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Choose Safe Cleaning Products
Make Your Own Green Cleansers
With basic ingredients—baking soda, vinegar, Murphy’s Oil soap, and salt—you can make non-toxic alternatives to more hazardous chemicals that are traditionally used at home.
Follow these simple recipes to make your own cleaners for:
Safety First!
- • Please do not mix the Green Cleaning recipes with other cleaning products.
- • Keep these basic cleaning products out of the reach of children.
- • To properly dispose of hazardous household products you no longer want or need, call the Hazards Line at (206) 296-4692.
Tub and Sink Cleaner
- • Use baking soda in place of scouring powder.
- • Sprinkle it on porcelain fixtures and rub with a wet rag.
- • Add Castile Soap or Murphy's Oil Soap to the rag for more cleaning power.
- • Rinse well to avoid leaving a hazy film.
Window and Mirror Cleaner
Indoors:
1. Put ¼ cup of vinegar in a spray bottle and fill to top with water.
2. Spray on surface.
3. Rub with a cloth diaper, other lint-free rag, or sheets of newspaper.
Outdoors
1. Use a sponge and wash with warm water mixed with a few drops of liquid soap.
2. Rinse well.
3. Squeegee dry.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
1. Sprinkle baking soda inside the bowl.
2. Squeeze a couple of drops of soap in also.
3. Scrub with a toilet bowl brush and finish outside surfaces with a rag sprinkled with baking soda.
4. Rinse.
Linoleum Floor Cleaner
1. Mix 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water.
2. Mop as usual.
3. The vinegar odor will go away shortly after the floor dries.
All-Purpose Cleaner
For spots on linoleum, tile, and woodwork.
1. Add a drop of Murphy's Oil Soap on a wet washcloth.
2. Rub briskly.
A washcloth will last longer and create less waste than a sponge.
Copper Cleaner
Do not use this cleaner on lacquered finishes.
1. Mix equal parts vinegar and salt (a tablespoon of each should do).
2. Apply to surface with a rag.
3. Rinse thoroughly with water to prevent corrosion.
4. For a shiny appearance, apply a little vegetable oil with a cloth and rub.
Drain Cleaner
This recipe will free minor clogs and help prevent future clogs.
1. Pour ½ cup baking soda down the drain.
2. Pour ½ cup vinegar down the drain.
3. Let it fizz for a few minutes.
4. Pour a teakettle full of boiling water down the drain to clear it.
5. Repeat if needed.
If the clog is stubborn, use a plunger. If very stubborn, use a plumber's snake.
Oven Cleaner
Do not use this cleaner on self-cleaning ovens.
1. Mix 1 cup baking soda with enough water to make a paste.
2. Apply to oven surfaces.
3. Let stand for several minutes.
4. Scrub with a scouring pad for most surfaces.
5. Use a spatula or bread knife to get under large food deposits.
Try spot cleaning your oven regularly; dirty ovens are less energy-efficient.
Related Links
Where to Dispose of Hazardous Waste
Links to other sites
Washington Toxics Coalition
King County Local Hazardous Waste Program site
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