Moving over to natural cleaners...

[babybun]

I'm phasing out paper and chemical cleaners in our home and have a bunch of questions... please help a newbie out!

1. When you use cloths instead of paper towel, how often do you resue the cloth? Doesn't it get funky to use the same one more than a few times? Does this mean you have a ton of cloths? (ok that's a bunch of questions in one!)

2. When using baking soda/vinegar/water solution, what are the proportions and do you have to make a new batch each day?

3. What can I use to clean stainless steel/chrome sinks and stove tops?

4. What can I use to clean windows?

Thanks!

[nathansmum]

I've never bought paper towels for my kitchen - so not sure what things you use them for. However, I have a dishcloth for wiping benchtops etc and these get washed every day and a fresh one used then washed (I also have a teatowel (kitchen towel?) that is on the go and washed daily as well) - my ds often grabs the teatowel to wipe any mess he might make on the floor, and it goes straight into the wash and new one brought out for using.

I have a large spray bottle with 50/50 water and vinegar - this is used to clean my bathroom, toilets, mirrors etc. I just use it up till it's finished - I don't refresh or renew it until gone.

Stainless steel cleans up well with vinegar as well - so does glass.

[Blu Razzberri]

I use the EcoSense line to clean my house (everything, floors, windows, sinks, etc.); I use SolUGuard to disinfect; and I have a scouring pad (the 'metal' kind) that's used for scrubbing the sink and I use it for a long time before tossing it.

PM me if you want to know more about EcoSense (cost, where to get them, etc)

I also keep rags for dirty tasks and for extra dirty tasks, I use old teeshirts cut up according to the job.

[Catherine12]

The reuseability of cleaning cloths really depends on the task. I will reuse our dish-drying cloth for a few days (we have a dishwasher so there aren't a lot of dishes to hand dry). If I clean up a minor mess and most of the cloth is still clean I'll let it hang out for the rest of the day before sending it to the wash. If I am cleaning up something non-foodsafe though (basically anything on the floor) I send it to the wash immediately. I would recommend having at least a dozen cleaning cloths - I have several dozen. Old socks are good for this and I always have plenty of them around. You will probably want some sort of mini-laundry hamper or bag to put dirty cloths in while they await laundering.

I also find it useful to have two categories of cloths - one for wiping off counters, faces, tabletops and so on, and one for floors and ickier messes (potty accidents and the like). Just because I don't want to wipe my face with something that was used to clean up poo, even if it has gone through the wash (probably pure paranoia on my part) and because of nasty stuff like lead and other pollutants that may get tracked onto the floor (less paranoid, at least in my case, since we know there is lead paint in the house).