by Annette from The Ward House
Cleaning without harming the environment, both my personal and the world at large, is important. If I can do so cheaply, all the better! Most have heard of cleaning with baking soda and vinegar; these I use often in the bathroom. A new fave, and a cheap one, is hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide is water with an extra hydrogen molecule. It breaks down quickly into water and oxygen when exposed to sunlight and heat thus the dark container. Dollar general sells the mack-daddy, 3% solution, size for $1 each and, since this is not normally used concentrated, it is a good buy.
This is a new friend and I am still learning the ins and outs of when/where to use and not to use. Some uses include:
- Dip your toothbrush in undiluted 3% solution to kill cooties after brushing.
- Tbsp of 3% solution in a cup of H2O swished around, spit out, rinse with water is a great mouth wash and helps to whiten teeth
- used as a color safe bleach in the wash
- diluted with water and used to wipe down cutting boards to kill salmonella and other bacteria
There are a slew of additional uses that can be found online, I liked those listed here. A weekend discovery was that some spray bottle tops will screw into a peroxide bottle – making it easier to premix and then store under the cabinet without allowing the peroxide to break down into its basic components.
On a related tangent, I read where some vinegar makers use petroleum in the production of vinegar so check the manufacturer to be sure that what you are using is not dependent upon petroleum (other than transportation costs). Details on that can be found at the above site/link. There was also talk of not combining vinegar with peroxide; this combination creates Peracitic acid. While not fatal, this is a skin, eye, & respiratory irritant.
Happy cleaning all!
I always have hydrogen peroxide on hand , I’ll be using it more often now. Thanks for the tips.
~ Peaceful Blessings ~