make a clean sweep - home cleaning and respiratory ailments

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 2000 by Victoria Moran

Ounce for ounce, these products cost a bit more than standard fare, but they're worth it. Many of the companies dedicated to manufacturing products that are healthier for people and the environment and aren't tested on animals are small or midsize businesses. The economics of scale that enable the mega-corporations to purchase ingredients cheaply do not yet exist for these companies. In addition, many of the ingredients that go into the natural products--essential plant oils, for instance--are simply more expensive than synthetic chemical components. But you've got to factor in that in buying natural cleaners, you're making an investment in your family's well-being as well as purchasing a higher-quality product.

Because natural cleaners are aimed at protecting your health as well as cleaning your house, they may not be strong enough to zap caked-on dirt immediately (most conventional cleaning products don't either). Consequently, you may have to use a bit more product, let it sit slightly longer, or scrub a little harder. But cleaning takes far less effort if you give the solutions time to work. The same holds true for cleaning concoctions you formulate yourself. Annie Berthold-Bond, author of the classic Clean & Green (Ceres Press, 1990, 2000), claims she can clean anything with water and these five basic ingredients:

* Baking soda: mildly abrasive, eats up chemicals, neutralizes odors

* Washing soda: somewhat caustic (wear gloves), cuts grease, unclogs drains, strips old wax

* Distilled white vinegar: pulls dirt from floors, shines mirrors and windows, dissolves soap scum

* Vegetable-based liquid soap (like Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap) or a natural food store brand of dish detergent: dissolves dirt and grime

* Tea tree oil: a broad-spectrum fungicide and bactericide for mold and mildew.

Berthold-Bond, who became intolerant of petroleum-based products after being exposed to a gas leak and then to a neurotoxic pesticide, learned to use these and other safe, simple ingredients for cleaning everything from piano keys to whitewall tires. The formulations in Clean & Green and her subsequent book, Better Basics for the Home (Crown Books, 1999), are easy and inexpensive to make.

In addition to these five ingredients, her recipes might call for borax, lemon juice, club soda, cornstarch, cornmeal, black tea, cream of tartar, salt, vegetable oil or tomato juice. The beauty of using natural ingredients is that there are so many ways to clean various surfaces and deal with most spots and spills. Moreover, because one ingredient often can stand in for another (like vinegar for lemon juice or vice versa), you should be able to clean just about anything with what you've got on hand.

Seeing Is Believing

Ultimately, it was the "Believe It or Not Oven Cleaner" that got me hooked. All I had to do was sprinkle water generously on the bottom of my oven, cover the gunk with baking soda, then sprinkle more water on top. I let it sit overnight and in the morning used a mild abrasive pad to wipe up the baking soda, grease and grit. Then I used a little bit of liquid soap on a sponge to wash the oven's sides and top, the inside of the door and any residue left on the oven bottom. I rinsed thoroughly and was done--no scrubbing, no fumes, no kidding.