Here are 6 Pantry Items You Can Use for Green Cleaning. You don’t need a cupboard full of harsh chemical sprays to keep your home clean. Some of the safest, cheapest and most effective cleaners are probably sitting in your kitchen right now. Here are six everyday pantry items you can use for green cleaning – no harmful chemicals, no big expense, and no excuse not to make your own.
With white vinegar, baking soda, salt, lemon, rubbing alcohol and a little olive oil, you can mix up a whole range of cleaning products that are kind to your home, your health and the environment.
1. White Vinegar
Slightly acidic, white vinegar cuts through soap scum, hard-water deposits and everyday grime on smooth surfaces. It doesn’t just mask odours – it neutralises them – and it won’t stain, which makes it handy for tiles and grout. Diluted with water, it’s a great glass and surface cleaner, and it can even stand in for fabric softener if you have sensitive skin, since it helps rinse away detergent residue.
Use it undiluted on kitchen, bathroom and toilet surfaces to tackle soap scum and hard-water marks. One caution worth knowing: vinegar is acidic, so avoid it on natural stone such as marble or granite, and on unsealed or waxed wood, where it can dull the surface over time.
6 Pantry Items You Can Use for Green Cleaning
2. Baking Soda
Baking soda is a gentle abrasive and a natural deodoriser, which makes it a perfect replacement for harsh scouring powders. Sprinkle it onto a damp sponge to lift stains and grime from bathtubs, sinks, chrome and stone. Mixed into a paste with a little water, it scrubs kitchen and bathroom surfaces beautifully, and it’s excellent for freshening and helping to clear slow drains.
6 Pantry Items You Can Use for Green Cleaning
3. Salt
Plain table salt is mildly abrasive, which makes it surprisingly good at lifting grease. Sprinkle it over greasy spills in the oven or microwave and leave it until the surface cools, then wipe away with a soft, damp cloth. It also works well teamed up with lemon (see below) for scouring tougher spots.
4. Lemon
Lemon juice is naturally acidic and mildly antibacterial, with a fresh scent no synthetic spray can match. It cuts grease, brightens stainless steel, and helps dissolve hard-water and limescale marks on taps and sinks. Cut a lemon in half, dip the cut side in salt, and you have a natural scrubber for chopping boards. A bowl of water with a few lemon slices, microwaved for a minute, also loosens dried-on food so the inside wipes clean in seconds.
5. Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) evaporates quickly and streak-free, which makes it a great base for a homemade glass and window cleaner. Mix it with water and a splash of white vinegar for a spray that shines up mirrors, windows, chrome and ceramic tiles. It’s also handy for disinfecting hard surfaces and lifting marker or ink marks.
6. Olive Oil
The same olive oil you cook with makes a lovely natural polish. A little on a soft cloth revives wooden furniture, buffs stainless-steel appliances to a shine, and lifts sticky label residue. For a simple wood polish, mix roughly one part lemon juice to two parts olive oil and buff in with a soft cloth.
6 Pantry Items You Can Use for Green Cleaning
That’s six simple, inexpensive ingredients – most of which you already own – that can replace a whole shelf of chemical cleaners. Start with one or two, see how they work for you, and build from there. We are always looking for new ideas, so don’t hesitate to let us know your tips and tricks.
Have a favourite pantry cleaning trick of your own?
Share it in the comments below – I’d love to hear it.