Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Aside from the basic baking soda and vinegar, what do you guys use to clean house (especially the bathroom?) I hate super-strong chemically smells, and I know there are a few "natural" cleaning brands out there, but I'm not sure which ones are actually effective and don't smell like asparagus.

I have a friend that uses a lot of Method products.

I use baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and dish soap to clean most everything.

Lemons are great for removing rust stains! Unfortunately they're also expensive. :(

You can buy citric acid cheap! I mean really cheap. I use that for some cleaning activities.

oh yeah, do you use it like you would lemons? That's interesting.

It doesn't smell citrusy but the active ingredient in lemons is citric acid. I use it for getting rid of buildup. It works very well.

the two spray bottles method (one peroxide, one vinegar) is AWESOME. The vinegar is good for the bathroom and getting rid of pee smells, and getting rid of buildup in the shower.
Also, to make it smell better, I take orange peels (or lime skins or lemon ends or whatever citrus I have), put them in a glass jar, cover with white vinegar, and throw outside in the sun. After a week or so the skins turn kind of white and the oils are in the vinegar. That vinegar smells much better than the plain white. Super cheap, smells good, works well.

We buy a giant bag of baking soda from costco, like $6 for a 5 or 10lb bag (can't remember for sure). Then for basic cleaning supplies we've been using a lot of the Seventh Generation, Method, and JR Watkins (all available at my local target).

Method...I love all of Method products that is why I call them METH-od!

For the record I currently use Mrs. Meyers all-purpose cleaning solution in a spray bottle (the rosemary scent). It smells pleasant enough, works well for general cleaning, but doesn't seem especially strong at getting rid of gross messes, hence the desire for other options. One thing I did discover by accident is that it seems to repel ants? So that's not bad.

I was a mrs Meyers addict for a long time as well, and I thought the same thing- it did an ok job but not great. I started using the 18x concentrated soap nuts and I really like it. You can mix up a bottle with tea tree oil for the bathroom and lemon oil for the kitchen. What really sold me on it was how clean it gets my marble floors. Mrs Meyers in the mop water always left a bit of a haze but the soap nuts get it shiny clean.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003C7EFA ... 10&pi=SL75

Now I need something not evil and toxic to get the hard water stains out of the toilet and I will be good. None of the non toxic cleaners I have tried including method can touch them.

I buy Method sometimes, but I'm guilty of buying cleaning supplies without knowing whether they're animal-tested, so this should be a helpful thread.

Is there a decent animal-friendly dishwasher detergent out there? I have trouble finding one that does a good job.

creep, there was a thread a little while ago about dishwasher detergents. here

does anyone know if the lactic acid in CLR is animal based (or any of the other ingredients)? If so, is there a suggested alternative?

Lactic acid comes from bacteria, not animals. Not to be confused with lactose. http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php#lactic_acid

I love Method and Mrs. Meyers. I'll occasionally buy a Seventh Generation product, but I'm truly addicted to Mrs. Meyers' basil smell.

Thanks...wow, that changes everything!

Hydrogen peroxide followed by vinegar will kill almost anything. This was studied and tested by the poultry science program at Virginia Tech for effectiveness and safety. I use it for all of Molly's things.

You can't premix, just spray them on, one after the other in any order, and then the reaction occurs and you let whatever you are cleaning air dry. It's totally nontoxic. I posted this in another thread for Torque, with the citations, but I'm at work and don't have time to dig that out right now.

i've been singing its praises since LW showed me. it's awesome stuff, and works super well. i enjoy cleaning the shower when the shiitake doesn't make me sick. also, super cheap, and no supporting douchebaggy chemical companies i'd prefer went out of business.

I think I'm going to start doing the peroxide/vinegar thing. Recently I've just been doing vinegar cut with water (and using up the giant bottle of Mrs. Meyers). The smell is a bit offputting but it vanishes pretty quickly, and it doesn't make me sick like super chemically or bleachy cleaners do, so I'm happy.

Just wanted to post this awesome link to getting urine stains out of mattresses. I used it after a friend's child had an accident on mine and it was amazing!!

http://www.inspired-housewife.com/2012/ ... -mattress/

i saw some 7th generation products at my earth fare today. however, unless the packaging has changed, only one product that i picked up (i forget which one) actually said cruelty free, etc... on the back of the bottle. the other products did not.

are all 7th generation products cruelty-free??

i make what my family affectionately calls "Paddy Works" (my name is Patrick)... it's just a spray bottle with 1/3 cup of 70% isopropyl alcohol a squirt of meyer's (or whatever) dish soap and then fill to the top with water... we use it for everything... even works great on sealed granite and slate.

Is there something wrong with plain old chlorine bleach? I've never understood why people don't like it. The smell? Too harsh?

i try to avoid it because of the smell, it makes me choke and i imagine it's just as bad for the bird. (as mentioned elsewhere, i keep it in the house for soaking veg that has bird poo or snail poo on it, we have a snail issue in my garden). also, whenever i buy it, i seem to get a leaky bottle, so it's not my favorite thing to use.