List of Household Cleaning & Pest Control &  Items

NOTE: Personal Care menu has been moved to Natural Healing Remedies & Personal Care menu

Most commercial products in this category contain toxic substances, poluting our groundwater and oceans. Yet they don’t really do a better job at their intended use than products you can make at home using ordinary ingredients like natural oils, handmade soap, vinegar, salt and herbs. Even commercial products that claim to be ‘organic’ are toxic because use of the “organic” label for non-food products is not defined nor enforced.

See Mercola article for more detail about toxicity of commercial cleaning products such as oven cleaners, acidic toilet cleaners, and more.

See also: 

1. Healing Herbs, Oils, Remedies
2. Other sites:
   1. Green Med Info: 13 Chemical Threats to Remove from your Home (greenmedinfo.com/blog/13-chemical-threats-remove-your-home)
   2. myhealthmaven.com/diy/cleaning-recipes/.  Hmm, this just has a photo of one brand of baking soda and does not include recipes….not sure why.  Check out instead:
      • 3 Easy Recipes for Tough Kitchen Messes: treehugger.com/cleaning-with-baking-soda-5194039
      • Taste of Home:  45 Clever Ways to Clean with Baking Soda: tasteofhome.com/article/50-clever-ways-to-clean-with-baking-soda/
      • Tree Hugger:  Using Vinegar and Baking Soda to Clean your Home: 12 Ways to Use Vinegar and Baking Soda to Clean Every Room in Your Home
      • Martha Stewart: How to Deep-Clean Your Oven with Baking Soda and Vinegar: marthastewart.com/1062857/how-clean-oven

About Ingredients (for Homemade Cleaning Supplies)

• Homemade Cleaning Supplies: Notes on Ingredients

Soap Basics

• Kitchen Hint: keeping cleaning-sponges fresh with real soap
• See Soap Basics for advantages of using real soap, and difference between real soap and commercial “soaps” that are actually detergents.
• See Making Real Soap at Home (moved from Soap Basics) for:
  • Ingredients for Making your own Bar or Liquid Soap
  • Links to more detailed articles on making soap from The EssentiaList (a website for which I am editor)
  • Liquid Castile Soap from a Bar
• How to wash and dry your hands properly: see Notes on Natural Health/Healing Topics, H – P, under “Hand Washing”

Care of Cookware

See  the following articles on this site:

• Care of Cookware includes Cast Iron, Enameled Cast Iron, Stainless Steel, Enameled Steel, and Corningware. Does NOT include aluminum cookware because it is toxic.
• Chantal enamel-on-steel cookware: use and care

Spring Cleaning

• Spring Cleaning: how to avoid potentially deadly hantavirus infection

Composting

• Self Contained Compost Bin for Pet Waste

Homemade Cleaning Products, etc.

• (Kitchen Hint: keeping cleaning sponges fresh with real soap
• Homemade Natural Odor Eliminator
• Homemade Cleaning Supplies: Notes on Ingredients
• Homemade Cleaning Supplies, etc includes:
  • Hand wash
  • Laundry Soap (this got lost; see Other Sites, below, for ESP posts on the topic)
  • General Household Cleaners
    • Scented Vinegar
    • Fruit & Veggie Wash
    • Air Fresheners
    • All-Purpose Cleaners
    • Countertop Cleaners
    • Windows and Glass
    • Wood Surfaces
    • Linens
  • Kitchen and Bath Cleaners
    • Bathtubs & Sinks, Chlorine-free
    • Shower heads
    • Drains
    • Toilets
    • Ovens
    • Ceramic or glass tile
  • Floor Cleaners
    • Carpets
    • Linoleum
    • Vinyl
    • Wood
    • Removing black heel marks
  • Metal Cleaners
  • Hand Wash
  • Pest Solutions (moved to Homemade Pest Deterrents; see below)
• Other Sites:
  • ESP Gathering Summary: Homemade laundry soap and GMO discussion
  • ESP Kitchen Hint: Homemade laundry soap for HE (high-efficiency) washers
  • ESP Gathering Summary: Rendering Animal Fat for Soap Making
  • Homemade Air Fresheners (with vodka and essential oils), by Wellness Mama
  • Homemade Spray for Dusting/Polishing Wood Furniture, by Wellness Mama
  • 5 Natural and Easy Cleaners You can Make at Home (Mercola)
  • Eight Nontoxic Cleaners You Can Use at Home (and how to use them); also includes info on toxicity of commercial cleaners (Mercola):
    • Baking soda
    • White vinegar
    • Lemons (juice & peel)
    • Castile soap
    • Coconut oil
    • Essential oils, such as citrus essential oil
    • Hydrogen peroxide
    • Rubbing alcohol or vodka
  • Showered Cleaner to Combat Biofilms (Mercola)

Homemade Pest and Disease Control Solutions

• Homemade Pest Deterrents (moved from Homemade Cleaning Supplies, etc.)
• Ant deterrents and poisons (natural, of course)
• Spring Cleaning: how to avoid potentially deadly hantavirus infection
• Other sites:
• Bed bugs: 9 Non-Toxic ways to get rid of bed bugs, and avoid them (Wellness Mamma)
• Bed bug resurgence and non-toxic ways to kill them (Mercola)
• Bug-repellent and moisturizing lotion bars (Wellness Mamma)
• Bug Spray, Homemade, using Essential Oils (Wellness Mamma)
• Insect Repellent: Coconut Oil (Topical) is Easy  and Better Than DEET (Mercola)
• Insect & Tick Repellent, Homemade with Vinegar & 4-Thieves Herbs (Wellness Mamma)
• Moth balls or a safe alternatives (Mercola)
• Poison Ivy: Best Home Remedies (Mercola)