The Natural Cleaning Handbook

by natalie Wise

  • ¼ cup baking soda

  • 1 cup vinegar

  • 1 cup distilled or boiled and cooled water

  • 2 drops vanilla extract (or vanilla essential oil; if using essential oil, add 2 drops rubbing alcohol as well)

  Mix and shake well in an 8-ounce spray bottle.

  To Use: Spray liberally onto the cooking surface and let sit for a few minutes before wiping off with a clean rag.

  For extra-stubborn stains, cover the area well with a layer of baking soda. Then soak the baking soda with the spray and let sit for at least 10 minutes, making sure the baking soda remains wet and doesn’t dry out. Then use a flat, sharp plastic scraper designed specifically for this purpose to gently scrape the spot off. Buff the area with a tiny bit of olive oil on a soft rag.

  OVEN OVERFLOWS AND OOPS CLEANER

  Everyone has them—casserole overflows, batter oops’ when putting a full cake pan in the oven, and burning drips from sweet potato explosions . . . Our friends salt and baking soda are superheroes when it comes to cleaning the oven. You will need to set aside a good chunk of time, but you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner when you see how nice it looks (and how it doesn’t smell like you burnt dinner before you even put anything in the oven from all of the buildup). Anytime you entertain, people will comment on how clean the inside of your oven is.

  • Sponge

  • Stainless steel scouring pad

  • Grill brush for really stubborn stains

  • Gloves

  • Small squeegee or pan scraper that can act like one

  • Small bucket

  • Lots of rags

  • White vinegar

  • Baking soda

  • Citrus Vinegar (page 16) in a spray bottle

  First, fill a 9”x12” baking pan with an inch or two of water. Place in the oven, turn on the oven to 300 degrees, and let the water sit in the hot oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven off. When the oven is mostly cool, but still a tiny bit warm, remove the pan and all oven racks. Dip a sponge in white vinegar and scrub the entire surface to get the first layer of grease and grime loosened. Then, sprinkle flat surfaces with baking soda. Spray with orange vinegar to fully saturate the baking soda. Make a paste of the baking soda and orange vinegar to spread on the walls of the oven. Let the paste sit at least a few hours, overnight if your oven is particularly caked. Spray the orange vinegar on the baking soda periodically to keep it moist. When you’re ready, put on your gloves and use the stainless steel scouring pad and/or grill brush to scrub, scrub, scrub. The vinegar will have done a lot of the loosening for you, but it’s your elbow grease that will make it shine. Keep spraying vinegar as needed to keep things wet. Use the small squeegee to squeegee water into the bucket if necessary or sop it up with rags. The water will likely be greasy and dirty. When the grime is pretty much gone and the vinegar and water spray is running clear, give it one good last vinegar spray, then a water rinse. Let air dry with the door open, then admire your shiny oven interior.

  REFRIGERATOR/DISHWASHER EXTERIOR CLEANER

  Gleaming metal refrigerators are the norm in most kitchens today, but they seem to be a magnet for dog noses, baby hands, and oily splatters. That is, if you can see any of the surface of the door behind magnets and papers. Textured plastic or painted metal refrigerators offer another set of challenges because of their texture; stains seem to cling in the crevices with a vengeance. But a clean refrigerator door sets the tone in a kitchen and it is worth making up a batch of spray to keep things spic and span. Of course, you’ll need to take down artwork and wedding invitations, which is a good excuse to cycle things through and keep the refrigerator “calendar” up to date.

  • ¼ cup white vinegar

  • ¼ cup distilled or boiled and cooled water

  • 6 drops peppermint essential oil

  • For stainless steel: Add 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • For plastic/painted metal: Add 1 tablespoon castile soap

  Mix ingredients in an 8-ounce spray bottle. Shake well before use.

  To Use: Spray liberally and use a textured cloth to rub in circles with the grain of the stainless steel, or to get into the texture of the plastic.

  ODOR EATER REFRIGERATOR INTERIOR SPRAY AND ODOR ABSORBER

  Plastic and glass refrigerator drawers and shelves see a lot of sticky situations. This cleaner cuts through spills and drips quickly so you can shut the door fast and keep the cold air in. It also works well for a deep refrigerator clean. Take everything out of the refrigerator and throw away anything outdated or stale. Put the keepers in a cooler with ice. Take out the drawers and shelves. Fill the drawers with soapy water and add ½ cup of vinegar to each one. Let soak. Use this spray to clean shelves thoroughly, soaking if necessary, then rinsing clean. Use the spray on every surface of the interior of the refrigerator, being sure not to miss the edges of the doors and the rubber door gaskets that are a breeding ground for mold. Rinse the drawers, dry them, and put them back in, followed by the shelves. Then you can fill your clean refrigerator with food again. Keep the odor absorber on a back shelf out of the way.

  • ½ cup distilled or boiled and cooled water

  • ¼ cup white vinegar

  • ¼ cup baking soda

  • 7 drops lemon essential oil

  Mix well in a 16-ounce spray bottle. Shake well before use. This is one cleaner that does not store well, so pour it down the drain if you have any left, and it will clean your drain a bit, too.

  To Use: Liberally spray down refrigerator interior surfaces. This works on plastic, coated metal, glass, acrylic, and just about any other surface.

  Odor Absorber:

  In a small jar, mix 1 cup baking soda with 6 drops lemon essential oil and 6 drops peppermint essential oil. Poke a few holes in the lid using an awl or sharp knife. I like to put a little label with the date on it as well, so I can tell how long it’s been there. Place on a back shelf where it won’t get knocked over. Give this jar a shake to “recharge” the essential oils whenever you think of it, preferably at least every week. Change the mixture out every 1–3 months.

  FREEZE OUT SMELLS: CLEANING THE FREEZER

  Cleaning the freezer is a job no one wants to tackle. It’s just a pain, especially when ice builds up, bags and containers of mystery food slide around when you take out something, and the ice cream machine bowl may or may not be somewhere in there among the spilled corn and a floating chicken breast. This space needs some help. Cleaning the freezer follows a similar process to the refrigerator cleaning method listed on the previous page, with the addition of some hot water to melt ice buildup. This also works for defrosting chest freezers; it will just take a longer time and more work to drain the melted ice.

  First, turn the freezer setting to the highest (warmest) setting, or turn it off completely. If you can manage, unplug the system so you aren’t battling the cold air. Completely empty the space, placing things to keep in a cooler filled with ice and tossing anything freezer burned, unidentifiable, or without a valid date. Then place a bowl of hot water inside the freezer to help melt ice buildup. Place a few towels under the unit and between the door, close the door as best you can, and let the hot water do its work.

  Meanwhile, mix up a bottle of boiled and somewhat cooled water mixed with ¼ cup baking soda and ½ cup white vinegar.

  Use the towels to sop up melted ice. Spray the walls and shelves liberally with the spray mixture, and use a textured towel to clean. Use a toothbrush sprayed with the cleaning mixture to get into nooks and crannies, particularly where shelves slide in, if necessary. Wipe down with water, then wipe dry with a dry towel.

  Now you can organize the items you’re putting back in to keep things a bit tidier. Use masking tape and a Sharpie to label everything with a date, and keep plenty of rubber bands or chip clips handy to corral items that may open if shuffled too much. Group like items here, too; fruit and desserts on one side, vegetables in the middle, and meat on the other side. Use boxes or bins t
o keep things organized, or add additional shelves if necessary.

  Don’t forget to turn the temperature dial back to the proper temperature (typically 0 degrees F) or plug your freezer back in.

  PORCELAIN POWER POWDER FOR SINK AND BATHTUB CLEANING

  I’m lucky to have a gorgeous double-bay porcelain farmhouse sink in my kitchen. It’s beautiful . . . when it’s gleaming. When it’s dirty, it’s quite an ugly sight indeed, stained with coffee and tomato sauce in the pitted areas where the porcelain has worn thin over the years. You might be tempted to bleach your porcelain sink, particularly if it is pitted. But bleaching only worsens the problem in the long run. Using natural ingredients and a bit of elbow grease, you can get your porcelain pretty again without the use of harsh bleach. Of course, if your sink is too pitted, not much will get the stains out of the porous parts, and you will need to consider having the sink reglazed. You can do this yourself, but be very careful; I recommend hiring someone who specializes in this type of restoration.

  • 1 cup baking soda

  • ¼ cup salt

  • 6 drops lemongrass essential oil

  • 6 drops eucalyptus essential oil

  • Vinegar

  • Warm water

  Mix together baking soda and salt. Add 3 drops of the lemongrass essential oil and 3 drops of the eucalyptus essential oil and mix well.

  In a small spray bottle, mix together half vinegar and half warm water, with about 3 drops of each essential oil.

  To use: Wipe the sink clean with a sponge and warm water. Spray the entire basin well with warm water. Sprinkle liberally with baking soda and salt mixture. Give it a nice thick layer. Spray the baking soda mixture well with the vinegar mixture to get it thoroughly soaked. Let sit for at least 20 minutes, if not longer. You should see the baking soda start to take on a brownish tint from absorbing the mess. Spray more vinegar if necessary, but it’s OK if the paste dries out a little. Then use a soft brush or sponge (do not use stainless steel bristles or pads) to scour the baking soda/salt mixture well and really get some muscle behind it to get that porcelain gleaming. Rinse thoroughly. If there are still any trouble spots, repeat the process. Then give it one last shine with the vinegar and essential oil spray. It should be shiny and glowing!

  LEMON LIQUID CLEANER

  This soft-scrub type cleaning liquid works great on porcelain surfaces of any type in the kitchen! Reach for it when you’re looking to do a bit less scrubbing and want the ease of a squeeze bottle. The lemon essential oil cuts through grime like a champ and baking soda helps it along.

  • 1¼ cups baking soda

  • ¼ cup Sal’s Suds or castile soap

  • 2 tablespoons hydrogen peroxide

  • 25 drops lemon essential oil

  Mix ingredients well in a small bowl. Transfer to a 12- or 16-ounce jar or squeeze bottle, leaving a few inches at the top, as the mixture will expand a bit as it settles together. Keep airtight in a cool, dark place for a few weeks.

  To Use: Add some of the cleaning liquid to a soft cloth, sponge, or brush, or squirt it directly onto the surface. Rub in. Let sit for 15–20 minutes. If necessary, scrub again with the cloth, sponge, or brush. Rinse well.

  Extra Tip: Use half a lemon to scrub this mixture into your surface instead of a cloth or rag. The extra lemon juice has wonderful cleaning properties and adds to the lemon-fresh scent.

  SINK OR SHINE: STAINLESS STEEL SINK CLEANING

  Stainless steel sinks are more popular than porcelain these days. Cleaning them can seem much easier; they are easy to sanitize and spray clean, and don’t seem to hold onto stains or grime. But they have a dirty little secret . . . rust. The sinks themselves are not actually rusting, but tin cans, rust deposits in your water, and chemical reactions from cleaners left too long on a moist sink can leave nasty rust stains. Triclosan, that tricky antibacterial agent we mentioned earlier, and bleach can both cause chemical reactions with the metal that may look like rust. In those cases, making sure you spray down your sink after every use helps flush those chemicals down the drain. Even though it isn’t coming from the sink itself, it’s there.

  Baking soda to the rescue, of course. The process here is very similar to cleaning a porcelain sink, but we’ll avoid anything too abrasive that might cause pitting.

  • Baking soda

  • White vinegar

  • Seltzer

  Spray the sink well with warm water. Sprinkle baking soda over the entire surface area, then spray with white vinegar until thoroughly saturated. Let sit at least 20 minutes. Then, using a soft rag, rub in a circular motion with the grain of the steel to thoroughly clean.

  Next, rinse well by pouring plain seltzer water over the entire surface of the sink, then let air dry. Things should be nice and clean now!

  CATCH UP ON KEEPING YOUR COPPER & BRASS SHINY

  Copper items tarnish easily and lose their traditional gleam, but there’s an easy and organic fix for that: tomato ketchup. Ketchup has a high concentration of one of our favorite ingredients: vinegar. Look for a natural, organic tomato product if possible to avoid getting extra chemicals and sugar that isn’t necessary for the cleaning process.

  • Ketchup

  • Warm water

  To Use: Use an old rag to thoroughly coat the pan bottom or object with ketchup. You’ll want to do this in a sink so the items can rest for 10–20 minutes. Then simply rinse with warm water to remove the ketchup and admire your newly restored copper or brass pieces.

  SHINY SILVER SERVICE IN SECONDS: CLEANING SILVER ITEMS

  If you have grandmother’s silver tea service, or a few boxes of fancy silverware, chances are you’ve seen the pieces tarnish over the years. While the patina can be desirable for some display pieces, other pieces, such as silverware, should be sparkling silver every time you use them. But chemicals have no place on eating utensils, and the thought of rubbing each piece until your hand falls off seems old-fashioned. Don’t fret! There’s an easy way to clean an entire box of silverware before your next party, even if you forget until the last minute. Even better news? Silver tarnishes when it hasn’t been used for a long time, so instead of letting the silver linger in the bottom of the hutch, use it regularly and you’ll have less work to do in the long run. Be sure not to mix your silver pieces with stainless steel in the regular silverware drawer though, and don’t keep rubber nearby either.

  Line a 9”x12” (or larger, depending on the size of your pieces) baking pan with aluminum foil. Add the silverware, making sure fork tines are uncovered and spoons aren’t nested together. Lightly sprinkle ¼ cup of baking soda over the items. Bring a big pot of water to a boil, and pour the boiling water over the pieces, being sure to “activate” all of the baking soda and cover each piece. Let the pieces soak for a few minutes. You’ll be able to see the reaction taking place and the tarnish disappearing. Then use kitchen tongs to remove them to a kitchen towel. When cool enough to handle, inspect pieces for areas that didn’t quite get clean enough, and buff with a little of the leftover cleaning water.

  Finally, simply clean your pieces in warm soapy water and dry immediately and thoroughly with a soft cloth.

  WOODEN SPOON WONDER WAX

  OK, OK, this isn’t an actual wax, but it works like one and I liked the alliteration. Woodenware is the perfect complement to an organic home— functional, beautiful, heirloom, and often made by hand (the best pieces always are, of course). To keep your beautiful wooden pieces in tip-top shape, follow these tips. They work for every wooden utensil in your kitchen, be it your cutting boards, rolling pin, or the good old-fashioned wooden spoon. I have a whole container on the counter dedicated to just my wooden implements, so preventing them from cracking or splintering is key. It reasons that I also keep a jar of this beautiful wooden spoon wonder balm handy. This also makes a great gift; why not make several jars while you’re at it?

  • 1 ounce organic beeswax pastilles or, if a block, cut into pieces

  • 4 ounces cold-pressed sunflow
er oil

  • The contents of 1 vitamin E capsule

  • 8–10 drops lemon essential oil, optional

  Place the beeswax and sunflower oil in a pint jar and place that jar in a pan with water that reaches halfway up the sides of the jar. Bring to an almost-boil, and heat until the wax melts. Stir well to incorporate the two (using a wooden stir stick is the best, since you can compost it afterward and you won’t have to clean wax off it). Stir in the essential oils and vitamin E. Pour into two 4-ounce jars (or keep in the 8-ounce jar you’ve melted everything in). Stir a few times during cooling to ensure it stays emulsified. When cooled completely, store with a lid in a cool, dry place.

  CLEANING WOODENWARE

  Woodenware scares people because they can’t put it through the dishwasher (never, ever put it in the dishwasher), so they think it isn’t clean enough, especially if they’ve used it for raw meats. But study after study has shown that wood has a unique way of “eating” germs and can actually be safer than plastic. I don’t recommend bamboo cutting boards because bamboo naturally has silica in it, which will dull your knives. So good old-fashioned wood it is. You can wash and even sanitize wood, though, so don’t worry. Here’s everything you need to know to keep all of your woodenware in fine shape.