peel and cloves on stove or in small ceramic saucer over a candle.
• For refrigerator, an open box of baking soda
• For garbage pail, borax or baking soda sprinkled in bottom.

All Purpose cleaner: Mix one gallon hot water and one-fourth cup vinegar.

Bathroom cleaner: Baking soda

Blood stains: Club soda and cold water

Brass Cleaner:

• Rub with catsup and rinse with warm water.
• Rub with Worcestershire sauce

Chrome cleaner: Apple cider vinegar or baking soda and rum with soft cloth

Countertops: Mix vinegar with warm water and salt

Copper cleaner:

• Rub with catsup and rinse with warm water.
• Dip in warm vinegar or lemon juice, then sprinkle with salt and scrub with a soft cloth. Rinse with clean water.

Deodorizers: Vinegar or lemon juice.

Disinfectant: Mix on-half cup borax with a gallon of warm water.

Drain cleaners:

• To prevent clogs, install a drain sieve or hair trap.
• To prevent clogs, once a week mix one cup baking soda, one cup salt and one-fourth cup cream of tartar. Pour one-fourth cup of mixture into the drain, followed by a pot of boiling water. Also eliminates odors.
• Open clogs by pouring one-fourth cup baking soda down drain, followed by one-half cup vinegar. Let it sit until fizzing stops, and flush with boiling water.
• Open clogs with a plunger or metal snake.

Floor polish: Club soda

Garage floors: To remove grease, sprinkle spot with fresh cat litter. Let stand for a few hours, then sweep up.

Glue/decal remover: Soak in white vinegar.

Ink stains: Pump hair spray and water.

Laundry aids:

• Instead of liquid bleach, try borax or washing soda
• For stains, soak the spot in a mixture of one-fourth cup borax and two cups cold water prior to washing.
• For greasy stains, rub corn meal and water into stain and rinse with lemon juice before washing.
• For deodorant stains, rub lightly with white vinegar and launder as usual.
• For wine or coffee stains, put stained material in glass, enamel or stainless steel pot. Cover with mixture of milk and water. Bring to boil and simmer tow to four minutes until stain disappears.
• For coffee and tea stains, use equal parts moist salt and vinegar, or a solution of three tablespoons baking soda and one quart water.
• For spots, try a paste of washing soda and water; club soda, lemon juice and hot water; or borax and cold water.

Leather cleaner: Vinegar

Linoleum floor cleaners:

• Vinegar and water
• Mix two to three teaspoons each of borax and liquid dish soap in two quarts of hot water.

Mildew cleaner: Mix borax with warm water.

Oven cleaners:

• Dampen the spill and sprinkle salt on it while the oven is warm. Scrape spill away when cool.
• For greasy spots, use a vinegar-soaked rag.
• For really tough spots, use baking soda and water, rubbing tough spots with fine steel-wool pad. If this doesn’t work, add salt and try again, as long as the oven doesn’t have continuous-clean or self-cleaning features.

Pet stains/odors: Mix one-fourth cup vinegar in one-fourth cup liquid soap. Rub in the mixture, blot the stain and rinse with water.

Pewter cleaners:

• Rub with fine steel wool dipped in olive oil, wash in soapy water and dry.
• Polish with cabbage leaves.

Rug spot-cleaner: Dishwashing liquid

Rug or upholstery all-over cleaning: Vacuum, then sprinkle with dry cornstarch, baking soda, borax or cornmeal, and vacuum again.

Rust remover: Warm vinegar and scrubbing will remove rust from dishes, sinks and teapots.

Shoe polish: Try olive oil, walnut oil, beeswax or lemon juice.

Silver:

• Boil two to three minutes in a quart of water that contains a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt and a piece of aluminum foil. Rinse well with water and dry with a soft cloth.
• Soak in baking soda and water.
• Soak in buttermilk.
• Brush jewelry gently with non-abrasive toothpaste.

Sinks: Mix vinegar with warm water and salt.

Stainless steel cleaner: Wash with one quart warm water and three tablespoons baking soda. Rinse with hot water.

Stains: General household stains can usually be cleaned with borax.

Toilets: A strong solution of a natural acid, such as vinegar, will remove most lime scale.

Tub and tile cleaner: Baking soda and water.

Window cleaners:

• To avoid streaking, wash only when sun isn’t shining on windows. Sun makes the cleaner dry too fast, causing streaks.
• White vinegar and water.
• One tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in one quart of water. Spray on and use newspaper to wipe dry.
• Two tablespoons borax or washing soda in three cups water. Spray on using a pump sprayer. Squeegee off to avoid streaks.

Wood floor cleaners:

• One teaspoon lemon juice in one pint mineral or vegetable oil
• Three parts olive oil to one part vinegar

Wood furniture polish: Mix one part lemon juice to two parts mineral or vegetable oil.

Wood scratches: Mix one teaspoon each of lemon juice and mineral oil.

For more information

Cheaper and Better: Homemade Alternatives to Storebought Goods, written by Nancy Birnes and published by Harper and Row.

Compassionate Consumer Catalog, for pre-mixed, non-toxic household products, 141-44 25^th Ave., Whitestone, NY 11357.

EcoBella catalog, for pre-mixed, non-toxic household products, 125 Pompton Plains Crossroad, Wayne, NJ 07470

Nontoxic, Natural & Earthwise, written by Debra Lynn Dadd and published by Jeremy Tarcher. Hundreds of alternatives to household toxics.

Toxics: Stepping Lightly on the Earth, an eight page guide on practical ways to detox your home, offered free by Greenpeace, 1436 U St., NW, Washington, DC 20009

SOURCE: The Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste. Washington, DC, U.S. EPA, August 1992