Keeping house, naturally

When we first moved in, AK's dad got us a whole suite of cleaning fluids - spray on glass cleaner, Vim (that pasty white cream thingy), insecticide spray. Well I ditched all of that.

I read snippets of the effects of the chemicals we use in our everyday lives while trying to decide whether or not to purchase Jessica Alba's book, The Honest Life, which I stumbled on while trying to decide if I should or should not get Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook. I do confess, I spend too much time on Amazon.com. Anyway, I didn't get Jessica's book.

Instead I just Googled homemade cleaners, and experimented on my own. Here's what I've changed:

- Used vinegar and water to clean tiles, disinfect washing sponges and best of all, on ant trails.

- To disinfect the tile countertops in my wet kitchen, I mix in half vinegar/half hot water and wipe the tiles. I also spray vinegar on where ants like to gather, like near Boo's food dish and the waste bin.

- Replaced VIM with coarse salt. For scrubbing grout, and (nothing works better, I swear) my stainless steel sink and pots, I just scrub with coarse salt. - Used hot vinegar to clean toilets

- Used a combination of vinegar and water to clean tile floors. They do need a second round with just water, though, to ensure that the vinengar doesn't stay and possibly corrode the tiles. I see no evidence of this happenning (the site claimed that it's safe for ceramic tiles, and mine are), and tested the solution on a small area before proceeding with the full thing.

- OK, why do glass cleaners even need to exist in the first place?? All I do is spray windows with water, wipe down with scrunched up newspapers and I have gleaming windows. It's been fun experimenting, and I love the fact that I have an (almost) toxin-free home.

I used to experiment with so-called environmentally-sound cleaners, but I really don't need to anymore.

Oh, and one more thing - if you plan on doing this, buy good vinegar, not the foul-smelling, super-cheap stuff that comes in plastic containers. Those smell foul. Good white corn-derived vinegar (I like Heinz) is what I use, and the smell goes away after it dries. The cheap stuff doesn't. It's not expensive, given its versatility and is probably still way cheaper than any cleaning solution