Day 25: Cleaning House

Most household cleaning products come in plastic. I like a tidy space, but I don't like all those plastic bottles and wrappers. I'm also concerned about the chemicals we use to clean with, so the Do it Yourself home cleaning methods are a win-win.

The key is vinegar! Baking soda and vinegar are a great sink and counter cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and drain de-clogger. I sprinkle baking soda on the surface I want to clean, pour vinegar on a cloth, and start scrubbing. It works well.

I ran out of laundry soap, and figured making my own would be easy. After much research, I realized that most of the ingredients they recommend to these DIY laundry detergents come in plastic. Foiled!

I tried to buy laundry detergent at the store in cardboard boxes, but luckily I checked before I bought some, because it is in a plastic bag inside the cardboard! What the heck?

The laundry soap I like best is O-Nature-L. I first found them at the Commonground Fair in Unity. It's a family business in Skowhegan making all natural laundry soap and cleaners. It comes in paper, which is great! But the paper has a very thin plastic lining. Bummer. They carry O-Nature-L at Whole Foods in Portland, and many health food stores around the state. You can buy it online too. I like the Cederwood scent!

Another bathroom essential is toilet paper. Why wrap paper in plastic? I had to look to find recycled content TP wrapped in paper. Seventh Generation came through for me, but it was sort of pricy.

Dishsoap: My current bottle of dish soap is running out, so I have sought out alternatives. I grabbed a bar of soap I made a few months ago, just a plain bar of soap, and tried suds-ing my dishcloth on it. Works fine! That was easy.

Toothpaste: as you may recall, TSA took my toothpaste at the airport. Tom's of Maine is in metal, but it still has a plastic cap, so I decided to make my own. Again, the ingredients all come in plastic or bottles with plastic caps. Sort of defeats the purpose. So Tom's it is, with the bummer on the plastic cap.

If you want to try to make your own toothpaste, most call for baking soda, mint essentail oil, and vegetable glycerine. The oil and glycerine packaging tripped me up.

http://www.diylife.com/2008/03/21/make-your-own-toothpaste/

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2009/04/27/diy-toothpaste/