LegendaryLife.com Blog

Of course, the cheapest way clean anything is to simply not clean it at all but that isn’t an option unless your a dorm room student. The second easiest and effective cleaning method is to use steam, which is what I think no home should be without but the third is to mix common household chemicals when a liter of gas with a match simply won’t do.

Acid: Vinegar

Look in your kitchen, I am sure you have something acidic like, say, vinegar. Now, mix this vinegar with equal parts water (ratio 1:1) in a spray bottle… all done! Acids are great at dissolving tough stains and especially against mineral buildups, I use to use a liter of pure vinegar in my water distillation machine and it would work better on its own then all the scrubbing in the world. The additional benefit of using a common household acid like vinegar is that it’s cheap, easy to find anywhere in the world and you can eat off it right afterwards without fear of being poisoned.

Oxidizer: Hydrogen Peroxide

Say you have a stain that simply won’t go away, be it on carpet or marble on a counter top where leaving vinegar on there for an extended period of time will do more harm then good. Well, this is where Hydrogen Peroxide comes in, although H2O2 is a weak acid, it’s a fantastic oxidizer, antiseptic and anti-bacterial agent. Throw a bit of this onto the vinegar:water solution you made up and this will speed up the chemical process significantly.

Base: Baking Soda

Let’s say you go a little crazy with the vinegar around the house and start to see some discoloration or things start to feel a little funny, don’t throw water on it, throw a base such as baking soda. This will neutralize any chemical reactions going on, including those enhanced with the power of Hydrogen Peroxide. You can also use baking soda as a scouring agent, vinegar is great for most applications when diluted with water but it doesn’t provide the grit needed for really tough stains like in bathtubs. Baking soda also has additional properties that make it great for around the house, it’s an incredibly effective deodorizer (especially on carpets), tarnish remover (just mix it with warm water), fabric softener, incredibly effective poison ivy rash treater and you can even mix it with cocaine to make crack! How is that for diversity!

Ultimate Weapon: Alcohol

I am not asking you to pour Jack Daniels on your stains but if you are really having a tough time with some stains, diluted alcohol works great, especially on hard surfaces. Unlike Hydrogen Peroxide, which is also an oxidizer, alcohol has the added benefit of dehydration in addition to being a very strong base. Put another way, if a mixture of water + vinegar + hydrogen perodixde doesn’t to the job, try it again using alcohol, you can also throw in a bit of baking soda as well.

Summary

Well, I have now provided you with the power of knowledge, you no longer need to buy ANY store cleaners for the rest of your life, this will save you a small fortune, protect the environment and get your house just as clean without any ill effects of touching or breathing in harmful fumes. I personally prefer to use a steam cleaner myself, but these compounds are just as effective.

Do be careful though, just because these items are easily bought and relatively safe, these same compounds can make for a very explosive situation, so work your way up to higher concentrations on those pesky stains. Remember those elementary school science projects showcasing the power of volcano using baking soda and vinegar, well, this is what your are playing with.

The Bottom Line

Knowledge is a very powerful weapon in the face of consumer mass marketing of household cleaning products.