Homemade Green Cleansers for Your Apartment

There are two products that every Greystar apartment resident interested in green living should have in their kitchen pantry: white vinegar and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). There are plenty of green cleaning products now on the cleaning aisle in your favorite grocery store, but these two inexpensive items can handle many of the cleaning tasks around your apartment.

White distilled vinegar is used mostly in food preparation, usually for pickling or salad dressings. It doesn’t have as strong an odor or taste as wine or brown vinegar, and it is completely clear. Don’t try to use brown vinegar as a cleanser, since it may stain any porous surface. Here are some uses for white vinegar:

• Use it to clean out deposits clogging your steam iron, coffeemaker or showerhead
• Mix it with water to clean glass, tile or any ceramic surface
• It can also be used to clean pet stains, and the vinegar smell will deter future urinating
• Use a cup to clean your washing machine; run it through a regular cycle without any clothes
• Add a ¼ cup to a load of towels or sheets to remove any mildew smell
• Deodorize and clean your garbage disposal with ice cubes made of white vinegar; add the cubes and run the disposal, then flush with water
• Clean your microwave by putting a ½ cup of white vinegar mixed with ½ cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl; after you heat this mixture, odors will disappear and baked-on foods should wipe clean

Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is primarily used in cooking during baking as a leavening agent, but it has many wonderful properties that make it handy to have around the apartment. Here are just a handful of its uses:

• Put a box or small bowl of baking soda in the refrigerator, freezer or cupboard to eliminate food odors; sprinkle some in your trash can
• Sprinkle baking soda on grease splatters to ease cleaning
• Use a paste of baking soda and water to make stainless steel appliances shine
• Use baking soda to clean toilets and bathtubs
• Mix it with white vinegar and warm water to help unclog drains and clean drain pipes
• Use baking soda on carpets to remove odors; let stand for 15 minutes and then vacuum

You can look up many more uses around the home for both of these products on the Internet. These natural cleansers can handle most of the cleaning tasks in your Greystar apartment home, as long as you add the elbow grease.