Do you want to be clean AND green....read this, very interesting

[forestdale]

http://www.ata.org.au/articles/82_green_cleaning.pdf

[canadian gardener]

she's good!!!! I really liked that article. I agree with her. One thing that always bothers me is when people give a HM cleaner recipe using stuff that chemically cancels each other out.

Like vinegar and ammonia or vinegar and baking soda. It doesn't matter how natural they are, they are a milder cleaning agent, and you lose all the advantage when they cancel each other out.

But I've seen hm window sprays with all three in a bottle. Fizzes nicely, even smells a bit fierce, but does nothing more than plain water.

Which cleans nicely all on it's own hot self.

Except for grease cutting when you need soda, or ammonia which being basic on the ph scale will break up grease and dissolve it.

Vinegar with a bit of nylon net does a WONDERFUL job cleaning lime scale off windows, shower doors and walls. It's a good little disinfectant too, as the ph discourages germs beautifully.

Plain shampoo with a body scrubby (the soft polyester netting balls for scrubbing) works great to keep the shower or tub clean. Apply when in the shower, rinse off with shower wand.

The red juice I use is made from seaweed originally (and I suspect it also has help from a truckload of TSP by the action) and is safe around food which is always a good clue.

For the American ladies you can find it at the Clean Team, but I found a Canadian source that has all the same stuff on the label, looks and acts and smells the same at Superstore which is Loblaws back east and it's their no name industrial degreaser.

I then dilute 1 in 10 and spritz a little on, and clean away without the fumes or unsafe action around food. It isn't disinfectant but as this article points out

when you remove the food bacteria thrive on (by cleaning) and remove most of the bacteria (by using surfactants-- aka soap or detergents and scrubbing them off physically) and leave a surface clean and dry

there isn't a whole lot of bacteria left to cause troubles, and the ones that are there, soon die of starvation or dehydration.

For serious disinfecting, nothing beats plain old chlorine bleach, diluted and applied and wiped dry with rubber gloves and old rags that you don't mind getting all holey. Environmentally it breaks down into salt and water.

The newer cleaners cost more, and do more damage to the people that rely on them.

Great article and thanks!

[Emerald_Mommy]

Really good article, thanks for posting!