Whenever we flock to the supermarket, we bring bags of harmful chemicals to clean our rooms. For cleaner and odor free air we use room fresheners. To remove stains from floors and walls, we use chemicals again and sometimes we resort to using muriatic acid for the tough stains on bathroom floors. What we never thought was how to keep our home clean and filth free using inexpensive and harmless ingredients that we use in our daily life.
1. The Air: We all know that ventilation is a pretty big problem in modern houses. The air inside our house is trapped for a very long time. This stagnant air is not only the home to lots of microbes and germs, it also gives off a foul odor. Common pantry ingredients like lemon, clove, mint etc. which have a soothing smell can be used to get rid of the disgusting smell, and what more, they have antimicrobial properties too.
2. The Water: We use water regularly to clean our home. If this water is scented, then the whole house would smell nice and you can get rid of the nasty smell. Lemon juice, juice from mint leaves squeezed into water can be used for cleaning the interiors of a house. The windows of the house can sometimes get awfully dirty. A paste can be made with one fourth portions of corn starch and lukewarm water. This paste is then applied on windows and rinsed after sometime and the windowpanes become clean again.
3. Kitchen Utensils: After extensive use, the utensils lose their sheen. The shine can be regained with just a cupful of baking soda. One cup of baking soda is mixed in four cups of lukewarm water and the utensils are dipped in it for ten minutes. Afterward, when it is rinsed and dried it is as good as new. Charred food and its residue is another menace that simply refuses to budge. Vinegar and salt are to be mixed and used for scrubbing. The vinegar being a mild acid degrades the charred food particle. The salt acts as a scrubber and facilitates cleaning. Even tea and coffee stains from fine china can also be removed. A cloth is dipped into a solution of baking soda and that is used to clean the china. The revolting odor of the refrigerator can be eliminated too, just by keeping a piece of charcoal in the refrigerator. Same technique can be applied to ice chest that are usually taken to picnics.
4. Insect Infestation: Bugs tend to infest the jars holding cereal and pulses. Such infested jars are to be agitated thoroughly and left open in the sunlight. One can also put a few bay leaves or dry chili in the jars to keep the insects away. We often buy harmful chemicals that we use as insect repellent. Little do we know, that vodka is an excellent insect repellent. It is mixed with water and kept in a spray bottle so that it can be sprayed directly onto the affected area.
5. Wooden Furniture: Over the years, the wooden furniture becomes dull due to accumulation of grime on its shiny polish. Tea at room temperature can be used to scrub the furniture.The tannic acid from the tea would make the furniture shiny and also remove all the grime. After this, mayonnaise or olive oil is applied to give the wood a shining finish.
So, this spring all you need is a well equipped pantry with some special ingredients. No more trips to the supermarket just to buy floor cleaners and toilet cleaners. All we need to do is look around to the nature, use our innovative ideas and we will find so many natural products being offered to us on a platter.
