Recycling things is important to cut down the waste, but it’s only one of the three Rs of living sustainably. The other two are Reducing and Reusing. Reusing can often take a bit of creativity and lateral thinking. But if you don’t have a Depression/WWII era granny to get ideas for reusing things from, then try these to start you off:
* Pizza boxes (for large pizzas) are the perfect size for fitting A4 papers and they stack together easily. Blot the grease out and use them as a filing system. They’re easy to label, too. Cover them with newspaper or old wrapping paper if you don’t want the number of your local pizza joint staring you in the face. They stack much better than arch lever files.
* Ice cream containers are ideal for freezing soups and casseroles for later use, and also for freezing a surplus of stewed fruit. They also are something of a staple at many schools for holding crayons and other large groups of bits (counters, rubber bands, milk tokens, drawing pins). One-litre yoghurt pottles have the same uses.
* Thick cardboard of any type can be used to protect CD(-ROMs) in the post instead of bubble wrap. Keep a small supply on hand, but don’t hoard it – it can build up to excess if you’re not careful.
* Large clear plastic bottles. If you don’t want to re-use these as drink bottles (if you’re going out for a long time, then they take a lot more water than the little sip-top bottles), then try (a) cutting the top off just below the neck (at the “shoulders”) and using this top as a funnel for changing the oil or for children to play with in a sandpit or the bath; (b) cutting the top off at the shoulders and using the bottom as a mini-cloche for giving young plants a head start in early spring.
* Bottles with handles: cut them on the diagonal and use them as scoops for sugar, flour, etc.
* Old sheets and towels. Rip or cut them up and use them for dishcloths or anywhere you’d use a tissue (apart from as a handkerchief in public, of course – but for removing makeup, they’re great). You can also use them as cloths for domestic cleaning and polishing.
* Screw-top jars (glass or plastic). Wash them out and keep them for your own home-made jams and pickles. Or for storing things like cornflour and cocoa. Or for storing home-made natural cleaning products and bath salts.
* Zip-lock bags. Does anyone throw these useful things away? Use them for smaller batches of frozen food, and for school lunches.
* Rubber gloves. Once they’ve got holes in the fingers, cut the wrist parts up for extra thick, strong rubber bands.
The big thing to remember when you are keeping things to reuse is not to be a hoarder. Only keep as much as you will actually need. If you have already got scoops for your sugar, your salt, your flour and the cat kibble, then don’t make another scoop. If your freezer is full up with frozen goods, don’t hoard any more containers for freezing. Just recycle the items instead!
It’s a pity that few of us have the space to grow enough lavender to make our own essential oil for use around the home for domestic cleaning purposes, among a myriad of others. However, most of us have enough space – even if all we have room for is a pot on a balcony – to grow our own lavender as a supply of fresh scented flowers and dried flowers to use as moth repellents. You can put lavender in the cleaning liquid when doing the regular kitchen cleaning or the floor cleaning.
Don’t just grab the first lavender you see at the garden shop. French lavender is decorative and is pretty popular (i.e. popular because it’s pretty) but doesn’t have much scent to it. English lavender (Lavandula augustifolia or L. latifolia; a hybrid of the two called L. x intermedia is also available) is the type you want. You can take your pick as to the exact colour the blooms will be when they come out. You can get flowers in shades ranging from white to pale blue-purple (classic lavender colour) through to purple and pink.
Lavender also grows from cuttings, so if you have a friend who has a lovely patch of lavender, you can ask for a cutting or two. Lavender also grows from seed, but this can be a bit of a gamble, as lavenders hybridize with each other readily and come up with offspring that are nothing like the parent plant you took the seeds from. Always ask first before taking cuttings or seeds; we don’t all have the chutzpah of one middle-aged lady who will remain nameless who was an expert at nipping off seed-heads from strangers’ gardens within easy reach of the footpath.
Lavender likes the sun – the more, the better. While lavender is mostly pest-free, it is prone to fungus if you plant it in damp, shady areas. It likes well draining soils and doesn’t mind stones (rather like good wine grapes). Taller varieties of lavender can be planted as a hedge (try L. augustifolia “Vera”, which has nice silvery leaves and gets to about 90 cm high). Lavenders repel insects – except for bees and butterflies, which love the flowers – so it makes a good perennial for companion planting near the vegetable garden. One delightful suggestion for planting lavender this writer has come across was to plant lavender near your washing line where the sheets can flap against it, picking up some of the scent as they dry outside.
Lavender prefers an alkaline soil. An acid soil can be corrected with ash or lime.
Plant lavender in autumn for best results. If you’re planting a hedge, put the plants about 30cm apart – you don’t need to crowd them. One of the bonuses of a lavender hedge is that it doesn’t lose its leaves over winter. You can’t really call it an evergreen, but you could call it an “ever-silver” or an “ever-grey”.
Lavender hedges should be pruned after flowering (never before, for obvious reasons – you miss out on the flowers). Dry the prunings and use them for kindling or on a barbecue – they will release the scent as they burn.
Lavender essential oil should have a place in any natural cleaning fan’s cupboards. With its antiseptic germ-killing properties and fresh scent that everybody loves, lavender oil is one of the most popular essential oils in use.
So how do you use lavender essential oil? This may become a part of your daily routine and during the house cleaning.
1. To make disinfectant spray. Mix equal proportions of vodka and water, or 2 units of white vinegar to one unit of water in a spray bottle. Add in about 10–20 drops of lavender essential oil. Shake well. This mixture can also be used for cleaning glass as well as being used as a general everyday disinfectant.
2. To make air freshener. Either put 10–20 drops of essential oil in water in a spray bottle, or put the same amount of lavender essential oil in a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar. Shake well before use to disperse the oils. You can also use the disinfectant mixture as an air freshener.
3. Scenting your rooms: Dab a little lavender oil on a cold lightbulb before switching on, or rub a little onto a radiator. When the lightbulb or the radiator heats up, the lavender oil will be released and dispersed through the room. Alternatively, use an aromatherapy burner of the type heated by a tealight candle.
4. Scented stationery. Put a few drops of lavender oil on a bit of tissue paper. Tuck the tissue paper into writing paper, scrapbooks, journals, etc.
5. Bath salts: Get about a cup full of common table salt of any type and put it in a screw-top jar. Add in 20 drops of lavender oil. Shake well so the smell is dispersed through the salt. Leave it to mellow for a bit before using. If you want, you can tint the salt a delicate purple by mixing a few drops of food colouring into the salt.
6. As a massage oil: Mix about 10 drops of lavender essential oil in a cup or so of light oil (sunflower oil is good, but olive oil is a bit too strong, although it’s lovely for the skin). Leave it to mellow together for a week or so before use. This oil can also be used as a bath oil.
7. In the bath: Simply put 10 or more drops of oil into the bath while it’s running. As lavender oil is very calming and soothing – one of the reasons it is prized in aromatherapy – this is the perfect way to unwind after a hectic day.
8. As a steam inhalation. Fill a bowl with boiling water and add 5 drops of lavender oil. Cover the bowl and your head with a towel in a sort of tent. Stay under this tent (don’t touch the water) for at least five minutes, breathing deeply. Great for relieving congestion and headaches caused by a nasty cold.
9. Making liquid lavender soap. Get an ordinary bar of soap and chop it up into rough cubes. Put this into a container. Pour about a pint of boiling water over the soap. Leave the soap to melt and then re-congeal into goo. Add about 20 drops of lavender essential oil and decant the goo into an airtight container. Use this for washing delicates (the lavender scent is perfect for woollens and repels moths) or for handwashing. You can use it for washing nearly anything, including the floor and the car!
10. Ironing spray: Fill a spray bottle with plain water and add 10 drops of lavender oil. Spray your shirts, etc. with this before ironing them. Makes the chore of ironing into a pleasure!
More ambitious people can also try their hand at using lavender essential oil to make their own perfumes and cosmetics, or in other handcrafts like soap and candle making.
Polishing up the silverware used to be one of those cleaning jobs that was left to the butler – and brass was left for the housekeeper. However, these days, we have to clean this sort of thing ourselves (unless we want to hire a professional cleaner). Even if we don’t have masses of family heirlooms in our homes these days, most of us have some metal somewhere that needs to be kept shiny. So how do you clean metalwork without using some ferocious chemical that leaves you with itchy skin?
Cleaning silver:
For a start off, you should keep silver away from anything involving sulphur, which means that you should never eat eggs with a silver teaspoon. To get tarnished or dull silver sparkling again, coat the metal in a paste of baking soda and water, and then wrap it in aluminium foil. Dip the wrapped object into a bowl or bath of warm water and leave for about five minutes. Rinse the residue off and dry the silver thoroughly by hand with a soft cloth.
Cleaning gold:
Gold can be cleaned the same way as you clean your teeth: with toothpaste and a soft toothbrush, followed by rinsing. The only difference is that you will then dry the gold item off with a soft cloth, which you don’t do to your teeth. This method works wonderfully for rings.
Cleaning pewter:
Some people like the darker look of old, slightly tarnished pewter. If you want to clean yours and get it looking a little shinier, then one old tip for cleaning pewter is to rub it with a wet cabbage leaf. Alternatively, dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup of vinegar, then make a paste by adding flour (plus essential oil, if you like). Rub on (wear gloves – pewter contains lead and you don’t want to risk getting this into your system) and then rinse off thoroughly.
Cleaning chrome:
Chrome needs to be kept free from grease and should never be cleaned with abrasives. Instead, you can apply a natural cleaning product: clean chrome by spraying it with dilute vinegar, then buffing it dry with a soft cloth. This works for cars as well as for cleaning chrome around the home.
Cleaning copper:
One of the oddest suggestions for cleaning the copper bottoms of saucepans (or any copper that you want bright and shining rather than gathering a patina of verdigris) is to mix tomato sauce (tomato ketchup) and cream of tartar (about ¼ cup sauce to 1 tablespoon cream of tartar). Coat the copper in question with the mixture and stand overnight before rinsing off with soapy water, then with fresh water and drying.
Cleaning brass:
To get brass shining, make a paste of salt and vinegar. Coat the brass item with this paste, then leave it to sit on the metal for about five minutes. Then rub the paste off with a damp cloth and dry thoroughly. You may need several damp cloths for this cleaning job.
Cleaning cast iron
Water is the enemy of cast iron, so if you wash cast iron to remove gunge (e.g. washing a cast iron skillet or frying pan after use), then dry it very thoroughly as soon as possible. Do not leave it to air dry. After drying, “season” the cast iron by rubbing it lightly with vegetable oil. Do not store cast iron pans with the lids on, as the lids will trap moisture, promoting rust. Hang the pan up, if possible.
Who’s who in your circle of friends and family? And how can and does each type benefit from natural cleaning methods?
Who: Cleanies
What: These are the people with immaculate homes. No matter when you drop in, the place is always perfectly ordered. These people are the most likely to have white sofas and carpets. The house usually smells either of clean, fresh air, or of air freshener and disinfectant. Cleanies know the names of every single cleaning product on the market and then some, and can become fanatical about their favourites. No self-respecting germs or vermin will dare poke their noses into a Cleanie’s home and even the toilet is so hygienic and germ-free you could eat off it (but don’t try this). Dust is also unknown and unseen, and this home is most likely to be clutter-free… unless you count the army of cleaning products in a cupboard or under the sink.
How natural cleaning methods help this person: Cleanies can sometimes be over-fond of commercial chemical-laced products, and this can ultimately cause health problems for a Cleanie in spite of all their hygienic precautions. A switch to natural cleaning products is a must to stop a Cleanie slowly poisoning him/herself. Cleanies are most likely to love Enjo cloths (these do an amazing cleaning job with no chemicals and leave everything sparkling) and high-tech methods.
Who: Greenies
What: These people are the ones who try to make minimal impact on the planet. They probably have a vegetable garden and a solar water heater – and possibly a wind turbine. Food served in this house is likely to be organic, vegetarian and grown locally. Furniture in a Greenie’s house is most likely to be made of wood, preferably recycled and unvarnished, with soft bits being made of natural materials such as cotton. Flowers and pot plants abound, and there’s probably a few animals living in or around the house, too.
How natural cleaning methods help this person: natural cleaning products give a Greenie a way to keep their house fit for humans to live in without sacrificing their consciences, as the products break down quickly and easily without harming the waterways or the soil, and producing them is also easy on the environment. Greenies are most likely to love home-made wood polish and lavender oil.
Who: Meanies
What: Meanies are thrifty, and like to cut costs wherever they can. Meanies like to get the most use out of anything they buy and are quite inventive and resourceful when it comes to reusing and mending.
The home of a Meanie is likely to be cluttered (“You can’t throw that out; it might come in useful one day”) and may be a little on the sloppy side, as commercial cleaning products are so expensive and no way will a Meanie employ a cleaner to do it for them. Meanies are also likely to have a vegetable garden.
How natural cleaning methods help this person: natural cleaning products are cheaper than commercial ones – take the example of baking soda, which costs about a quarter of what a bottle of spray-on bathroom cleaning goop costs but lasts longer and can be used to clean more. The same goes for vinegar. Meanies are most likely to love soap gel (the best use for old soap scraps that are too small to wash hands with properly) and vinegar.
…you don’t have a special cupboard for storing cleaning products because most of the things you use for cleaning live in the kitchen and live a double life as food.
…you are quite prepared to have an argument with your spouse/partner/flatmates about the merits of baking soda and the like for cleaning versus “that overpriced stinking chemical muck” in the middle of the supermarket, regardless of crowds collecting to watch.
…you are a bit dubious about hiring a professional cleaner for your house, as you suspect that a professional might bring in all the chemicals you’ve been trying to avoid for years.
…you buy baking soda in bulk and you know where to find the massive containers of vinegar commonly used by restaurants.
…when you read period novels about life below stairs, you have your eyes peeled for descriptions of how the maid(s) cleaned various odd items, either to spot mistakes or to learn new tips.
…most of the essential oils in your home are disinfectant-type ones such as tea tree oil rather than the more flowery ones like ylang-ylang.
…you are a frequent visitor at your local liquor store and have given up explaining that you need large quantities of vodka for cleaning glass rather than because you’re hitting the bottle.
…you have considered starting up your own professional cleaning company using natural cleaning methods only. Surely there are other people like you who want to avoid household toxins as much as possible but don’t have heaps of time to clean their house.
…your concern for your household environment extends to the wider environment and you cringe when you see people glibly spraying chemicals around your child’s classroom.
…the only interest you have in brand-name cleaning chemicals is the package they come in – that spray bottle that has a foam-producing nozzle looks very handy.
…you have tried cleaning the toilet using a brush for the part under the rim – and lived to tell the tale, even though you gagged when you saw the gunk coming out.
… you have been to at least one Enjo sales party and have bought a few of the microfibre cleaning cloths.
…you don’t balk at the idea of cleaning leather upholstery. A bit of olive oil will do the trick, won’t it? (It will).
…your recipe book has a section dedicated to cleaning products, and this section has more entries than the section dedicated to entreés.
…it’s been so long since you used an ammonia-based product for cleaning glass or floors that you start gagging and coughing if someone uses it near you. The same applies to chlorine, but trips to your local swimming pool have hardened you to it.
… you are quasi-fanatical about saving soap scraps to boil down into soap gel, which you will use for cleaning floors, cleaning cars, cleaning the toilet…
…you’ve got no idea where your local dry cleaning agent is located, as you are quite capable of handwashing anything delicate.
We do the laundry a lot more often than we used to. Today, it’s not unheard of for people to pop two shirts into the wash a day (one from work and one from the gym). In the past, people wore things for longer so there wasn’t as much for the laundry maid to do. “Wash day” came once a week, usually on Mondays when there was cold Sunday roast left over and nobody had to cook much so they could concentrating on the nightmare job of doing the laundry.
But just because you’ve got a modern washing machine with a wool cycle, a hot cycle and enough lights for a very small Christmas tree doesn’t mean that you have to use fancy modern wonder ingredients to get your clothes clean. Do yourself and the environment a favour, and use natural laundry products to wash clothes like your grandmother (or great-grandmother) used to use.
If you must use commercial washing powder (and I have to admit that I do – in a hard water area, using liquid soap in the machine on a cold cycle has a tendency to gung up the pipes and valves) you can get away with using less than the manufacturer tells you to use on the side of the box. Let’s face it: who wrote the stuff on the side of the box? Who’s going to make more money if you go through three boxes of powder in stead of two? Right. In practice, you can reduce the amount of soap powder per load to three-quarters what the manufacturers tell you to – or even half. You can also be kinder to the environment by using a brand (which, happily, is usually cheaper) that doesn’t have oodles of whiteners, brighteners and fragrance. This means you will pump less goodness-knows-what into the water system. And remember that washing clothes in commercial powder is still better than dry cleaning.
If you wash in hot water or if the water in your area isn’t hard (lucky you!), you may be able to get away with using liquid soap in your washing load. This doesn’t mean a commercial liquid soap. Instead, save soap scraps and pour boiling water over them to melt them down. Once the result has cooled to a gel, it can also be used for soaking grubby clothes as a pre-wash treatment, as general maid-of-all work for cleaning floors, cleaning cars and spot-cleaning carpets. You can also use it as shampoo. You can also use soap flakes, which you can buy again, thankfully, if you don’t fancy grating a bar of soap.
If you are in a hard water area, you can still use soap flakes or soap gel to wash clothes, but you will have to add a water softener. Borax is the classic water softener used in many natural cleaning recipes.
Soap residues are responsible for making towels and blankets as stiff as cardboard. Thorough rinsing helps, as does drying in the open air. But to really make sure things stay soft enough to rub on sensitive bits of your body, use vinegar as a fabric softener. Put about half a cup per load into wherever fabric softener is supposed to be put in your washing machine, or else add it to the final rinse.
Essential oils are also popular additions to natural laundry products. Some oils not only add a pleasant scent but also help remove stains and act as disinfectants. Eucalyptus oil makes a great stain remover and is the key ingredient in Sard Wonder Soap (if you can get hold of this, it is fantastic for removing all sorts of stains). Tea tree oil is antibacterial. So is lavender.
1. Have a proper declutter. You’ve probably received some nice new things as Christmas presents (hopefully!) and want a fresh start for a fresh year. Why not start by clearing out old junk and unused items? It’s a great way to fill in a cold wet winter day (or, with the way the weather’s been lately, a snowy day). Don’t leave decluttering as part of the “moving house cleaning” or “end of tenancy cleaning”. Let’s face it – if you’re moving house, you probably have a whole lot more to focus on instead of whether you want to keep that old coffee percolator and are quite likely to think “Bother it – just stick it in the box and we’ll sort it out at the other end.” Hire a professional to help you if you can’t face it alone. Or enlist the help of a friend (who may be more than happy to give your junk a new home).
2. Switch to natural cleaning methods. New Year’s resolutions often include good intentions to rid your body of self-inflicted toxins, with “give up smoking” and “lose weight” being very popular goals. But why not get rid of the major source of household/environmental toxins that come in spray bottles with promises of killing 99% of household germs, streak-free windows, fabulous new fragrance, improved super-potent formula and a new super-spray nozzle design? This resolution will also help you keep Resolution 1, as you will be able to rid yourself of clutter in your cleaning cupboard by using good old multipurpose natural cleaners like baking soda, soap, vinegar and the like.
3. Develop good cleaning habits. These habits include dealing with mess as soon as it happens rather than dealing with it later. Messes, like many other problems but unlike pimples, get worse if you leave them alone rather than getting better. Good mottoes to keep in mind are “Don’t put it down; put it away,” “A stitch in time saves nine,” and all those other sayings that your mother and/or grandmother always told you.
4. Treat yourself at least once this year by hiring a professional cleaner to do the work for you. And don’t use the time you’ve saved by spending extra time at the office. Go and take some time off to do something fun.
5. Tackle those horror cleaning jobs you’ve been putting off for years (these may or may not be related to Resolution 1). If you feel daunted by this, just choose one or maybe four of the jobs and give yourself a year to accomplish them. Horror jobs that often are put off for as long as possible include cleaning ovens, defrosting freezers, polishing and/or restoring wooden furniture, mending clothes, and cleaning the attic or garage. You can probably think of your own horror-list.
6. Start (or improve) recycling and cutting down on waste. Initially, this may seem like a contradiction of Resolution 1, as you will have to get a few extra bins to set up your recycling system. But in the long run, you will be helping to tidy the world, not just your home.
7. Change your attitude: see cleaning and household chores as a way of making beauty, peace and order in your life. If you keep this idea in your head, the whole process of scrubbing and wiping becomes much easier. Even if you’re cleaning toilets.
8. Stop cleaning up after other people who are capable of cleaning up after themselves. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be nice and helpful every now and again. But you will do yourself and others no favours if you let them think that you have been put on the planet to be their maid. If they want a cleaning maid, they can hire one. And treat him/her with respect.
9. Timetable and organize your home cleaning jobs like you would any other job. Set goals and priorities.
10. Reward yourself for achieving any of these resolutions.
