Are you interested in protecting the environment?  Have green ideals?  Are you sensitive to chemical cleaners?  There are many reasons for wanting nontoxic household cleaners and the health of yourself and your kids are often the main concern. In fact, injuries caused by exposure to toxic cleaning supplies are a risk that’s a reality hundreds of thousands of times a year in the U.S. alone and exposure to cleaning products is one of the most common causes of poisoning for children and adults. So, endless companies are coming out with nontoxic and eco-friendly cleaning products, including brands like Ecover, Method, and Seventh Generation so you no longer need crazily-strong toxic chemicals to get your house really clean.

When trying to go green in your cleaning, first off, try looking at labels for specific, eco-friendly ingredients that also perform effectively such as grain alcohol instead of toxic butyl cellosolve as a solvent; coconut or other plant oils rather than petroleum in detergents; and plant-oil disinfectants such as eucalyptus, rosemary, or sage, instead of triclosan. You can also mix your own cleaners, a few safe, simple ingredients such as plain soap, water, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), vinegar, lemon juice, and borax to satisfy most household cleaning needs in a green-friendly and safe way.

Here is a list of common, environmentally safe products which can be used alone or in combo all over the house and home:
• Baking Soda: cleans, deodorizes, softens water, serves as a gentle scrub
• Soap: unscented soap in liquid form, flakes, powders or bars is biodegradable and will clean about anything
• Lemon: one of the strongest food-acids, effective against most household bacteria
• Borax (sodium borate): cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens water, cleans painted walls and floors
• White Vinegar: cuts grease, removes mildew, odors, some stains and wax build-up
• Cornstarch: can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs