Cleaning Green

So the next subject is about cleaning products.
The decision for me to switch to natural cleaning products was simple and easy. I've always had a problem with how they smelled and once Jessi came along, they honestly scared me. And this was before I did any research on them.

Some chemicals in common household cleaners are carcinogens and can increase your risk of:
1. Cancer
2. Asthma
3. Allergies
4. Psychological Disorders

-In 1985 an EPA report states that household cleaners such as Windex are THREE times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor pollution!
-In 1990 alone, more than 4,000 children were given emergency treatment for the consumption of a household cleaner. In the same year, almost 18,000 pesticide related incidents were reported in which seventy four percent of victims were younger than 14 years of age.
-For children under the age of ten living in a home where pesticides are frequently used, the risk of leukemia increases 4-7 times. Childhood brain cancer is also associated with the use of flea collars and other pesticides in your home.

This is a good link to read:
http://www.zerowaste.ca/articles/column32.html

*I* think that going green with your cleaning products is one of the easiest and cheapest things.
Pretty much, if you have vinegar and baking soda, you're good to go! (Maybe get a spray bottle if you want, too.)
Here's some great sites for recipes on homemade cleaners~
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm
http://www.heatherferris.net/homemadecleaners.html

Here's some other tips for homemade cleaners:

Dr. Bronners Can be used for everything! I love this stuff. (Dr. bronners can be found at Target... ) It may seem expensive at first (about $14 for a bottle) but I got our bottle back in Sept and we're still going through it - and we mainly use it for body wash!

If you mix 1 scoop of oyxclean in about 16 oz of hot water then added about 2 tbs of Dr Bronners, its supposed to be "AH MAZING" and "Heaven in a bottle".
Make sure you don't mix oxyclean then Dr Bronners THEN water, it will make the oxyclean a solid! LOL

Grapefruit Seed Extract.....known to kill molds, viruses, bacterias, yeast and more. In fact I just heard the city of Chicago is using it in their sewer systems in place of bleach!! You can mix 15 drops in 30 oz of water. – To clean kitchen, bathrooms, etc.
GFS Extract doesn't have a smell and can be used for all the things I mentioned above. It can even be swallowed in water to kill internal bacterias, etc... such as UTI's, yeast infections....

You can use grapefruit seed extract to cure thrush

Tea Tree Oil also disinfects and kills all kinds of bad stuff. You can mix a spray bottle with 1/4 to 1/3 vinegar, the rest water, and a couple drops of TTO

Baking powder with lemon juice in the toilets if they need it

Vinegar. You can't believe what all vinegar can do for you. I use a mix of half vinegar and half water for cleaning/disinfecting my entire house.
It's a great disinfectant to use, especially in place of clorox. (Ugh, has anybody seen the commercials where they say you can disinfect you babies bottles and toys by sticking them in a sink full of clorox and water? That's nasty.)
Oh, another thing is that a lot of people think that their house will stink like vinegar when they use this. It will... But only for about *maybe* 10 minutes (In my experience.)
Once again, you can look here: http://www.vinegartips.com/

Another thing to consider is Essential Oils... They can be great for cleaning. Especially the lemon or a lime since it's a disinfectant.
It can also make that vinegar smell better. I've never tried any, but I've been peeking a Jeanette's website because I'm very tempted.
http://cronks.younglivingworld.com/MainFrame.asp?BodyFrame=resources/OilStory_main.asp

Not only are you going to be going green by using natural cleaners, but you're not going to be buying things in all those plastic bottles. Less trash!

If you don't want to make your own, there's some options there also that won't break the bank.
Here's a WAHM that makes cleaners. http://hyenacart.com/BareNaked/ I've never tried them, but they look good. But, if you look at some of the ingredient list, you could make some of them yourself. (Then again, this section is for people who don't want to make their own ;) )
There's reviews on her stuff Here and Here

There's also Shaklee, the stuff I recently got to try. http://www.shaklee.net/haich
I got the Basic H http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00015 which can be used for about everything! It may look like it's expensive at a little over $10 for 16 ounces, but when you consider that you use 1/4 tsp. for 16 oz of water for the basic cleaning stuff and 1-2 drops for the window cleaner, this stuff is going to last a loooong time!
I also got the scouring scrub: http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00430 I LOVE this stuff! It even smells good! It made cleaning my icky grimy shower so easy. I'm talking, in a matter of minutes.
And I got the stain remover: http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00305

I feel like I'm missing something here. But this is long and I'm out of time. Once again, you can leave a question of comment ;)