- I'm a fanatic on the subject of insecticides and pesticides and even weed-killers. I personally would rather live with the bugs (and use organic controls) and the weeds than salt my land with toxic substances which are known to be carcinogens and pathogens and mutagens and teratogens. I've had cancer twice, and don't want it again, thank you very much. So I've learned to love dandelions and to keep insects out of my house either by using natural controls (tansy planted outside my door, pennyroyal oil painted on doorsills and windowsills, and flypaper hanging near the windows), or just ignore them. I have a deal with the spiders: they can be in my house if they agree to eat other bugs and stay out of my hair. If they come down to my level, they get taken by the hand and gently led outdoors. My house is messy enough to be happy, and clean enough to be healthy, without being SO clean you daren't set food inside. I think this attitude is healthier for me AND the cats!
Bleach Revisited
- Diluted bleach is one of the best cleaners to use in bathrooms, kitchens, and litterboxes, as it kills many germs, including the FIP virus and FeLV. It is not toxic to cats if one doesn't let them walk on the surface while it is wet. Even if they do, it doesn't cause harm to their pawpads and the amount they might lick off their paws will not cause a toxic problem. One assumes the floor would have been mopped normally, without puddles being left behind, and that the bleach was correctly diluted.
Some vet sites recommend a 1:32 dilution, which is 4 oz. bleach in a gallon of water. Others say 1 part bleach to 20 parts water. Apparently a little goes a long way. Since I do take in cats from the streets from time-to-time, and start them out in the bathroom until I can access their status, I really do want to make sure I clean with something that can kill FIP and FeLV since the health status of the "newbies" is unknown. Plus it kills people germs too. It kills giardia too, which can affect both cats and people.
I also read that it gets rid of ant scent trails, so folks with ant invasions might want to clean their kitchen with diluted bleach.
- GalensGranny - Good old bleach is pretty much what is used, even in hospitals, to disinfect stuff--of course, they have to give it a fancy name, "Dakin's Solution", but it's still basically bleach water. I dissolve a tablespoon of it in a quart of water, and keep a spray bottle loaded with it in my bathroom and another in my kitchen. Don't forget about neutralizing the odor with a vinegar-water rinse (bleach and vinegar seem to do a pretty good job of canceling each other out).
- Susannah
Removing Chewing Gum and Gunky Spills
- Oh, yes--removing chewing gum from fabrics, hair, or rugs: rub in ordinary (creamy) peanut butter, until you get all the gum out, then use the same treatment you would to remove oil or grease, to take out the peanut butter. I learned the peanut butter treatment the time my daughter got it stuck in her hair, and it works very well--and is, of course, completely safe for humans and pets. As for removing greasy stains from fabric and carpets, you can take ordinary brown paper bags, and place them over the stain, and then weight them down with something heavy, like a brick covered with aluminum foil.
- Susannah - ...If it is on carpet or fabric, I put ice in a baggy or use one of those blue ice gel things on top of it. Leave it for a while. Once the gum freezes, you can just pop it right off in one piece.
- Sandra (MARSAN)
More Clean Green Tips
- Scrubbers:
As for scrubbers, I'll go you all one better--and this one doesn't even cost anything! You know the bags in which you buy onions? Cut off the paper tag and you have a great scrubber--it's especially nice when you make bread dough. You take that piece of onion bag and it cleans the bowl beautifully, and then the dough rinses right out of the mesh of the onion bag.
- Susannah - Pest Control (Outdoors)
For pest control, I use dish liquid and water. I only spray outside, along the foundation and around windows. I usually get invaded by European earwigs in the fall of the year and this method really cuts down on the numbers.
- kelliandtaz - Eucalyptus oil will remove sticky anythings from most surfaces. It's brilliant for getting adhesives from bandaids etc off skin, chewie/bubblegum out of hair, oily stuff (including most inks) out of suede or leather, tar off car duco etc. If there is any residue, just wash with detergent or soap.
- HOSTBARB
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