I was amazed just now.
I love the smell of bleach, but I just don’t use much of it anymore… something to do with dying streaks of funny colors into my favorite clothes. Now I’m really aware of which rags I use with bleach– and I end up keeping said bleached rag in the laundry until I can get a sufficient quantity of laundry that I won’t mind streaks of cream or white on… Which takes a pretty long time to happen.
I am going to miss getting high off of the bathroom cleaning fumes prior to bathing… because I’m notorious for cleaning the tub immediately before getting into a nice hot bath… but, I’m not going to miss the sad discovery I’ve made a million times when I realize that there’s still ajax in the tub that I’m sitting in…
So, check it out. Baking soda cleans just as well as any bleach powder, and scrubbing bubbles, and any other junk that’s got stuff that leaches into our drinking water even during the purifying process. Baking soda has no major side effects other than alkylization and curing a plethora of acidic problems like heartburn. And frankly, you’re not alkylizing squat with baking soda… only neutralizing what’s already naturally weakly acidic.
To clean my tub just now, I used baking soda (light dusting around the tub), a clean rag, cold water, and about one squirt of eco-friendly soap. There are million brands of these vegetable-based cleaners to choose from at Vitamin Cottage, and I think I went with the cheap one by Lifetree.
It smells really yummy, too, almost as fabulous as bleach!!! It has a lemony scent, and it can be used on your body, your car, your dog, and your bathtub– and more.
So, I’m pretty pleased– so pleased I had to come down here while the bath was running so I could share this with you.
Gotta go get naked…
8 Responses to “adventures in green”
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May 31st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Um, I don’t even BUY soap for our house anymore. I make my own. Take any empty squirt bottle - Add about three tablespoons baking soda, a couple of long squirts of lemon juice from the grocery store, and water. Shake. Spray. It cleans like a dream, and I know I could lick my counter and live.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Do you use this to clean your bathroom, too???
Yes, I love that you & I can compare notes!!!
May 31st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I totally do. And when I cleaned my Mom’s house with it, she said it had NEVER looked cleaner. After cleaning with bleach and not being able to breathe, I was just done. Now that I’ve made my own, some of my friends do it too. Between not buying paper towels anymore OR cleaners, I am saving a ton of money at the grocery store!
June 1st, 2008 at 7:04 am
Indeed, it’s the way to go.
But, here’s a question that was posed to me yesterday:
“Baking soda doesn’t sterilize anything. What about all the bacteria?”
Your thoughts?
June 1st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I hope it dies..I don’t really know much about bacteria, etc. I’m not crazy about bleach. And I know there is bacteria, but I hope that the lemon juice kills the germs. People lived a long time without bleach. I think that we have got crazy about bacteria, etc.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:02 am
True. Interesting how all these studies nowadays show that antibacterial soap has done opposite of what we intended– only making us more sick!!
So, do you still use laundry soap? Shampoo?
June 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Hey naked lady. Way to go green! I have lots of cleaning products that I don’t use anymore, I don’t want to just throw them in the trash for that is basically the same as pouring them down the drain..
I love a bath, rarely ever shower. I will try the baking soda
Torch
June 11th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
It’s totally worth it!!! Yay for Baking soda! And yay for naked ladies!