If you clean your house with toxic store-bought chemicals, can you really call your house clean?

Wave goodbye to the expensive array of noxious liquids that crowd your cabinets and contaminate your home. This spring, clean—really clean— with these all-natural DIYs.

Really, the only things you can’t clean with it are: marble, granite, device screens, wax furniture, and hardwood floors, unless you’re certain that the finish on the floor is resistant to the acidity of the vinegar.

One ingredient, zero odors

The foul scents of ancient brussels sprouts and sour milk may remain long after they’ve been removed from your refrigerator. To right this wrong, you don’t need to deep clean the whole refrigerator: just add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to a small bowl or plate, then leave it open in your refrigerator. Once the baking soda has absorbed whatever aromas haunt the fridge, remove it.

A little lemon goes a long way

Don’t have time to make your own cleaners? That’s okay! Rub a slice of lemon on stained cutting boards or scratched furniture to remove the blemishes. Remember:wipe surfaces down with a damp washcloth afterwards to remove sticky lemony residue.

Next, toss the used lemon slice down your kitchen sink garbage disposal for a cleaner-smelling kitchen sink.

Finally, juice the rest of the unused lemon to make yourself a cup of lemonade. When life hands you lemons, right?

WHEN MAKING YOUR OWN

non-toxic cleaning products, don’t forget to buy and use refillable glass bottles to store your cleaning products. You can use mason jars or any other glass jar or bottle. These can be found at any major store such as Target or Walmart and can be ordered through online retailers such as Amazon.

As many of us know too well, whether we make our own products or buy them, it can be easy for our storage areas to become cluttered. As you begin making and jarring your own products, consider buying organizers to keep your products in check. After all, we are spring cleaning, right? Like the glass bottles and mason jars, you can buy organizers at major retailers either in-store or online.

Heather Motro
Contributor at SpaceCoast LIVING | Website

In addition to writing and serving as Assistant Managing Editor for Space Coast Magazines, Heather Motro writes the sustainability blog The Blergh, manages social media for the Marine Resources Council and was co-Editor-in-Chief of Holy Trinity High School’s award-winning yearbook, The Tigrium. She is a member of Clemson University Honors College Class of ’24 (go Tigers!).