I like to make homemade cleaners to save money, but are they any better for the environment? For example, the one I make the most is basically a little lemon ammonia and water with a squirt of Dawn in it. I make a whole bottle for pennies, but is the ammonia bad? Do you have any cleaner recipes that would be better? I have not had good luck with just vinegar and water. Thanks.
I can't use ammonia since I am allergic to it. My favorite cleaner is homemade and I use it on everything but glass. 1 cup borax (found in laundry section) 1/2 cup baking soda When I mix this up I use 2 teaspoons to 2 cups of water. If I want to have a sudsy cleaner I add a small squirt of hand washing dish soap to it. I put it in a sports type of bottle to use. I also use it as an abrasive cleaner bu putting it in a shaker, like an empty spice bottle. I use it as as laundry booster too.
Homemade is better for our environs because the mileage is so small. Once baking soda is in your hands, all those thousands of miles of travel for the exotics in cleaners is saved, along with dollars. Debra Dadd's columns online are reliable sources of environmental as well as personal safety at home. She is tough on petrochemicals.
I personally don't think homemade cleaners are any better for the environment. Ammonia is not any more harmful than baking soda, as long as you are only using small amounts of it. It is a stronger base, but sometimes you need something stronger. If you use a small amount mixed with water, it is not harmful to use it as a cleaning product. Ammonia can be neurtralized by mixing with vinegar, and it then turns into salt, water, and carbon dioxide.
RE: Are Homemade Cleaners Environmentally Friendly?
By mary (Guest Post)
Go to diynetwork. look for advice from the queen of clean and go to dollarstretcher.com One cleaner I know of that is environmentally friendly is to mix 1 tbsp. of baking soda in a quart of warm water, and yes, ammonia is bad for the environment.
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