Green Cleaners

There are safer solutions easily available for your home. Save money, protect your family and the environment by using safe, simple ingredients to clean your home. Many commercial cleaning products use ingredients that can be harmful. Fortunately, there are less toxic products – “green cleaners” –  that can protect your family and the environment. You can purchase ready-made cleaning products that are less hazardous than many traditional household cleaners. Look in the health or natural food sections of your grocery store.

Or, you can save money by using some simple, safe ingredients to make your own non-toxic cleaners.

Download our Green Clean Toolkit and post it under your kitchen sink. 

Your basic green clean kit ingredients:

• Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate)

  Cleans, deodorizes, softens water, scours. Found in the baking section of the grocery store.

• Glycerin

  Found in pharmacies or health food stores, this water-loving liquid has antisceptic qualities and moisturizes the skin.

• Hydrogen peroxide

  Disinfectant. Use the household concentration (3 percent) typically found in pharmacies.

• Liquid soap

  Vegetable-based soap, sometimes referred to as castile soap. Found in most health food stores. Dr. Bonner’s is a popular one. You can purchase various scents of Dr. Bonner’s inexpensively in the bulk health section at Rosauers in Hood River.

• Vinegar

  Removes soap scum, grease and mineral deposits and acts as a deodorizer. Use only white distilled vinegar for most of these “green cleaner” recipes. You can try apple cider vinegar for windows, since it has a more pleasant scent.

  Do note that these things should not be use to clean with vinegar:

  • Anything with bleach
  • Natural Stone Surfaces
  • Grout that is damaged or unsealed 
  • Stainless steel
  • Waxed or unfinished wood
  • Cast iron
  • Electronics 
  • Rubber gaskets and hoses 
  • Clothes iron
  • Pet Messes

• Vodka ( 95%+ proof)

  Cuts grease, removes stains, neutralizes orders, disinfects surfaces, and removes glue residue. It can be found behind the counter at your local liquor store and can not be ingested/consumed. If 95% proof can not be obtained use 40-60% proof but do not dilute.  

• Washing soda (sodium carbonate)

  Cuts grease. Removes stains, softens water, cleans. Don’t use it on waxed floors (unless you want to remove the wax), fiberglass or aluminum. Found in the laundry section, made by Arm & Hammer.

• Borax (sodium borate)

  Cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens water, cleans. This is a strong alkaline that is non-toxic in quantities needed for green cleaner recipes but may be toxic in its concentrated form. Keep all Borax-containing cleaners out of the reach of children. Found in the laundry section of the grocery store as 20 Mule Team Borax.

• Essential Oils

  Mostly used for deodorizing or scenting cleaners. Essential oils, such as mint, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, orange and clove, rosemary, and tea tree can be found in health food stores or herbal supply shops. Lemon and lavender are often used together since lemon has antibacterial properties while lavender is antifungal and antibacterial. Tea tree oil is currently in the process of being registered as a disinfectant in this country. Non-toxic in small quantities, this oil may be toxic in concentrated forms. Keep out of the reach of children.