This information was found in Better Homes and Gardens, page 90, August 2007 in an artice by Linda Mason Hunter with recipes from Green Clean, by Linda Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin.
There are 3 basic natural producs for cleaning: baking soda, vinegar and soap.
Baking soda works best on proteins, grease, and animal messes. Because it's slightly abrasive, it can be used for scouring--and of course, it's a natural deodorizer.
Distilled White Vinegar is a mild acid that works on alkaline substances, dissolving scale, inhibiting mild, and cutting soap scum. It's terrific for stains such as coffee, rust, and tea.
Simple Soap: Try castile soap, made with olive oil, or a vegetable based soap. Both attach to soil at the molecular level, so you can rinse dirt away with water.
The Recipes:
1. Soft Scrub: Add enough soap to 1/8 cup basing soda to make a creamy mixture. Apply with a sponge to clean, rinse the surface well. Use and discard.
2. Appliance Cleaner: Dry baking soda shines up small appliances and even removes bread wrappers burned onto teh toaster. Try rubbing a teaspoon onto you grubby blender or food processor with a clean flannel cloth.
3. Toilet Cleaner/Deoderizer: Sprinkle toilet bowl with 1/4 cup baking soda. Drizzle with 1/4 cup vinegar, then scour with a toilet brush.
4. Oven Cleaner: Sprinkle oven with 1/2 cup baking soda (more if needed) and spray with water. Let sit for several hours or overnight before scraping up stains and spills. Rinse thoroughly with water.
5. Hardwood Floor Cleaner: In a pail or bucket, mix 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar in one gallon warm water. Mop wood or linoleum floors, then rinse with water, making sure not to leave large pools to dry.
From Everday Cheapskate, the following cleaning recipes:
HEAVY-DUTY WINDOW CLEANER: Mix ½ cup household ammonia, 2 cups rubbing alcohol and 1 teaspoon liquid Dawn (the original blue variety). Mix ammonia, alcohol and detergent in 1-gallon jug. Fill with warm water. Shake before each use. This solution is great for cleaning really dirty windows and taking tape marks off windows; it's also great for removing soap film from shower doors.
DISINFECTING CLEANER: Mix household ammonia and rubbing alcohol together in equal proportions in a spray bottle. Label and keep out of reach of children. This is a very strong cleaner, so make sure you have ample ventilation when using. Wear gloves.
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER ½ cup ammonia, ½ cup vinegar, 4 drops liquid dishwashing soap and ¼ cup baking soda into 1 gallon of warm water. Mix well and dispense with a spray bottle.
TUB-AND-TILE CLEANER a terrific homemade version of Soft Scrub. In a small bowl, mix together 1-2/3 cups baking soda with 1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid (like Joy). Dilute with ½ cup water, and add 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Stir with a fork until smooth and all the lumps are gone. Pour into a 16-ounce squeeze container with a squirt flip-top cap (like a ketchup bottle or similar). Shake well before each use. Keep capped tightly between uses. Hint: Rinse the flip-top cap after each use so it won't get clogged.
CLEANER FOR PAINTED CABINETS: Mix ¼ cup baking soda, 1 cup ammonia, 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1 gallon warm water. Pour into a spray bottle. Wash cabinets with a sponge and this solution. Rinse with a clean sponge and water. Wipe cabinets dry completely.
Another site which has cleaning recipes is Being Frugal. This is a copy and paste from her site. There is definitely some overlap in recipes, but for me, I like to have options. What if I don't have ammonia for one recipe but I have what it takes for another recipe?
One of the ways I save money is by not buying too many cleaning products. It’s not only less expensive, but often it’s better for the environment to avoid harsh chemicals. And with the right mix of ingredients, homemade cleaning solutions often work just as well, and sometimes better, than their store bought counterparts.
The three ingredients I always have on hand for cleaning are baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn dishwashing detergent. You can clean almost anything with these three items.
To clean windows, mix 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, and up to 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn in a spray bottle. It cleans windows beautifully!
For floors, add 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon hot water and mop away!
My favorite bathroom cleaner is a spray bottle filled with 1/2 cup Dawn and as much vinegar as the bottle holds. It works better than any commercial tub cleaner I’ve ever tried!
For cleaning toilets, mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup Dawn, and 1/4 cup water. Let sit on the toilet bowl for a couple of hours, swish with a toilet brush, and flush.
Plain baking soda works just like scouring powder. It’s also great for deodorizing carpet. Just sprinkle on the carpet, let sit for a while, and vacuum up!
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