The third in a series of articles on eco-friendly household cleaners, here we discover the wonders of using simple yet powerful salt and lemons to scrub away dirt, grime and stains.
Cleaning With Salt
The benefits of using ordinary salt are many as you will soon discover. Here are some easy ways to use salt to clean, scrub and remove stains and spills from the kitchen and other rooms.
• Sprinkle salt on broken eggs or any other liquid spillover. Wait a few minutes and then, wipe clean.
• Burnt food in enameled pans can be cleaned by filling 1/4th of the pan with a solution of four tablespoons salt and water. Leave overnight. Boil in the morning and clean the pans. It would be easy to clean away the burnt food.
• Salt can be used to scrub kitchen countertops and mop up grease spills. Grease spills should be sprinkled with salt immediately and then, wiped clean.
• Spills in the oven can also be cleaned by sprinkling salt on them when warm and wiping clean with a damp cloth when cool.
• Kitchen sinks can be scrubbed with salt to remove soap and food residue.
• Salt can also be mixed with a general vinegar solution and used to clean non-porous surfaces.
• Chopping boards can be disinfected by sprinkling salt and bleach on them and then, scrubbing them clean. Rinse with hot water.
• Coffee and tea stains from cups can be scrubbed away with salt.
• A salt cleaning paste made by mixing 1 teaspoon with 1 cup of vinegar with just enough flour to make a paste can be used to clean and polish copper, brass and bronze.
Cleaning With Lemons
• Deodorize insides of microwaves by heating a bowl of water with a few slices of lemon for about 30 seconds.
• Deodorize the inside of the refrigerator by placing a cut lemon on one of the shelves.
• Deodorize chopping boards by scrubbing them with lemon halves.
• To remove stains on rugs, scrub with lemon juice. Let it stand and then blot dry.
• Make a lemon juice paste by mixing baking soda and apply to stains.
• Mix lemon juice with salt to make a paste and use to polish copper. Alternatively, you could sprinkle salt on lemon halves and buff thoroughly, squeezing out the juice. Add more salt as you go along till the copper gleams.
• Chrome fittings can be polished using plain lemon juice
• Use a solution of half a cup of lemon juice and one gallon of hot water to soak clothes that require bleaching. Let them soak overnight or at least, an hour. Then simply remove and put clothes and the lemon bleach solution into the wash and wash as usual. Lemon juice is safe for white socks, undergarments and even shirts. However, it should not be used on silk.
So, go ahead and switch your regular chemical-laden cleaners for these inexpensive, eco-friendly and easily available cleaning agents.
Related Articles: Do read the other two articles in this series Using Vinegar as an Eco-friendly Household Cleaner and Using Baking Soda as an Eco-friendly Household Cleaner.
