Finding Alternatives
If you are interested in reducing the amount of hazardous waste from your home, you can make non-toxic cleansers from baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and other natural ingredients. Plain vinegar, for example, can clean windows, soften old glue, remove fresh epoxy from fingers and help clear clogged drains. The recipes included on this page will not only save you money, but may also help avoid illnesses linked to the chemicals in many brand-name cleansers. Be knowledgeable about the materials you use and take appropriate precautions. Some materials may be hazardous if ingested or inhaled. For more information about green cleaning, please visit www.fingerlakesbuygreen.org.
CAUTION! Never mix chlorine bleach and ammonia or any toilet bowl or drain cleaners because they will form a toxic gas.
Why Should I care?
Due to their chemical makeup, household hazardous products can poison, corrode, explode or burst into flame. The improper use, storage or disposal of these products may pose a threat to the health of humans, animals and the environment. Please consider trying some of these alternative methods for cleaning, pest control, and personal hygiene.
- Household Cleaning Alternatives
- Alternatives for Laundry Stains
- Alternatives for Common Pesticides
- Alternative Personal Hygiene Products
Household Cleaning Alternatives
Purpose | Alternative | Avoid |
| Air Freshener and Deodorizer | Simmer cinnamon and cloves or other sweet herbs. Several aromatic herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary and others) have proven antiseptic powers. Simmer them on a stove and spray the "tea" water with a mister. Use potpourri as an air freshener or put out a small dish of vinegar in the room for one hour. | Avoid using aerosol sprays |
| Brass Polish | Use fresh or reconstituted lemon juice or Worcestershire sauce. Rinse with water after cleaning. | |
| Carpet Fresh/Cleaner | For odors, sprinkle dry cornstarch or baking soda and vacuum. Or leave 2 parts cornstarch and 1 part borax on for an hour then vacuum. For stains, rub borax into the dampened area, let dry then vacuum, or repeatedly blot with vinegar and soapy water. | |
| Chrome Polish | Use rubbing alcohol or white flour on a dry rag or rub with a baking soda paste. | |
| Copper Polish | Rub with a mixture of lemon juice (reconstituted or fresh) and salt. Rinse with water after washing. | |
| Degreasers | Use water-based detergents or citrus0based degreasers. | |
| Disinfectants | Mix 1/2 cup borax in 1 gallon of hot water for counters, floors, cabinets and tiles. Or use a dilute alcohol/water mix. | |
| Drain openers | Pour 1/4 cup baking soda down the drain then follow with 1/2 cup vinegar. When fizzing slows, flush with a few cups of boiling water. For severe problems, use a plunger or plumber's snake. | Prevent a clogged drain by pouring boiling water down the drain periodically. |
| Fabric Softener | 1 cup vinegar or 1/4 cup baking soda during final rinse | |
| Floor Cleaner | For vinyl, linoleum, tile floors, add 1/4 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon hot water. | |
| Glass Cleaner | Fill a spray bottle with 1 quart water and add 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Use and store instead of ammonia products. Wipe with newspaper. | Ammonia products |
| Microwave oven | Use a mix of lemon juice and vinegar in water. | |
| Mildew | Make a paste of vinegar or lemon juice and salt. Apply to mildewed area, let sit, then rinse. | |
| Oven Cleaner | Use a paste of baking soda and water, scrubbing stains with steel wool. For tougher stains add salt, except for self-cleaning ovens. Stains are easier to clean when they are warm. For baked-on grease, put 1/4 cup of ammonia in an open dish in oven overnight to loosen grease, then scrub with baking soda. or spray equal parts ammonia and water on oven walls, close door and leave several hours or overnight. Then wipe or scrub clean. | Avoid breathing ammonia fumes. |
| Paint on Brushes | Boil brush in an old covered saucepan with white vinegar to cover the brush. Turn heat down and simmer a few minutes. Remove brush and wash with soapy water. | |
| Paint on hands | Use baby or mineral oil. | |
| Paint Remover | Mix 1 pound of tri-sodium phosphate (TSP), a natural mineral-based cleansing powder available at paint and hardware stores, into 1-gallon hot water. Wear rubber gloves to avoid skin irritation and brush on the mixture. Let it sit for 30 minutes then remove the softened paint with a scraper. | |
| Rust Remover | Lemon juice and steel wool. | |
| Shoe polish | Use the inside of a banana peel, then buff. | |
| Silver Polish | Add a tablespoon each of baking soda and salt to hot water with a small piece of aluminum foil in a glass or porcelain pan. Drop in silver and soak for 3 minutes. Rinse and polish with a soft cloth. Other cleaning alternatives: clean with toothpaste and warm water; or rub with baking soda paste; soak in sour milk overnight. | |
| Sink and Toilet Cleaner | Clean regularly with a mixed paste of either baking soda or borax with water and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Borax or baking soda is also good alone to replace abrasive cleaners. Or switch to a low-abrasive feldspar scouring powder. | |
| Surface cleaners | Mix 1 quart hot water, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil based soap/detergent, 1 teaspoon borax and 2 Tablespoons vinegar. For a general cleaner, dissolve baking soda in hot water. | |
| Windshield Washer Solution | Use plain water, or water with a touch of liquid soap. Do not use vinegar as it may damage the windshield washer pump. | |
| Wood floor and furniture polish | Mix 1 Tablespoon Carnauba wax into two cups mineral oil or mix 1 part lemon juice with 2 parts olive oil or vegetable oil mayonnaise. |
Alternatives for Laundry Stains
Test each of the following remedies on the fabric first. If it starts to discolor, neutralize the cleaning agent immediately by using lemon juice or vinegar (acids) when cleaning with baking soda or ammonia (alkalies) and vice versa. Wash garments after application. To avoid dryer heat from setting a stain permanently, air-dry the garment to be certain the stain is gone.
Stain or Cleaning Product | Remedy or Substitute |
| Berries | Soak in vinegar or milk |
| Blood | Rinse with club soda or pour hydrogen peroxide directly on the stain and rinse in cold water. For stubborn stains mix cornstarch with water and rub into the stain. Allow to dry and brush away. |
| Chewing Gum | Rub with ice until gum flakes off. |
| Chocolate | Rub with vegetable oil or butter, or a paste of washing soda and water right away. Let stand 15 minutes or so. Wash. |
| Coffee/Tea | Soak in strong vinegar solution or rinse with seltzer. |
| Grass | Soak in vinegar, or use a solution of rubbing alcohol and water. |
| Grease | Rub stain with salt, bread or dry soap and wipe off. |
| Ink | Soak in milk or lemon juice. Rubbing with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol also works. |
| Lipstick | Rub with cold cream or shortening to dissolve color, then remove grease by rinsing in solution of washing soda and warm water. |
| Perspiration | Rub with solution of vinegar or lemon juice in water. |
| Paint | Soak in milk, hot vinegar or a mixture of washing soda/water. |
| Oil | Rub with white chalk. |
| Red Wine | Blot with paper towels to absorb wine. Then apply either club soda, rubbing alcohol, borax or white wine to blot out the stain. |
| Bleach | Substitute 1/2 cup borax per wash load to whiten whites and bright colors. Or soak in lemon juice and dry in direct sunlight. If needed, occasionally use powdered oxygen-based bleach. |
| Spray Starch | Fill a spray bottle with two pints of cold water and mix in two tablespoons of cornstarch. Shake before each use. For delicate fabrics, dissolve a package of unflavored gelatin or 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in 2 cups of hot water. If fabric is sticky when dry, add more water. |
Alternatives for Common Pesticides
Many people consider crawling or flying bugs pests when they are around our homes. However, common household pesticides contain some of the most toxic chemicals developed by man. Cancer, leukemia and birth defects have been linked to these house and garden bug killers.
Safer alternatives do exist. Some effective general pest deterrents are garlic, dried tomato leaves, chamomile and fresh mint. Leave these items around the house to keep bugs away.One substitute that kills roaches, flies, fleas, ants and a variety of garden pests is diatomaceous earth, the skeletal remains of microscopic aquatic plants that lived millions of years ago. The tiny sharp fragments cut through insect shells, fatally dehydrating the pests.
Pest | Remedy |
| Ants | Keep ants from entering the house by making lines of lemon juice, coffee grounds, talcum powder, chalk, charcoal dust, cayenne pepper, cream of tartar, red chili pepper, paprika, or dried peppermint at common entry locations. Ants will also avoid mint plants. |
| Fleas and Ticks | Most chemical flea and tick controls have not been adequately tested for safety, putting you, your family, and your pet at risk. For bathing infested pets, use insecticidal soaps, which are biodegradable, non-toxic and kill fleas, ticks and lice instantly. To repel these pests, add brewer's yeast or garlic to the pet's diet. Also sprinkle fennel, rue, rosemary or eucalyptus seeds and leaves around the pet areas. Choose pet dips and sprays made of di-limonine gas, a citrus extract that safely repels pests. |
| Flies | Keep a well-watered pot of an aromatic plant-basil, thyme, rosemary, sage- on your window sill. |
| Houseplant Pests | Spray a mixture of soap and water, followed by plain water. A sprinkle of hot pepper also controls pests on leaves. Spiders help control other pests and when possible, should not be destroyed. Weevils: To repel, place small cloth sacks of black pepper in food bins, especially near beans and grains. |
| Mosquitos | Use essential oils of eucalyptus, cloves, geranium, peppermint, rosemary or citronella. Install screens on windows. |
| Moths | Store woolens with cedar chips, rosemary, mint, white peppercorns or camphor (the major non-toxic ingredient of mothballs). To trap, mix 2 parts vinegar with one part molasses and leave mixture in an open yellow container. |
| Roaches | Close openings into house with caulking, screening and weather stripping. Seal all food containers. Clean dishes nightly. If you don't, then be sure they are sitting in a basin of soapy water; do not leave pet food overnight; apply boric acid dust into cracks and places where roaches hide (like under a refrigerator); place bay leaves in pantry, cupboards and shelves to repel the roaches. Use non-toxic roach traps. Do not use boric acid in the presence of children or pets. |
| Slugs and Snails | Fill a shallow pan with stale beer and place in infested area. Trap under a board overnight. Dispose of slugs in a pail of soapy water. |
| Wasps | Use non-toxic wasp tarps. Suspend a piece of raw meat 1/2 inch over soapy water in a 50gallon bucket. |
Alternative Personal Hygiene Products
Product | Substitution |
| Deodorants & Antiperspirants | Use non-aerosols such as solids and roll-ons. Try baking soda as a powder. |
| Shaving Cream | Use shaving soap and a lather brush instead of foam products in aerosol containers. |
