Steps
- Deodorize your home. Your baby brother has made a nasty nappy smell. Don't reach for a chemical air freshener spray, which may contain horrid propellants such as propane. Instead, mix a pinch of cinnamon and other spices with water and simmer in a saucepan. (Ask an adult to do this.) Let the aroma waft around the home.
- Clean wooden furniture. splatted jam over the wooden arm of grandpa's chair. No time to lose. Wipe off the sticky goo with a cloth moistened with soapy water. To bring back the shine, don't use furniture polish which might contain chemicals like formaldehyde. Instead, stir one part vinegar or lemon juice into two parts of olive oil in a cup. Apply a small amount on a soft cloth to the wood. Rub it in gently, then polish with a dry cloth.
- Make windows sparkle. You've pressed your nose against the window making horrid faces at your sister. But dad cleaned that window only yesterday! Oops, big trouble, unless you can sort it out fast. Don't grab the chemical window-cleaning spray. Pour half a cup full of vinegar into a bucket of water and use this with a sponge to wipe off the marks.
- Polish up the brass. You've come home from football and left muddy hand prints on the brass door knocker. Mum will go nuts! Chemical metal polish just won't do! So mix up a teaspoonful of salt with an equal volume of vinegar in a cup. Sprinkle in some flour and stir until you've made a thick paste. Rub the paste on to the brass then polish with a dry cloth.
- Shine your shoes. As for grubby leather shoes that need polishing...Why use shoe polish (possibly containing turpentine and other chemicals) when you can use a banana skin from lunch? Rather than throwing it down for your sister to slip on, wipe the inside of the skin over the leather. Wipe off the excess slime with kitchen paper and polish to a shine with a soft cloth. Magic!
Warnings
- Most household cleaning products contain chemicals that can be harmful to the body if used in ways not recommended by the manufacturer. That's why they must be stored out of reach of young children who can't read the warning labels.
- Help to reduce the amount of these chemicals needed in your home by making some less-poisonous cleaning agents using ordinary ingredients - just like people used before World War II when petroleum-based chemicals hadn't been invented!
- Try them out only on items that aren't valuable. Never try them on grandma's precious antiques, for example.
Things You'll Need
- A saucepan
- A cup or beaker
- Soft rag or cloth
- A sponge
- Kitchen paper
- A bucket
- Tap water
- Cinnamon and other spices
- Olive oil (cooking)
- vinegar (or lemon juice)
- flour
- salt
- A banana skin
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