Household: Homemade Cleaners, Part II
Source of Recipe
Kim Tilley
Recipe Introduction
I had to include the following formulas from Homemade Cleaners because they were actually tested and compared against commercial brands. We like that!
MULTI-PURPOSE CLEANER
1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
Mix ingredients and store in tightly-capped container.
RATING: Excellent. Performed as well as top-of the line commercial products.
USES: Many. Tile and linoleum floors, Formica countertops, appliances, etc.
HAZARDS: Read about ammonia, in Household Cleaners, Part I.
COST: About 40 cents a gallon (not including water).
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OLD-FASHIONED GLASS AND WINDOW CLEANER
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
Mix the ingredients in a bucket and use to scrub windows. Try not to clean glass the sun is shining on because it will dry too fast and streak.
RATING: Very good. The best commercial preparations left the window only a little shinier. Even though the cornstarch makes the mixture slightly gritty, it didn't scratch the glass.
HAZARDS: Poisonous. Ammonia is poisonous, so keep the mixture away from children and arrange good ventilation. Wear gloves because it's a heavy-duty cleaner and rough on the hands.
COST: About 20 cents a gallon (not including water).
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VINEGAR WINDOW CLEANER
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
Just mix and scrub.
RATING: Very good. We'd been warned that plain water could do as well as a vinegar solution, cut our subjective impression was that the vinegar made it a lot easier to get rid of smudges. In theory, vinegar is supposed to remove hard-water spots.
HAZARDS: May be hard on your hands, but safe enough to drink.
COST: About 7 cents a gallon (not including water).
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METAL POLISH
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp white vinegar
Combine salt and flour in a small bowl and stir until blended. Add the vinegar and mix into a thick paste. Smear on the paste with a damp sponge or cloth and rub gently. Let the polish dry for about an hour. Rinse well with warm water and buff dry with a soft cloth.
RATING: Good. Does the job but you may need to scrub more than you would with a commercial cleaner.
HAZARDS: Safe enough to eat, and it's not gritty enough to scratch the metal.
USES: Suitable for brass, bronze, copper and pewter. Not for silver, silver plate and jewelry.
COST: Less than a penny for about 3 tablespoons of paste (not including water).
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WALL CLEANER
2 ounces borax
1 teaspoon ammonia
2 quarts water
Dissolve the borax and ammonia in a bucketful of water. Scrub a really dirty wall from the bottom up. If you scrub from the top down, the dirty water will run down over the dry, soiled wall, leaving hard-to-remove streaks. Oddly enough, it won't stain wet, clean walls. For textured walls, old socks are good scrubbers because they won't tear off in little pieces as easily as a sponge might. To keep water from dribbling down your arm, fasten an old washcloth around your wrist with a rubber band.
RATING: Very good. A few commercial preparations required less scrubbing.
HAZARDS: See ammonia hazards in Household Cleaners, Part I. Don't let children eat the borax, either.
USES: For painted walls, not wallpaper.
COST: About 6 cents for 2 quarts (not including water).
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