To clean the microwave
To clean and freshen the microwave, in a bowl mix ¼ cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water and heat for 5 minutes, this will remove odors and soften baked on food spills.
Keepin’ It Clean
Could your allergies be stirred up by your car? Well, you may not be allergic to the motor, but allergens from animals and plants are easily transported through fabrics of all different types. And while you wash your clothes regularly, allergens can easily collect in your car’s interior. Keeping your car clean and well-vacuumed is the best way to keep the allergens out.
Cleaning bathrooms and toilets is an unpleasant job at best of times. It requires a lot of effort and elbow grease, working in awkward areas, that are damp, moist, smelly and disgusting!
Made even worse by horrible strong smelling commercial cleaning products.
The reason being is that they contain harsh chemicals.
There are home -made alternatives, all of which either don’t smell strong at all, or have a much more pleasant odor than their commercial alternatives!
Odor Free Toilet Cleaning Using White Vinegar.
Use vinegar instead of a commercial toilet cleaners which are expensive and made of harsh Chemicals.
First wipe down all the surfaces of the toilet.
Use a toilet brush to clean inside the bowl using vinegar and water at the bottom of the toilet.
Vinegar’s mild acidity should successfully kill germ, lift stains and grime.
To make sure you toilets keep that just cleaned, fresh smell or for problem areas, use AirSENCE, fragrant, long lasting Odour neutraliser.
It comes in Coconut, Boronia, Citrus, White Musk and Vanilla Fudge. It is guaranteed to last for 24 hours or your money back. ( it lasts a lot longer…)
Our sense of smell also influences our taste and is responsible for about 75% of what we taste.
Using technology inspired by dolphins in the years to come, natural cleaning products could be developed.
Scientists from Singapore, Technology and Research drew their inspiration from dolphins, whose skin is known to resist fouling.
They have used nanotechnology based on the skin to create new surface coverings with antibacterial but chemical-free properties.
New cleaning products could arise from the development thanks to the surfaces’ resistance to adhesion by pathogens like E coli.
“With millions of years of experience behind her, nature has produced some of the most rugged, adaptable life forms.”said Dr Low Hong Yee, director for research and innovation at IMRE.
In turn, the scientist adds that this offers lessons in engineering to present-day humans.
To read more go to
http://www.biggreensmile.com/green-news
Found this interesting article for ; DIY Household Cleaners Recipes!
By Paul McRandle
The healthiest, least-toxic cleaners you can find are the ones you make yourself. They’re effective too: According to a study at Virginia Tech, spraying hydrogen peroxide and vinegar right after one another is just as effective at killing germs as lung-irritating, stream-polluting chlorine bleach. Here are a few easy cleaner recipes to kick-start your Saturday chores.
EIGHT ESSENTIALS
These eight items make up the basic ingredients for nearly every do-it-yourself cleaning recipe.
Baking soda: provides grit for scrubbing and reacts with water, vinegar or lemon by fizzing, which speeds up cleaning times
Borax: disinfects, bleaches and deodorizes; very handy in laundry mixes
Distilled white vinegar: disinfects and breaks up dirt; choose white vinegar over apple cider or red vinegars, as these might stain surfaces
Hydrogen Peroxide: disinfects and bleaches
Lemons: cut grease; bottled lemon juice also works well, although you might need to use bit more to get the same results
Olive oil: picks up dirt and polishes wood; cheaper grades work well
Vegetable based (liquid castile) soap: non-petroleum all-purpose cleaners
Washing soda: stain remover, general cleaner, helps unblock pipes; should be handled with gloves due to its caustic nature. Washing soda is usually found in the laundry aisle of grocery and drug stores.
Don’t forget to pick up an empty spray bottle at the hardware store, and keep those old rags and used toothbrushes for wiping up and scrubbing.
WHOLE HOUSE
All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 cup borax
1 gallon hot water
Mix in pail (or use smaller amounts in a spray bottle: 1/8 cup borax to 1 quart of hot water) dissolving the borax completely; wipe clean with rag.
Floors
Wood
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
Linoleum
1 cup white vinegar
2 gallons warm water
Mix in mop bucket, rinse afterwards.
Furniture Polish
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
Mix and apply with a clean rag to dust and polish. Reduce the olive oil if wood looks too oily.
Metal Polish
Copper and Brass
2 Tbsps salt
White vinegar
Add vinegar to salt until you’ve created a paste. Adding flour will reduce abrasiveness. Apply with a rag and rub clean.
Stainless Steel
Baking soda
White vinegar
Apply baking soda with a damp cloth, using the vinegar to eliminate spots.
DIY Household Cleaners
BATHROOM
Toilet Bowl
Baking soda
White vinegar
To clean and deodorize, sprinkle toilet bowl with baking soda, add white vinegar and scrub with a toilet brush.
Tub and Tile
1/2 lemon
Borax
Dip the face of the lemon half in borax to create a hand-held scrubber for dirty areas. Rinse and dry the surface afterwards.
KITCHEN
Countertops
Marble: Mix one Tbsp castile soap with a quart of warm water, rinse well, then dry with a warm cloth.
Other surfaces: half a lemon and dip the face in baking soda to scrub off residues. Follow up by spraying with glass cleaner mix (below).
Drains
1 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
Add baking soda and vinegar to a pot of boiled water and pour down the drain, then flush with tap water. For more stubborn clogs, use a “snake” plumbing tool to manually remove blockage, or try suction removal with a plunger. To prevent clogs, install inexpensive mesh screen, available at home improvement and hardware stores.
Glass
1/4 cup vinegar or 1 Tbsp lemon juice
2+ cups water
Fill a clean spray bottle with water and either white vinegar or lemon juice; wipe with a rag or old newspaper.
Oven
Baking soda
Water
Sprinkle baking soda on surfaces, spray water, then let soak several hours or overnight. Rinse with water.
Stovetop and Oven Grease Remover
1/2 tsp washing soda
1/4 tsp liquid soap
2 cups hot water
Add washing soda and soap to hot water in spray bottle. Since washing soda is caustic, wear gloves.
LAUNDRY ROOM
Bleach alternative
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
7 Natural Tips To Combat Acne And Acne Scar
Written By: Nadia on October 22, 2010 0
Acne affects all ages from teenagers to older adults. Many people also suffer the after effects of scarring. In today’s world many products exist that will help you clear up the problem from cleaners to creams and in some cases plastic surgery. Now cleaning your skin naturally to clear up acne is another option.
Here are some tips you can put into practice starting today, to get rid of the acne permanently. Once you follow these tips, you should notice an improvement in about four weeks.
Natural Tips To Combat Acne And Acne Scar
1. Pure shea butter has vitamin A, and all natural cocoa butter has vitamins A and E. Either can be applied to the skin for acne scar removal. This will refresh, moisturize, and return the elasticity of the skin as well as flatten, smooth, and soften acne scarring to make it less noticeable. Tea tree oil is also an effective skin disinfectant and will aid in acne scar removal.
2. Anti-pimple steam: Boil chamomile and mint leaves in a pot. When it starts steaming put your face close to the vapor. Be careful not to burn yourself. Grab a towel and cover your head so that the steam doesn’t escape to the sides.
3. Apply a face mask with honey once or twice a week. Honey has antibacterial properties so it is great for disinfecting and healing minor red spots. Furthermore it has a great quality: it acts gently on sensitive skin.
4. Water or juice cleanse is something that many have used that has proven to be very effective. The one thing that can help clear up acne and stop breakouts is your diet. The old adage you are what you eat is very important even in today’s world. Watching your diet and what you put into your body is very important in controlling acne naturally.
5. Carrot juice and cabbage juice contain vitamins A, B, and sulfur and is a method of acne scar removal when applied to the affected areas. One recipe is as follows: Combine 2 parts fresh cabbage juice, 2 parts fresh carrot juice, and 1 part fresh blueberry juice. Chill and apply to the affected areas.
6. Acupressure to combat pimples and blackheads: To fight acne on the forehead, massage the point Bai Yang. This point is located one inch above the eyebrow in the direction of the pupil directly. To combat the acne on the cheeks, press the point Quan Liao. This acupressure point is 3 inches away from the nostril, just below the cheekbone.
7. Start a high multi-vitamin diet. The acne is often a sign that something is not working right in the body or that it lacks vitamins and minerals. Your skin health is linked and dependant on the nutrition. The epidermis is a vital organ, most often ignored. ?Eat foods rich in zinc. The Zinc is an antibacterial agent and a necessary element for the oil-producing sebaceous glands of the skin. A diet lacking in zinc or in insufficient quantities can cause pimples.
Those fourteen-syllable words on the back of your shampoo bottle aren’t just bad for your dye job — their bad for your health, the environment and the world as a whole. The cosmetic industry is responsible for producing some very toxic cocktails, so its our job as consumers to give our makeup bag a makeover.
The next time you’re about to head to the makeup counter, head to your kitchen instead.
To read more and some excellent tips go to
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Globalshift
There is more and more awareness among farmers and backyard gardeners alike with the need to minimize environmental impact with their gardening techniques including the choice of fertilizer.
The advantages of organic fertilizers are clear, both environmental and economic.
The use of organic fertilizers can build a soil environment ripe for soil organisms, such as earthworms, that loosen and aerate, they also improve nutrient and water capacity of the soil. A significant feature is that nutrients are released over a longer period of time with the use of a organic fertilizers. If nutrients are released too quickly they are gone before plants can utilize them. Chemical leaching also causes pollution and groundwater contamination.
Another benefit is that with organic fertilizers it is less likely to over stimulate plants and lead to overgrowth problems associated with inorganic fertilizers. Not only are they safe for all plants, there is no need to worry about burning and they also provide a broad range of trace minerals.
Adding to that, organic fertilizers are generally lower in cost than the conventional fertilizers.
One such company that offers organic fertilizer is Landfert relatively a new kid on the block but they are already making a big impact in the north -east and surrounding areas.
check out their website @ www.landfert.com.au
