Room-by-room, what I use to clean
Kitchen
All purpose cleaner, homemade: Table, chairs, sink if it gets yucky, glasstop stove, counters, (okay, I have kids… we can include the walls as well). I’ll show you how to make all purpose cleaner later this week, it totally rocks!
Cotton knitted dish cloths: I wipe off everything 
a handmade dish cloth, these are great. There are some for sale on Etsy here, or just search knitted dish cloths on Etsy.com. If you knit at all, they are fun to knit, and yes they get hard use, but they get *used* which is what I want for my knitting. Instructions here.
Liquid Dish Soap: I use Seventh Generation (Target has it too), usually in unscented with my own essential oils added in (15 drops). I’m on a tangerine-peppermint kick right now.
Liquid Dishwasher Detergent: I just started using Biokleen at the recommendation of Katie of Kitchen Stewardship, until this week I was using Cascade ultra toxic. Because it worked and I didn’t want to risk having to hand wash dishes. Ahem. So far the Biokleen has worked well, I’ll let you know how it goes as time goes on.
Bathroom
All purpose cleaner: I have Tropical Traditions all purpose cleaner, which I have a giveaway for going up tomorrow, in my bathroom. I use this for the sink, tub, and toilet.
Vinegar: I use vinegar for the mirror, and to make the faucet sparkle. I just learned in Clean House Clean Planet that just adding 15 drops of peppermint oil nearly completely covers up the vinegar and it works really well! I don’t love the smell of vinegar,
Bathroom cleaning: I love it that I actually manage to accomplish this efficiently, so I’ll share my bathroom cleaning routine (cleaning/organizing are not my strengths!). While my children are in the tub, I take the hand towel (I figure that if the sink needs to be cleaned, the hand towel likely does too) and spray vinegar on the mirror. Wipe off the mirror quickly, then spray down the counter top and sink. Start with the faucet; the vinegar on your rag makes it all shiny, and finish with the sink (the dirtiest part). The tub is next, then the toilet is last, I use the all purpose cleaner for everything but the mirror. I use a different rag if I have to do the floor as well; honestly, I usually just use the bath towel I threw down after someone perhaps dumped/splashed/dripped water outside of the tub while they were taking a bath. And it’s done!
Laundry
Soapnuts: Still loving these! I bought $30 worth about 3 months ago, and the bag is still going strong. I’m guessing it will last me an entire year.
Oxygen bleach: I just started using this, and I think it’s a worthwhile addition to my ‘lights’ loads.
Powdered detergent: In case I missplaced my little bags of soapnuts, or for when my husband does laundry.
I’ll be back to food soon, last week was a ‘body care’ type week (posture information, workout information, and natural cosmetics), this week is about nontoxic home care (Homemade cleaner book review, purchasable nontoxic cleaner review, and I’m posting about making homemade all purpose cleaner next). I have one more non-food item; homemade all purpose salve, but I’ll do that after I post on natural sourdough starter out of sprouted flour, healthy milkshakes, and kimchi. I was just on a mission to get rid of my toxic cleaners; spring cleaning must have set in late in this household!
Part of Pennywise Platter Thursdays at The Nourishing Gourmet and Fight Back Friday, and Monday Mania
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I sprinkle baking soda from an old salt shaker onto the moist bathtub, toilet, sink and floor. I use a moist washcloth to really scrub, and everything is just sparkling white when I’m done. I used to use Ajax, but have since discovered that plain old baking soda works just as good. Comletely removes any soap scum or dirt. If you really want it to be super clean, spray vinegar over the baking soda and it will fizz and bubble and gets in between the grout really well.
And I love soap nuts! I am the worlds biggest fan. 11 cents a load for laundry, no need for extra fabric softner, really gets the clothes clean with no wierd scent, completely natural, whats not to love?
Is your tub fiberglass?
do u have a Trader Joe’s nearby? if so, there dishwashing detergent works great for me and we all know how i react to chemicals so i figure that must mean it’s fairly non-toxic :}
We don’t :( I email them periodically to tell them I’d like one in Montana, but so far they haven’t listened.
I just found your blog via works for me wednesday/we are that family and I love it! How do you keep up on it so well?!? Totally bookmarking you.
Thanks for all the great tips! I am wondering, though, what is wrong with me … I don’t like soap nuts and I think I’m the only heretic around :) I tried the actual nuts but wasn’t impressed so I’ve tried the liquid … still unimpressed. My clothes don’t smell clean or fresh. The only real plus is they are non-toxic cleaner and very little waste to add to the landfill (I’m repurposing the bottles around the house with various home made cleaners). Any suggestions?? Thanks!
Hmm, you want to be happy with your laundry! I have a couple questions- do you have hard water? If so, you might need to use more. Also, did you make the switch from mainstream perfumed detergent, like Tide? Because you might just need to get used to not having that overpowering scent. It took me a couple weeks to get used to the lack of scent in more natural detergents. I feel like the soap nuts themselves clean better than the liquid, but that’s just me, it might be different for others. If you bought them from Naturoli, you could email their customer service, they’re very helpful!
Hi Cara! I loved this article, and since I shared something similar this week and got a big response, I thought I would share your article on my Thoughts on Friday link love post because it was obviously a very important topic for people! You can see the article here: http://amoderatelife.com/?p=386 Thanks! Alex
Hi Cara – thanks for sharing on such an important topic. Folks are so concerned about chemicals etc in their food and then forget about the chemicals sitting in their bathroom closet!
Would love it if you would consider sharing this at Monday Mania blog carnival at The Healthy Home Economist. Recipes, green tips, personal stories, book reviews, vlogs etc are all welcome – an eclectic mix of awesome blog posts! Hope to see you there!
Cara, thank you for stopping by Monday Mania and sharing your wisdom! Love the green housecleaning ideas. Hope to “see” you again at future editions.
:)
we make the duggar recipe for laundry soap and love it! it is soooo cheap! we have a large family so i do about 10 to 12 loads a week. 10 gallons cost less than $3 to make!
we also found that there’s not enough water in the HE machine to extract much from the soap nuts.
we also found that there’s not enough water in the HE machine to extract much from the soap nuts.
I lOVE my soap nuts! We have an HE front loader…I just double tie the bag, I use 4-5 nuts (but I use them for several washes), my clothes come out clean and I have no problems! I will admit I use oxyclean spray for stains and sometimes the oxyclean booster in the kids clothes but I’ve had to do that no matter what detergent I use!! I don’t like recipes with borax in them.
I use 6 soap nuts in my HE washer and lightly tie the bag and it’s ok… but the kids think it’s weird so I might make the liquid :)
love soap nuts. just got a huge bag from Naturoli on their earth day 50% off sale. i have to use more nuts per wash becuase i have very hard water, but i love them. i use oxy boost peroxide for whites if they need it. it’s like oxy clean but withouht all the additives
I just soak my soap nuts in warm water for 20 minutes or so before starting a load (and no need to soak for back to back loads) and they get VERY sudsy. Also – I put mine in a zippered ‘garment bag’. I have a small 6x6inch one that works perfectly. They never escape ;)
baking soda, vinegar, Dr. Bronners liquid soap, that is about all you need!
Yeah Cheryl I’ve been reading about vinegar and baking soda uses. I tried the vinegar the other day for my shower and was shocked. Something that cost me $1.92 worked better then the Shower cleaner I paid $4 for!!!!
I use a homemade recipe of 1 bar of soap, 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax and we are loving it. not sure of soap nuts, never tried them.