If you're looking for alternative non-toxic cleaning products to keep your home lovely and sparkly then you've come to the right place. Find out now how to clean your home with eggshells, banana skin and lemon - who knew?
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1. Clean a pot with broken eggshells
Have you made a lot of hard-boiled eggs for lunch? Use a handful of broken eggshells to scrub clean your pots and pans. Mix it with soapy water for a brilliant abrasive.
2. Use grapefruit & salt to clean a bathtub
If you've moved into a new home and the bathtub looks really grimy, don't despair! Grab a grapefruit and a quarter of a cup of salt.
Cut the grapefruit in half and sprinkle the salt onto the flesh. Take the grapefruit half and scrub the bath. Rinse and voila!
3. Clean stainless steel surfaces with olive oil
Grab a bottle of olive oil and a cloth and buff your stainless steel surfaces. Enjoy the shine!
4. Lemon dust cloths
Make your own reusable dusting cloths with the juice of a lemon, olive oil, distilled vinegar and rosemary sprigs!
5. Clean your bathroom tiles with Epsom salts
If your tiles need a good clean then go and grab some trusty Epsom salt!
Mix together some washing-up-liquid with Epsom salt and rub the mixture into the tiles with an old toothbrush.
6. Clean up broken glass with a slice of bread
Bread acts like a sponge and all those pesky small fragments of glass will stick to it. First, carefully pick up the large pieces of glass with your hands, then use the soft side and gently press them down on the shards.
7. Polish your shoes with a banana peel
Fruit and vegetable peels are great for cleaning. If you've run out of shoe polish, peel that banana you've got for lunch, take the skin and rub it all over your shoes.
8. Rub lemon juice on your taps
If you're in a hard water area then chances are you have limescale problems. Grab a lemon and rub the juice all over your taps. Let it sit overnight and in the morning you can wipe it all away with a damp cloth.
9. Clean your vases or bottles with rice
Do you have some strange-shaped vases or bottles that need a good clean? Take 2 spoonfuls of rice and pour in some warm water to soak for 15 minutes. Shake it well, pour it out and rinse with more water. The rice will help to scrub stains away.
10. Remove paint from hair & skin with olive oil
If your kids have got into a bit of a mess with their paints one rainy afternoon, grab a cotton wool pad with olive oil and gently rub the stain out.
11. Use lemon to remove rust from a t-shirt
If you've discovered your lovely white t-shirt has a nasty rust stain on it, grab a lemon. First wet the stain with water, then rub a cut lemon on it. Saturate it with lemon juice and then hang your t-shirt out in the sunshine. Let the sun naturally bleach it, then give it a wash as you would do normally.
12. Use table salt to clean stained mugs
If you're a big fan of a strong cup of tea, you'll find annoying stains on all of your mugs. If you want to get rid of them, rub the area with some table salt and the stains should come off in no time.
13. Make wooden furniture shine with coconut oil
Restore your beautiful furniture to its former glory with a natural wood polish. All you need is a mixture of melted coconut oil, white wine vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Spray onto your furniture and then polish and buff with a clean cloth.
14. Jar room scents
Make your home smell wonderful for weeks on end with some beautiful DIY natural room scents. Fill a jar wih herbs, spices and fruit in simmering water.
15. Use coffee as a surface scrubber
This is a great use for coffee - as coffee grounds are mildly abrasive they won't damage your surfaces, but you can use them to scrub food from kitchen counters, dirty dishes and cooking hobs.
16. Brighten whites with lemon juice
Lemons are so fantastic, they can do so many things. If you want to brighten your white load then add half a cup of lemon juice to your rinse cycle. Give it a go in your next wash!
17. Clean artificial flowers with table salt
Artificial flowers look perfect all year round... except for when they get all dusty and dirty. Grab your fake flowers and put them in a paper bag with some table salt. Shake as hard as you can and then the dust and dirt will be dislodged by the salt.
Natural cleaners, I really hope you enjoyed this blog post. Do you have any tips you'd like to share with us?
What a load of fantastic hints and tips
So glad to hear you enjoyed them Margaret!
Fantastic need more easy tips like this on Facebook everyday the younger generation have lost all knowledge like this like grannys tips please make this viral and keep me in the loop amazing thanks for sharing and taking the time its a shame about click here for more uses as I would of loved to read it all at once and somehow store this thankyou so much more please ??
Thank you for your lovely words Victoria, please share it with your friends! :)
I'm more curious to know how you get a rust stain on your t shirt, than how you remove it!
Perhaps you've brushed up against some rust in your garage!
I cleaned my bookcase with a couple of squirts of WD-40 it gets rid of all the finger marks and leaves a lovely shine on the veneer. An old wives tale that works for me rub a wart with the inside of a Banana skin then forget about it.
Thanks for your lovely tip MJ! Inetresting about the Banana skin... give it a go and let us know! ;)
Please could you help me to clean inside of teapot
Hi Christine, you can salt to clean out your teapot! Hope that helps.
Steradent also cleans teapots. Brings them up a treat, depending how stained they are of course. I know its not as natural as salt but if it works....
Great article, some awesome tips here! When it comes to cleaning tiles; I find that these (http://www.janitorialdirect.co.uk/3m-scotchbrite-scourers-no96-4211.html) work well with the salts. You can also get a bigger area done using these as opposed to a toothbrush.
Thanks for your tip Pete!
I often see laundry tips which suggest adding a particular ingredient in the rinse cycle. However, how can this be done with an automatic machine which goes from wash to rinse to spin with the door (front loading) locked? Anyone have any suggestions?
Hi Jude. This is a great question - thanks for bringing it up. If using an automatic dispenser, add the ingredient in question to the fabric softener dispenser. This will mean it's released later on in the cycle. I hope this helps :)
How can I remove orange sauce and tomato stains from vinyl please?
To remove orange sauce and tomato stains from vinyl, mix a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar and apply it to the stain with a clean, white cloth. Rub gently and then wipe with a damp cloth to remove the solution. If the stain persists, try using a baking soda and water paste or a cleaning solution specifically designed to remove stains on vinyl surfaces.
Hi looking for advice I have got mirror furniture in living room I try everything but still get wipe marks on it it’s that bad I’m thinking of selling I hope you can help Thanks
Have you tried using a window/glass cloth? You should be able to find them in the supermarket or on Amazon. Mine is great for getting rid of streaks!