10 Simple and Cheap Ways to Clean Green

Over the last twenty years, we have learned more and more about the dangers of conventional commercial cleaning products. The link between various cancers, headaches, asthma, and sinus problems and the chemicals found in most popular cleaning solutions has been well established. This new knowledge has lead to a movement towards cleaning house with all-natural and less toxic alternatives. Lucky for us, just about everything you need to keep your home sparkling clean is probably in your pantry. In fact, with the following list: baking soda, distilled white vinegar, borax, washing soda, lemon juice, olive oil, rubbing alcohol, cornmeal, cinnamon, cloves, and optionally your favorite essential oils, you can make every cleaning product you'll probably ever need. Following are ten easy recipes for your most common cleaning tasks.

Cheap Laundry Soap - You can make gallons of laundry detergent simply and inexpensively by boiling two gallons of water on your stove. Buy a bar of Zote pink soap (found in the laundry aisle) and shave or grate it into small chunks. Mix the soap flakes with the hot water to create a sort of watery sludge. Then add one-half cup of Borax and one-half cup of Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda). Everything you need with the exception of the pot and the water should be found in the laundry section of your local store. If you have trouble finding the washing soda, it is Arm & Hammer brand and you should be able to find it at Stop and Shop or online at Amazon.com. Once you have mixed everything together, you have an effective and inexpensive laundry detergent. Use a half-cup for regular loads and 2/3 cup for large loads.

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Removing Carpet Stains, Naturally

Spending money on commercial deodorizers and cleaning products for your carpets is, for the most part, unnecessary. Just look to your cupboards and refrigerator for these jobs. And if you have small children or pets, all the more reason to go natural.

To remove stains from your carpet, mix 2 cups water to 1 cup lemon juice and pour it into a plastic spray bottle. Spray the stained area liberally and gently scrub with a soft to medium bristled brush. The lemon juice and water mixture is a great deodorizer too. Spray the carpet lightly and allow to dry. Then sprinkle with baking soda and let sit for 30 minutes before vacuuming.

For more stubborn carpet stains, make a paste with 1/4 cup each of borax, salt and vinegar. Rub this paste into carpet and leave for a few hours; vacuum.

Following are solutions for removing specific type stains:


For pet stains, mix 1 teaspoon isopropyl alcohol to 1/2 cup cold water. Use the solution in a spray bottle. Spray onto the stain and blot with a paper towel and allow to dry completely. Repeat if necessary.

To remove gum from your carpet, simply place an ice cube onto the gum until it hardens enough to break off.

For removing glue from your carpet, pour white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth. The glue will rub off easily.

Sprinkle some talc on grease stains in the carpet. Leave alone for a few hours to absorb as much grease as possible. If it is an immediate spill, sprinkle the area liberally with salt and let it sit for awhile, until the grease is absorbed into the salt.

Chocolate and coffee stains can both be cleaned with 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water. Soak a sponge with the mixture and blot until the stain is removed. You may have to repeat this process a few times before getting these stains completely out.

Red wine spills can be removed by first blotting the area with paper towels, followed by covering the area with salt. Let the salt sit until it has turned pink. Next, clean with a sponge that has been dipped in a mixture of 1 part water and 1 part lemon juice.

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Caring for your Carpet

Have your carpet professionally cleaned periodically, every third or fourth time. Or you may find it more convenient to have it done professionally each time special cleaning is needed, rather than doing it yourself. Professional cleaners use similar methods to home cleaning, but they should have the knowledge, equipment, and experience necessary to do a more thorough job of removing embedded soil. Room size rugs and some wall-to-wall carpets can be sent to the rug cleaning plant. Professional cleaners can also handle spot removal, re-dyeing, rebinding, and repairs. Always alert the cleaner to the location and cause, if known, of spots and stains that require attention. When selecting a cleaning service, the main factor to consider is the operator`s skill and ability. Ask reputable carpet dealers in your area whom they recommend. Satisfied customers may also suggest a cleaner to contact. They cannot provide guarantees, however, because of the range of quality and wear they face in the carpets and rugs they clean. Professional cleaners offering truck-mounted hot water extraction, will have more power to remove soil and water than in a smaller, self-contained unit - like the ones you rent.

General Care

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Cleaning Tips

Easy carpet cleaning tips

Cleaning carpet is never that easy especially if the stain is cause by blood, red wine, lipstick or crayons. But as a father of an active four year old I have experienced these carpet disaster and I know just how you feel when we saw our brand new carpet being made into a blackboard by our toddlers. But ever heard of the cliche "there is always a solution to everything" and here are the quick solutions that we need for carpet cleaning with stubborn stains.

For those stained with blood simply spray a solution of bleach and detergent directly onto the stain and let the carpet absorb for a couple of seconds before brushing it with a soft bristled brush. This is also applicable to the red wine stain. But for those trickier stains like lipstick and crayons we may need to apply directly a small amount of bleach onto the stain and rub it with a soft cloth do it again until stain disappears if we have a colored carpet use the bleach that is intended for coloured clothes or items. For the crayons, pour or spray a very hot water onto the spot and brush with a soft bristled brush or rub with a cloth. Then follow up with a spray of detergent and bleach this will definitely solve our carpet worries away. Here also the other tips that we can use.

QUICK AND EFFICIENT CARPET CLEANING TIPS:

Regular vacuum cleaning is the basic cleaning of carpet

High traffic Area -Daily

Medium Traffic Area -twice in a week

Entire area -once in a week

Take care to change the bags often

To remove water-soluble stains, apply some detergent solution, working from the edges to the center of the stain. Place several layers of white paper-towels over the spot and weight down with books and pans.

CARPET CLEANING-MACHINE

A carpet cleaning machine is a device used for removing carpet stains. It is made with a tank filled with a wet or dry cleaning solution or powder,which is applied on the carpet to remove stains. It is available in two types: wet and dry.

STEAM-CARPET CLEANERS

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Natural Deodorizer and Stain Remover

As the owner of a cat with an anxiety disorder, I've burned through hundreds of dollars looking for a solution to the odor caused by her urine. Because she refuses to use her litter box whenever she's upset, my carpet would be a disaster if it weren't for the use of products that cover or eliminate the large amounts of ammonia in cat urine.

After trying nearly every product on the market, Out! Natural was the only deodorizer that I could find to effectively eliminate urine ordors without also filling the room with unsafe chemicals.

Unlike many deodorizers, Out! Natural does not contain harsh synthetic fragrances, and its only scent is is natural, appealing lemon grass fragrance. While many products on the market simply mask cat odors by covering them with a more pungent smell, Out! Natural actually eliminates the very source of the odors.

Out! Natural contains live, active enzymes and harmless bacteria that actually digest the odor-causing chemicals and bacteria on the spot. Smells are removed from the carpet (or air, or furniture) because they are truly eliminated, rather than simply covered up.

Out! Natural was surprisingly inexpensive, and was actually cheaper than other deodorizing products like Febreze. It was also very simple to use and didn't require much work besides simply spraying the affected area. Best of all--unlike similar products--Out! Natural eliminates stains in addition to odor, which addresses the other equally embarrassing problem.

According to the manufacturer, Out! Natural can be used for stains or odors caused by wine, grass, chemical fumes, grape juice, mud, blood, tomato sauce, and seafood. Although I haven't personally tested each of these uses, I am confident in the efficacy of the product and believe that it would address all these sources equally well.

It's unlikely that my cat will ever completely outgrow her habit (believe me, we've tried everything!) but I'm glad to have at least found something to effectively eliminate the odors and stains that her anxiety disorder cause.

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How to Remove Cat Urine Smell from a Carpet

Did your cat urinate on your carpet? Have you tried everything to remove the cat smell from your carpet? This is a common problem for families with cats, especially male cats. But you don't have to deal with a house that smells like cat urine because there are many solutions for this problem. Here are some solutions to remove cat urine smell from carpet...

Clean Properly

The first and most important thing to do is to clean the area on the carpet where the urine is located. You should do this as soon as you find the urine on the carpet. It is very important that you completely clean up the urine if you want to the smell to go away.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is a very common deodorizer in households. This will take the stink out of most odors. You can mix hot water in with baking soda to form a paste. Put some of the paste over the urine spot on the carpet and scrub it with a cleaning brush. This will allow for the baking soda to go deep in the carpet for best results, and then leave the baking soda to dry out. One the baking soda is dry you can then vacuum it up.

You can also try just sprinkling the baking over the carpet and letting it stay there for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes is up, just vacuum up the baking soda. This should reduce the smell of cat urine on your carpet.

Carpet Powders

They sell nicely scented carpet powders that you sprinkle onto the carpet before you vacuum. This will leave a much better scent on the carpet and in your home. This will work best if you do the previous two methods before hand.

Natures Miracle

Natures Miracle is a stain and odor remover. You can buy this product at pet stores, online, and in many stores that have a pet section. This product is completely safe for humans and pets, and Natures Miracle can be used on colored carpets. It's made with a natural enzyme that converts stains and odors into a liquid that you clean up when you wipe it.

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How to Make Your Own Carpet Deodorizing Powder

You know how some fragrances, like apple pie baking, reminds you of certain things? For some people, apple pie reminds them of holidays, but for others, it just conjurs up images of Mom. The fact that odors and aromas can effect us is not a new revolution. People have known for many years that certain aromas can relax and calm. That's the idea behind essential oils. Their fragrances can make us feel happy, relaxed, peaceful and in harmony with the world.

There are assorted words to describe things we smell. The words "fragrance" and "aroma" generally refer to more appealing smells where as "odor" often indicates something not as pleasant. When it comes to the carpeting in our homes you don't want to hear the word "odor". Carpets, however, do absorb odors - there's little you can do about that. Things with fibers take on the odors of things to which they're exposed. The carpet in your house can absorb odors from pets, cooking, dirt from outside and more. Just because the carpets absorb odors doesn't mean they have to retain them.

Change "odor" to "aroma" in your home by simply making your own carpet deodorizing powder. You might already use the powder but have been purchasing it at a store. You don't have to pay that kind of money for some sprinkle-on odor remover; you can easily make the powder yourself.

Purchase a box of cornstarch or baking soda as the powder base for your carpet. Open the box, drop in about a dozen drops of your chosen essential oil. Tape the box shut and shake well. It's important that you shake the powder for at least a few minutes - straight through or off and on - to mix the liquid drops with the powder.

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