The supermarket shelves are lined with bottles and jugs of cleaners for the home. “Lemony fresh!” with “scrubbing bubbles!” the labels shout. With so many different products, how can you choose the right, or even the best one? Another concern is whether the product contains harmful chemicals or toxic fumes. Caustic cleaners may reduce your scrubbing time, but are they safe for the environment, your skin, or your lungs?
Let’s take a look at the most popular cleaners on the market today.
Bleach
While used mostly for whitening laundry, bleach (sodium hydroclorite) is an effective disinfectant, killing germs and bacteria on contact. Diluted with water, usually one cup bleach per gallon, it is known for brightening dingy surfaces. It is not, however, effective in removing any kind of greasy buildup or stains. Care should be taken when pouring bleach due to its strong smell and it is caustic to bare skin. Mixing bleach with other cleaners can produce a toxic gas that can be fatal, so bleach should be used sparingly in household cleaning.
Ammonia
Many name brand cleaners contain some amount of ammonia, and ammonia (ammonium hydroxide) can also be purchased as a separate product. Ammonia and ammonia- based cleaners are good at dissolving the greasy buildup that bleach can not. Like bleach, ammonia can produce skin burns and toxic fumes at full strength. Diluted with water, ammonia is very effective for cleaning greasy spills on countertops and stove tops. It can also be used to remove grease stains from clothing, though you should check the fabric for colorfastness first. Ammonia should not be mixed with other bleach-based cleaners due to the toxic fumes created when ammonia is combined with bleach.
In my own home, I use ammonia for mopping tile and vinyl floors. I also use it in the kitchen and bathroom for removing grime and greasy buildup. I find it to be an effective cleaner, except when I’m concerned about germs- then I use bleach water.
Borax
Borax is a powdered mineral (sodium biborate) that can be used dry as a scrubbing agent or diluted with water as a surface cleaner; use 1 tablespoon per quart of water. The properties of borax enhance the cleaning power of other cleaning agents, especially in hot water, which makes it effective as an laundry detergent booster. Borax can safely be used with bleach and bleach-based products. It is often used in dry form to kill insects such as fleas, ants, and roaches, diluted with water it makes a disinfectant solution. Borax is most effective in nutralizing urine smells and germs associated with diaper pails and cloth diapers should be soaked in borax prior to regular washing.
While borax is a natural cleaner, it is not totally safe. Care should be taken when cleaning with borax as it can cause skin irritations and contact with foods, children, and pets should be avoided due to its insecticide abilities.
Powdered Cleansers
Powdered cleansers such as Comet and Ajax have many uses in cleaning kitchens and bathrooms. Most brands will clean stubborn stains, kill germs, and remove greasy buildup. Care should be taken to avoid skin contact, and not all surfaces can be safely cleaned with powdered cleansers. Certain metals, countertops, and painted surfaces can be damaged during cleaning with these products.
I have used powdered cleansers over the years with good results. One drawback for me is that these types of cleansers leave a powdery or gritty residue that has to be diligently and thoroughly washed away.
Lemons and Vinegar
Lemon juice and vinegar are 2 kitchen pantry staples that have been used as effective cleansers through the ages. With a renewed interest in natural cleaning products, lemon juice or oil and vinegar have regained popularity. Low in cost and readily available, both lemon juice and vinegar use their naturally occurring acids to remove dirt, grease, and grime. Cleaning with lemons gives your home a fresh citrus smell with out the chemical overtures of manufactured cleansers. The smell of vinegar may not be as pleasant- it may remind you of pickles or dying Easter eggs- but vinegar works well at removing soap scum and hard water scales. As the vinegar dries, the smell will dry up too!  While safe for nearly all surfaces, vinegar can damage certain types of tile, tile grouts, and natural marble.
Baking soda
Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is a mineral powder used for baking cookies and other treats. It absorbs odors, making it a natural deodorizer for refrigerators, trash cans, and diaper pails. It can be used as a scrubbing agent with either lemon juice or vinegar or even water. Baking soda can be used as a laundry detergent booster or presoak. And it scrubs away dirt and grease without leaving a powdery residue.
All of these products that I’ve mentioned are effective cleansers, depending on what you need to clean and how clean you want it to be. Unfortunately, there is no one cleaner that will kill germs, not be toxic, make surfaces sparkle, and the whole house smell fresh. BUT, if I had to chose just one product to clean my home it would be- baking soda. In my opinion, using baking soda- just with water- worked better than ammonia or powdered cleansers at cleaning up everyday grease and grime in my home. What’s more amazing to me is that surafces cleaned with baking soda appear to stay cleaner longer. It’s 100% natural and amazingly cheap, and when you’re done cleaning, save a tablespoon and bake some homemade cookies!
