The truth is that you already have in your home the two most powerful, effective, and economical tools you’ll ever need to clean your entire house: water and elbow grease! Since all conventional products contain well over 70% water, why pay for it when you still have to scrub? 

Instead go out and purchase two simple, cheap ingredients—white vinegar and baking soda—and make your own green products. It’s truly amazing what these two can conjure up. Then, follow the green cleaning recipes below, and have a blast. 

KITCHEN

In the kitchen, an easy all-purpose cleaner can be made from 50% water and 50% white vinegar, with a drop or two of liquid dish soap (green, please). Boom, you’re off! It works on everything! For baked-on messes, soak them in straight vinegar and use kosher salt for a terrific abrasive. Rub kosher salt onto cutting boards. In the oven, scrub down with a baking soda paste. On floors, use vinegar, hot water, and a few drops of liquid dish soap (wood floors shine with vinegar). 

DISHWASHER

Are you filling up your dishwasher all the way before you run it? Dishwashers use only one-sixth of the water it takes to wash dishes by hand. Don’t rinse your dishes beforehand (just scrape); it is simply not necessary with these new machines.  Green it up even more by filling the rinsing aid container with white vinegar instead of a petroleum-based rinse aid like Jet-Dry. Or, go bold, and make your own dishwasher powder by adding 1 tablespoon of washing soda and 1 tablespoon of borax to the soap bin.

BATHROOM

In the bathroom, only one demon stands out: mildew. Mildew, surprisingly, can be cleaned just by spraying undiluted white vinegar on the tub and tiles, or by scrubbing areas with half a lemon. Leave to soak for 30 minutes to cut the water deposit build-up.

If you need an abrasive, use baking soda as a paste with the lemon or vinegar (your new soft scrubbing cleaner) to whisk away the tub ring. Really tough stains on grout and other porous surfaces will probably remain, though the actual mildew will be gone. Just remember, that when chlorine bleach interacts with anything that is semi-porous or porous (grout, wood, vinyl, plastic, PVC), then it emits toxic organochlorines (see Chlorine Bleach, above). 

Avoid drain cleaners, which are made from lye, a caustic, corrosive, and poisonous substance. They also may contain ammonia, a respiratory irritant. Most clogged drains can be undone simply by using a handful of baking soda followed by ½ cup vinegar and boiling water. Follow with vigorous plunging, if  necessary. 

And, please say “no” to that little man in the boat, and clean your toilets with—you guessed it—baking soda and vinegar. Nobody is that lonely!