Cleanliness is next to Greenli-ness

I noticed the other day that my little house could use a good scrubbing. If you are one of the lucky ones that happens to to live in an antique house, you understand the different cleaning chores that old houses require. Dust just seems to ooze from the floors and walls. My wavy window panes always need a little shining and the cast iron pipes lend a bit of "deposit" to all of my sinks.

So I was searching around for some "Greener" cleaning ideas and came acros this article from the people at M.E.T. Recycle (Metropolitan Environmental Trust). Enjoy!

With food and gas prices soaring, everyone is looking for ways to cut back. There is a simple way to save money and make your home, community and the planet safer -- use natural cleaning ingredients instead of expensive and potentially hazardous products. Your home will shine! All you need are combinations of six basic ingredients - baking soda, borax, lemon juice, salt, olive oil and white vinegar. Don’t forget to use newspaper,reusable towels or old t-shirts, instead of paper products.

Mild abrasive -- Baking soda and table salt make a great abrasive for tough stains on pots and pants, sinks, counters and more. Mix into a paste with a little water, vinegar or lemon juice.
Window cleaner -- Mix equal parts of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle to clean glass, appliances and other surfaces. Add lemon juice to make a degreaser. Use full-strength vinegar to fight mold and mildew. Vinegar is also a natural deodorizer.
Stain remover -- Mix Borax with three parts water to make a paste to apply to carpet stains. Mix it with 1/4 part lemon juice to clean stainless steel and porcelain and to pretreat stains on clothes.
Wood polish -- Mix two parts of olive oil with one part lemon juice to clean unfinished wood.
Drain cleaner -- Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda into drain followed by 1 cup vinegar. Let stand for 15 minutes, flush with boiling water. Add lemon juice to deodorize.