Help!! Natural Cleaning Solutions??

[mamajaillet]

Hello mamas!!
I am looking for suggestions for a couple of household cleaning issues I currently have. One is for something that really will get stains out of carpet I have tried many things, and the old carpet that is in the home that we just moved into is still dotted with stains: I am also looking for a good stain remover for the laundry. We seem to be plagued with oil stains from cooking (me) and eating (the kids). Any thoughts?
Finally, we moved into the country, and have hard water. Any natural solutions for keeping the toilet clean??

Thanks in advance for your brilliant ideas!!

[artemis33]

Well I am no expert but I always have opinions

For stains, try BacOut. By the makers of BioKleen. It works pretty well both for laundry and for carpet. On laundry, also try Dawn dish washing liquid. I usually use Seventh Gen for my actual dishes, but I have a bottle of Dawn by the washer for this sort of thing and it works pretty well. Oxyclean is another for stubborn laundry stains.

For the toilet, try an overnight soak with borax and vinegar. The ratio is 1 cup borax, 1 cup vinegar, and 10-15 drops of essential oils - they suggest 10 drops lavender or pine with 5 drops lemon or lime. This is from one of my natural cleaning books - The Naturally Clean Home. You put it in at night before bed, and by morning it should have dissolved any hard water stains, etc. Just flush, or so they say! I clean with this solution, but I have never left if overnight.

[mgilleran@earth-co]

I have also had good luck using Dawn to remove oil stains. Make a scrub of Dawn & borax, srub & then let it sit 30 minutes or so before washing. I know it isn;t natural, but it saves clothes! We also moved to a house with hard-water last year. This has been an experience for me. I just clean the toilet every 4 days or so & it keeps the stains away. I clean it with a little bit of everything, btu I think what works best is a dash of my homemade laundry soap with borax sprinkled all over the sides. I let it sit about 15 minutes then scrub it with my brush. It keeps it sparkling. I think routine manintenance is the key to keeping the stains away. I have a friend that lets hers get bad, then she has to use "The Works" which is made by the same company that makes "Iron Out" I think. It works for her, but i tmakes me ill. I can't stand the poisonous smell.

[mamajaillet]

Thanks for the suggestions ladies.

I had planned on the just keeping up with it for keeping the toilet clean,
but we moved here when my dd was 2 months, so it hasn't exactly worked.

[lindberg99]

The best solution to keep the toilet clean is to clean it every day. It doesn't matter what you use, just squirt some kind of soap/cleaner in and brush it every day.

I got some weird blue stains in our toilets (from when I used blue toilet bowl cleaner) and I got those off with a Magic Eraser and borax. Don't ask me why I cared but one day I was obsessed with getting those blue stains off.

Yes, try Dawn for grease stains. I once spilled like a cup of olive oil on my jeans and Dawn got most of it out. At least enough that I could wear them again with out really noticing it.

I agree about The Works - It stinks! I think it is hydrochloric acid.

[reducereuserecycle]

I also have an issue with toilet. I heard that motto a long time ago, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." I thought it seemed like a great way to save water. Now, DH is blaming my "great idea" on the stains in the bottom of the toilet that will not come out. We have both scrubbed and scrubbed with everything from 7th Generation toilet cleaner, to baking soda to vinegar. Nothing will work so I'm going to try the borax and vinegar and see what that will do. It may be hard water stains and not urine stains. Oh, well, even though the toitlet is stained, we have saved lots of water!