Getting rid of stains can be a real nightmare, especially strong ones, like from wine or blueberries. Still, we sometimes reach for insanely expensive cleaning products which offer dubious result, when there are simpler and more readily available solutions around us. We wrote about alternative household cleaning products before, but here are a few others, some of which might actually surprise you.
Salt
The slightly abrasive nature of the salt makes it ideal for cleaning kitchenware. If you add a little lemon, you can create a paste which rivals even the most expensive kitchen cleaners, for a fraction of the price and with none of the toxic chemical residue. This lemon-salt combo is also brilliant in getting your countertops a thorough cleaning as well, getting rid of both the dirt and the unpleasant smells in the process.
Club Soda
Club soda had been the irreplaceable go-to stain solution for our grandparents and parents. But somewhere along the way, we got sidetracked by the shiny new products which don’t really do a better job, but have better marketing. Many stains can be removed from clothes or carpets by only using club soda and a bit of good ol’ rubbing. Additionally, club soda can serve as an excellent gem and jewelry cleaner. Oddly enough, club soda proves great with rust, so you can spray a bit of it on rusty nuts and bolts, to loosen them.
Rubbing alcohol
This substance is known to all who have suffered sports injuries or have muscle problems. Despite its less than pleasant smell, alcohol has many redeeming qualities. The one we will focus on here is the ability to clean a lot of stains. Alcohol is a solvent, so it is good with cleaning smooth services, like glass, mirrors and tiles. Even more impressively, you can clean ink stains with rubbing alcohol. Pen, marker or inkwell, makes no difference. Alcohol will dilute the ink and make it much easier to wash in warm water, with or without detergents.
Sand
Surprisingly for many, sand was used to clean kitchenware and stone floor long before chemical cleaners were in fashion. The key to the success of sand as a cleaner is its abrasive properties. Today we may use steel wool as a way to scrub the food stuck to the dishes, but before the industrial times, and the general availability of such accessories, sand was the go-to material. Brass is known particularly to be given the sand treatment to achieve high sheen.
Beeswax
Natural beeswax combined with linseed oil was used to polish the wood furniture as well as wooden floors prior to the advent of artificial chemical cleaners. In fact, any and all wooden surfaces in the house could only benefit from a polish of beeswax. The practice of using beeswax for polishing wood still exists, and is making a comeback, with the rising awareness of the negative impact of chemical cleaners on the planet. Other uses of beeswax include treating bronze and copper items, waterproofing leather, and myriad other uses around the house.
Alternative: Cleaning Service Anaheim
These cleaning products are useful if you have the time and the patience to use them properly. Sadly, most of us have very little time to tend to such things. That’s why maid services like Maid This! offer great terms for the best cleaning service in LA and other parts of Southern California with our flat rates, so you always know what you are getting. Contact us today.
