Updated 4/8/17:
CLEANING TOOLS
Recommended are:
1. An indoor and an outdoor broom and hand broom
2. A dust bin
3. A box for collecting and putting back stray items quickly
4. Squirt bottles (These are better than spray bottles, so that there is less chance of inhalation from using a spray bottle. An empty dish soap bottle works great. Just squirt cleanser on a cloth or directly on a surface)
5. Scrub brushes (for things like linoleum floors, bathroom tiles...)
6. Rags (Old cotton clothing can be saved to turn into rags for cleaning, polishing and shining.)
7. Dish cloths
8. Aprons to protect clothes
9. Kitchen towels
10. Dust cloths (microfiber works really well)
11. A long handled duster or a clean soft bristled broom for dusting ceilings and upper walls (Can wrap a dust cloth around the end, too).
10. A mop and a large floor cloth to clean the floor either quickly or manually for more thorough cleaning days.
11. Buckets
These may be a little unusual, but they are useful:
1. A small, unused toothbrush (This is good to get the cracks and crevices or hard to clean places such as the edge of the refrigerator door handle or the edges around light switches and round sink handles.)
2. A shaving brush or paint brush (great for for dusting small crevices and hard to reach places such as on a computer and keyboard.)
3. Razor blades (A small pack of these with thick handles for better grip can be bought at a hardware store. Use it along with dishsoap for getting paint off of windows and removing annoying stickers on stainless steel dishes and containers. Soaking the stickers first of all aids the process. Then scrape off with the razor. Done carefully, it should not scratch.)
NON TOXIC AND LESS TOXIC CLEANSERS
1. Lemon juice (Lemons may be experimented with in various ways. Takes off bathroom scum. In a pinch, lemon juice may be used as a degreaser in place of dish soap. First scour, then rub on some baking soda and finish with lemon juice before rinsing with hot water. Leftover lemon rinds work great. Also use lemon and baking soda or salt to polish copper items.)
2. Mrs. Stewart’s Blueing (Used for whitening laundry without bleach.)
3. Diluted Dish soap (Find the brand with the least amount of chemicals. Keep this in a squirt bottle for mirrors, quick wipes in the kitchen, etc.)
4. Kirk's Castile Soap (This soap is fantastic. Natural ingredients, lots of suds for a shampoo, mild on the hands, but helps with the housework, too, such as hand washing laundry or even washing a floor or pots and pans if need be.)
5. Plain water and hot water (We are not meat eaters, so often plain water is all that's needed for cleaning kitchen counters, for example. Very hot water is good for sterilizing something such as in the bathroom along with a cleanser such as vinegar, soap and a dash of scented oil. Peppermint is a favorite.)
6. Vinegar (Vaisnavas do not eat this, but it makes a great cleanser. So many uses a google search will reveal such as controlling mold. Add a little scented oil for a better smell.)
7. Citric acid (Use in a water solution to soak and brighten tarnished copper items such as deity cups, acmana cup, bell, etc. Soak about 10 min. Rinse well and rub dry with a soft cloth until shiny.)
8. Sunlight (Sunlight has a natural bleaching and purifying effect. Household items hung on a line are also freshened).
9. Fine sand (What I learned in India was using the very fine Ganga sand for scrubbing pots... And yes, I confess to experimenting with untrampled dirt from our back yard in the U.S. afterwards. Works great. I take pots outside for deep cleaning times and hose them down when finished scrubbing)
10. Baking soda (One example is to add it to kitchen towels and dish cloths that are hand washed after soaking with a little dish soap and baking soda. Leaves them smelling so fresh and clean! Another favorite is to use it for deodorizing the garbage can by sprinkling a little at the bottom.)
MORE BAKING SODA USES- It's good to buy it in bulk
1. For extra scrubbing power (Baking soda may be used on vinyl floors, sinks, toilet bowls, bathtubs, a soft scrub for refrigerator and stove...)
2. As a pesticide residue remover (Some produce can be rubbed with a little baking soda and water before rinsing them.)
3. As a silver polish (Used regularly, silver can be kept tarnish free. Simply dampen the item to be polished and gently rub on the baking soda to cleanse. Rinse well and then polish the silver dry with a soft absorbent cloth.)
4. To put out small kitchen fires (If a grease fire in a pan ever happens, you'll be extra glad for having baking soda! Just pour on the soda for quick extinguishing. Never use water, because water will splatter the grease and increase the fire.)
ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:
2 cups water
1 tablespoon Castile soap
4 drops essential oil
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and use and counters and sinks.
TOILET BOWL CLEANER:
Fill a clean dishsoap container about a third full with vinegar
Add 5- 10 drops of essential oil such as peppermint
Add a tablespoon of dishsoap
Mix and then squirt some into the bowl and wait for at least 15 minutes before tossing in some baking soda for scrubbing and then flushing
TUB SCRUB:
Sprinkle baking soda into a dampened tub.
Use the back of the peel from half a lemon and scrub thoroughly. Be amazed at what comes off.
Squirt on the vinegar solution used as the toilet bowl cleaner above and swish with a brush and mugfuls of hot water until all the grime is rinsed away.
WINDOW CLEANER:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cast tile soap
2 cups of water
combine ingredients in a spray bottle and wipe off of the cloth or newspaper
FLOOR CLEANING LEARNED WHILE IN INDIA
Instead of dipping a rag or mop in a bucket of dirty water over and over like they do in the U.S., sprinkle generously the newly swept floor with scented water (try adding rosewater) and then dry with clean cloths. Then wash out and dry the cloths for their next use.
ON MY WISH LIST:
Strong wooden poles (or metal) and a beam for a carpet rack outdoors for beating rugs on!
AROMATICS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR KEEPING A HOME SWEET- SMELLING:
Opening windows during good weather
Burning incense and scented candles
Boiling and simmering a potpourri of leftover orange and lemon peels with a dash of cinnamon (And setting a timer so not to forget it!)
Baking treats like cinnamon bread, muffins, cookies, jam or homemade bread each day.
Sprinkling baking soda or scented powder onto carpets to sit awhile before sweeping again.
Using a few drops of essential oil in mop water such as peppermint, lemon, orange or lavender.
Adding a drop of essential oil on a light bulb.
Slipping opened bars of good smelling soap or sachets into drawers and hanging them in closets (For quick and easy sachets: Tie dried orange peels or lavender or other favorite scents into a cloth).
Keeping a basket of scented soaps unwrapped in the bathroom.
Cleaning the bathroom daily and keeping bathroom window open and the door closed after using.
Emptying the trash can daily (I keep a small trash can for this reason) and keeping a lid on it in the meantime.
Washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen immediately after eating and keeping the kitchen sink empty and clean vs letting stuff pile up in it.
CLEANING TOOLS Recommended are:
1. An indoor and an outdoor broom and hand broom
2. A dust bin
3. A box for collecting and putting back stray items quickly
4. Squirt bottles (These are better than spray bottles, so that there is less chance of inhalation from using a spray bottle. An empty dish soap bottle works great. Just squirt cleanser on a cloth or directly on a surface)
5. Scrub brushes (for things like linoleum floors, bathroom tiles...)
6. Rags (Old cotton clothing can be saved to turn into rags for cleaning, polishing and shining.)
7. Dish cloths
8. Aprons to protect clothes
9. Kitchen towels
10. Dust cloths (microfiber works really well)
11. A long handled duster or a clean soft bristled broom for dusting ceilings and upper walls (Can wrap a dust cloth around the end, too).
10. A mop and a large floor cloth to clean the floor either quickly or manually for more thorough cleaning days.
11. Buckets
These may be a little unusual, but they are useful:
1. A small, unused toothbrush (This is good to get the cracks and crevices or hard to clean places such as the edge of the refrigerator door handle or the edges around light switches and round sink handles.)
2. A shaving brush or paint brush (great for for dusting small crevices and hard to reach places such as on a computer and keyboard.)
3. Razor blades (A small pack of these with thick handles for better grip can be bought at a hardware store. Use it along with dishsoap for getting paint off of windows and removing annoying stickers on stainless steel dishes and containers. Soaking the stickers first of all aids the process. Then scrape off with the razor. Done carefully, it should not scratch.)
NON TOXIC AND LESS TOXIC CLEANSERS
1. Lemon juice (Lemons may be experimented with in various ways. Takes off bathroom scum. In a pinch, lemon juice may be used as a degreaser in place of dish soap. First scour, then rub on some baking soda and finish with lemon juice before rinsing with hot water. Leftover lemon rinds work great. Also use lemon and baking soda or salt to polish copper items.)
2. Mrs. Stewart’s Blueing (Used for whitening laundry without bleach.) 3. Diluted Dish soap (Find the brand with the least amount of chemicals. Keep this in a squirt bottle for mirrors, quick wipes in the kitchen, etc.)
4. Kirk's Castile Soap (This soap is fantastic. Natural ingredients, lots of suds for a shampoo, mild on the hands, but helps with the housework, too, such as hand washing laundry or even washing a floor or pots and pans if need be.)
5. Plain water and hot water (We are not meat eaters, so often plain water is all that's needed for cleaning kitchen counters, for example. Very hot water is good for sterilizing something such as in the bathroom along with a cleanser such as vinegar, soap and a dash of scented oil. Peppermint is a favorite.)
6. Vinegar (Vaisnavas do not eat this, but it makes a great cleanser. So many uses a google search will reveal such as controlling mold. Add a little scented oil for a better smell.)
7. Citric acid (Use in a water solution to soak and brighten tarnished copper items such as deity cups, acmana cup, bell, etc. Soak about 10 min. Rinse well and rub dry with a soft cloth until shiny.)
8. Sunlight (Sunlight has a natural bleaching and purifying effect. Household items hung on a line are also freshened).
9. Fine sand (What I learned in India was using the very fine Ganga sand for scrubbing pots... And yes, I confess to experimenting with untrampled dirt from our back yard in the U.S. afterwards. Works great. I take pots outside for deep cleaning times and hose them down when finished scrubbing)
10. Baking soda (One example is to add it to kitchen towels and dish cloths that are hand washed after soaking with a little dish soap and baking soda. Leaves them smelling so fresh and clean! Another favorite is to use it for deodorizing the garbage can by sprinkling a little at the bottom.)
MORE BAKING SODA USES- It's good to buy it in bulk
1. For extra scrubbing power (Baking soda may be used on vinyl floors, sinks, toilet bowls, bathtubs, a soft scrub for refrigerator and stove...)
2. As a pesticide residue remover (Some produce can be rubbed with a little baking soda and water before rinsing them.)
3. As a silver polish (Used regularly, silver can be kept tarnish free. Simply dampen the item to be polished and gently rub on the baking soda to cleanse. Rinse well and then polish the silver dry with a soft absorbent cloth.)
4. To put out small kitchen fires (If a grease fire in a pan ever happens, you'll be extra glad for having baking soda! Just pour on the soda for quick extinguishing. Never use water, because water will splatter the grease and increase the fire.)
ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:
2 cups water
1 tablespoon Castile soap
4 drops essential oil
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and use and counters and sinks.
TOILET BOWL CLEANER:
Fill a clean dishsoap container about a third full with vinegar
Add 5- 10 drops of essential oil such as peppermint
Add a tablespoon of dishsoap
Mix and then squirt some into the bowl and wait for at least 15 minutes before tossing in some baking soda for scrubbing and then flushing
TUB SCRUB:
Sprinkle baking soda into a dampened tub.
Use the back of the peel from half a lemon and scrub thoroughly. Be amazed at what comes off.
Squirt on the vinegar solution used as the toilet bowl cleaner above and swish with a brush and mugfuls of hot water until all the grime is rinsed away.
WINDOW CLEANER:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cast tile soap
2 cups of water
combine ingredients in a spray bottle and wipe off of the cloth or newspaper
FLOOR CLEANING LEARNED WHILE IN INDIA
Instead of dipping a rag or mop in a bucket of dirty water over and over like they do in the U.S., sprinkle generously the newly swept floor with scented water (try adding rosewater) and then dry with clean cloths. Then wash out and dry the cloths for their next use.
ON MY WISH LIST:
Strong wooden poles (or metal) and a beam for a carpet rack outdoors for beating rugs on!
AROMATICS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR KEEPING A HOME SWEET- SMELLING:
Opening windows during good weather
Burning incense and scented candles
Boiling and simmering a potpourri of leftover orange and lemon peels with a dash of cinnamon (And setting a timer so not to forget it!)
Baking treats like cinnamon bread, muffins, cookies, jam or homemade bread each day.
Sprinkling baking soda or scented powder onto carpets to sit awhile before sweeping again.
Using a few drops of essential oil in mop water such as peppermint, lemon, orange or lavender.
Adding a drop of essential oil on a light bulb.
Slipping opened bars of good smelling soap or sachets into drawers and hanging them in closets (For quick and easy sachets: Tie dried orange peels or lavender or other favorite scents into a cloth).
Keeping a basket of scented soaps unwrapped in the bathroom.
Cleaning the bathroom daily and keeping bathroom window open and the door closed after using.
Emptying the trash can daily (I keep a small trash can for this reason) and keeping a lid on it in the meantime.
Washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen immediately after eating and keeping the kitchen sink empty and clean vs letting stuff pile up in it.