Gnat Problem: Not

Quite by mistake I found a way to kill gnats flying around my kitchen.

I was playing around with my cleaning supplies and my wife was complaining about gnats flying around my countertop compost bin. So I made a fly bottle: I took a plastic bottle and cut the top off of it, inverted the top into the body and put some vinegar into it. This worked, it lured some gnats into the bottle and they couldn't escape. I then tossed the bottle and gnats into the garbage bin outside.

But I did something else that worked even better:

Like I said, I decided to play around with the vinegar since I had it out. I poured some vinegar into a flat dish (you could use a cereal bowl), then I poured some sodium percarbonate into the vinegar. Actually what I used was Oxo Brite. I just wanted to watch it bubble up. But then I left it there on the counter. As it turned out, more gnats were captured by these bubbles than by the fly bottle. I guess they were lured in by the smell of the vinegar and then got captured by the bubbles. It turns out that this combination of vinegar/sodium percabonate worked really well to rid out kitchen of gnats.

I later experimented with vinegar and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), but the bubbles produced disappeared too fast to kill any gnats, so I'm sticking with the Oxo Brite.

Cleaning Wood Cabinets and Floors

GoodGuide has a review of Method Wood for Good Spray. They give it an 8.7 which is a very good rating. They rate it better than alternatives such as Murphy Oil Soap (although they only have a rating for the Murphy Oil Soap Multi Use with Orange Oil) which gets a 5.6 which is decent, but not as good as the Method product. What brings down the Murphy cleaner is it's health 4.0 rating. This is the same rating as Bona and a few others get. Compared to the health rating of 8.7 for Method Wood for Good Spray, these other products score pretty low.

Method also sells a floor cleaner called Method O-Mop Wood for Good Floor Cleaner. It gets a slightly lower GoodGuide health rating of 6.0 which drops it's overall rating to 7.9. What happened? Why did it's health rating drop like that? GoodGuide answers the question by pointing out that O-Mop includes Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether. Although it raises a medium level of concern, Method
Ecos, and Seventh Generation all use it in some of their products. And all three of these companies are trying to produce greener products. The lower rated products like the Murphy Oil Soap have a whole list of ingredients that raise a "high level of health concern."

I think I'm ready to switch. What about you?

What makes a cleaning product "eco-friendly"?

There are a lot of commercial eco-friendly cleaning products and online recipes for green cleaners out there. But a truly sustainable product needs to have more than "baking soda" listed on the ingredients. There are other things you need to watch out for. Here's some questions you might want to ask yourself:

Where do the items/ingredients come from?

Just because something is non-toxic when used in your home does not mean that it's production is also environmentally friendly. 

Is the manufacturer socially responsible?

In other words, does the manufacturer exploit the workers who mine/collect/make the product? 

How is the product packaged?

What I mean here is that sometimes the product inside the package is "green" but that green product is wrapped in multiple layers of junk. If you are buying a cleaning solution look for the concentrated form. A concentrate may be equivalent to 10, 20, or even 40 bottles of "ready to use" sprays. I have a cleaner that I use that can make 64 gallons of cleaner from one gallon of concentrate. That means I can do a lot of cleaning and I only have one bottle that I have to recycle.

What do they mean by "Biodegradable"?

Is the whole item biodegradable or only part of it? And how long does it really take to break down? If the product is ultimately flushed down the toilet or down the sink what kinds of effects will it have "down stream" before it breaks down. And after it breaks down, what's left? Are the byproducts toxic or harmful in any way?

Why is the manufacturer calling the product "Green"?

Sometimes green products are made of a little recycled material, but not very much. Or it is recycled, but not biodegradable so after you use it it's just going to end up in a landfill for a thousand years. Or one of the ingredients is environmentally friendly, but there are also toxic ingredients in it.

Buying green cleaning products is kind of like buying food. Just because some cookies are advertised as "Low Fat" doesn't make them healthy if they have extra sugar to compensate for the lower fat content. For food to be healthy it needs to be more than just "low fat."

Get the right information
So finding out all about all this is a difficult task. Don't despair. There is help out there.

See this video interview with Scot Case of terrachoice.com
GoodGuide.com is also a very good place to find information.

Cleaning Carpet Stains

Before we begin talking about cleaning stains in your carpet, remember, in the end you may have to hire a professional. But there are some things you can do before that. I would try these things in the following order:

Before you Begin

• Identify what kind of stain you have. There are basically two types of stains: (A) water-soluble and (B) not water-soluble. I know, that's not very helpful. In category (B) you find things like fat, grease, oil and gum. Pretty much everything else falls into category (A). For now, we are going to concentrate on the water-soluble problems. Those are things like drinks, urine, vomit, and blood. 
• Carpet fibers are twisted, so your cleaning method needs to work with the twists in the carpet. This means don't rub back and forth on the carpet. Blot, and work your way from the outside towards the middle. 

The Solutions

1. If the stain is still wet: blot the stain with a white towel or wash cloth. Blot and move to a clean area of the towel then blot again working your way from the outside toward the middle. Get up as much as you can before it dries.
2. If the stain is dry: You might be able to remove some water-soluble stains with water. It's best to poor the water on your cloth and then blot the spot with the wet cloth. But sometimes I poor a little water on the stain and let it sit for a minute then blot it up with a white towel or, if you have a shop-vac then vacuum it up. 
3. Water-soluble stains can often be removed with some hydrogen peroxide, or non-chlorine bleach (I prefer the ones with hydrogen peroxide), or distilled white vinegar. 
1. With any of these products I would start with a mix 1 tablespoon product with 1 quart of water. You really should test the solution in an inconspicuous area first because they might discolor your carpet. It's not very likely, but you should be careful. 
2. If the weaker solution isn't working you can increase the mix up to 1:1 - one part peroxide or vinegar to one part water. 
3. I would try the diluted solutions first, but on particularly bad stains that aren't coming up I might try using 3% hydrogen peroxide at full strength. But be extra careful, apply the peroxide to your white cloth then dab at the spot. Remember, hydrogen peroxide is a bleaching agent, that's why it works so well on stains and why it can also damage your carpet.
4. For smelly stains like urine or vomit I would dust the area with baking soda first then use distilled white vinegar. Both baking soda and vinegar are good at removing odors. Since vomit is acidic you could use a stronger alkali than baking soda. I like to use Oxy Clean or OXO Brite. They are pretty cheap and eco-friendly. Since these products have a high pH they can act to neutralize the acid in the vomit. 
5. But dog urine stains might really call for a commercial product. If the urine comes from a dog then you should use a product that has enzymes that will remove all the urine. Dogs have a much better sense of smell than we do and you might not get all the smell out. If there is any residual odor that the dog can smell then he will probably return to the spot and do it again. A commercial product like KIDS 'N'PETS Stain & Odor Remover or URINE OFF might be best. 

Other Resources

• This Old House also has a nice article on removing carpet stains.
• There's also a whole web site devoted the subject: http://www.howtoremovecarpetstains.com/
• Care2 has an article on using baking soda to remove carpet stains.
• EarthEasy has a nice article on non-toxic home cleaning.

Some commercial carpet stain removers include:

Folex Carpet Cleaner, 32 oz

OUT! Stain and Odor Remover, 32 Ounce

Joe Campanelli's Stain Remover Professional Formula

Simple Solution Oxy Solution Carpet Stain Remover, 32 Ounce Spray

Cleaning Blood from Clothing

We own a couple of cockatiels. The other day one of them broke a blood feather and started to bleed. This is very dangerous and a cockatiel could die from it. We had to act immediately. I held him and my wife got some pliers and pulled the feather out. Everything turned out fine. But some of the blood got on my wife's shirt.

What do you do when you get blood on your clothes?
The first thing I did was spray some 1.5% hydrogen peroxide directly on the blood. Then I put 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide into about a quart of water and soaked the shirt in it for about an hour. When I took it out there was no sign of the blood. And luckily there was no fading either. Hydrogen peroxide can, on occasion, cause your colors to fade. But I don't think it's too big of a risk with older clothes that have been washed numerous times since we use hydrogen peroxide in our wash anyway. Later, we washed the shirt and it's doing just as well as the cockatiel.

Remember, if you do put clothes with blood on them into the wash be careful. First, wash in cold water. If the blood does not come all the way out then try washing it again. Do not put it into the dryer since the heat will set the stain and you will probably never get it out.

GoodGuide

You want non-toxic, environmentally friendly products from companies with good social and safety records. GoodGuide rates over 65,000 products based on these factors.

I use GoodGuide all the time to see if I'm purchasing good products. They even have an iPhone app. Check it out, you might find it useful.

http://www.goodguide.com/

Trying to green clean that shower? Consumer Reports says...

GreenerChoices.org, the eco-minded version of Consumer Reports. They test as report on supposedly "green" alternatives.

Cleaning up the shower? GreenerChoices says:  "Most 'green' shower cleaners haven’t wowed us. We found one decent choice by Green Works, called Green Works Natural Bathroom Cleaner, but it wasn’t great at removing mildew. Do-it-yourself cleaning recipes might be a better way to go."

Their recipe for a tub and tile cleaner.

Mix 1 2/3 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup liquid soap, and 1/2 cup water. Then, as the last step, add 2 tablespoons vinegar (if you add the vinegar too early it will react with the baking soda). Immediately apply, wipe, and scrub.

This is a variation on the common recipe for a tub and tile cleaner for your bathroom.

Other Recipes

EarthEasy recommends:

For simple cleaning, rub in baking soda with a damp sponge and rinse with fresh water. For tougher jobs, wipe surfaces with vinegar first and follow with baking soda as a scouring powder. (Vinegar can break down tile grout, so use sparingly.)

Green Joyment breaks it into two parts: 

Combine 2 cups of baking soda with enough water to make a smooth thick paste. Apply the paste to the tub or tile and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Scrub off with a soft rag in a circular motion. After the paste is removed, spray the tub or tile with a 50/50-vinegar and water rinse. The rinse will remove any residue and disinfect the area as well.

Someone on Associated Content has a little different take on it:

1 1/2 cups of white vinegar (only use white vinegar it works much better than apple cider or other flavored vinegars); 1 1/2 cups water; 3/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide (comes in a brown bottle you may already have some in your first aid kit). If you would like you can also add 40 to 50 drops of essential oil, for this recipe and oil that is naturally antiseptic such as lavender, orange, grapefruit or lemon will give the recipe added disinfecting power.

What are these recipes really telling us?
In your shower/tub you will basically have three kinds of cleaning to do: hard water spots, soap scum, and mold/mildew. What does this really amount to? Let's have a closer look at each problem.

Hard Water Spots: This is also known as limescale. The minerals in your water remain behind after the water evaporates off the tile and glass door. Lime is an alkaline substance (above 7 on the pH scale), so the best way to attack it is with something acidic. But hard water is also hard so you will need something abrasive to scrub with.

• Vinegar is a mildly acidic (below 7 on the pH scale), so it makes an excellent choice to attack the limescale. Lemon juice would also work, but I think white vinegar is a little more economical. However, lemon juice is actually more acidic, so if you have a tough problem you might want to go with the lemon or even lime juice.  Another way to getting more work out of your cleaner is to let it sit longer before wiping it up. So try leaving the vinegar/lemon juice to sit there for a five or ten minutes before wiping it up. 
• Baking Soda is a mild abrasive, so it should work well with the vinegar to give it some scrubbing power. However, baking soda is an alkaline and will neutralize the vinegar. You can see the reaction taking place as it bubbles up. Something like Bon Ami or Borax is a little more abrasive (and alkaline) and could be used instead of the baking soda. (But be careful with Bon Ami on glass shower doors.) All you need to do is make sure you don't let the vinegar and baking soda sit around mixed together for too long. 
• If I were using this vinegar/baking soda combination I would wipe or spray the vinegar around the shower/tub and let it sit for a few minutes. Then put some baking soda on a sponge (a little liquid soap can also help) and start to scrub. But be careful: vinegar is acidic and if you use it too much it might eventually eat away at the tile grout and caulking.

Soap Scum: Basically, soap scum, like limescale, is above 7 on the pH scale, so the same thing we said above about limescale applies here. Vinegar and baking soda make a good combination, along with some elbow grease.

Mold/Mildew: Tackling the mildew problem is a little more difficult. Vinegar, because it's an acid, can kill mildew but it's not always completely effective. Many sites will recommend using essential oils and tea tree oil because of their disinfectant qualities. But I would stay away from them for reasons mentioned here. It seems to me that a better solution is to use hydrogen peroxide along with the vinegar. However, like the vinegar and baking soda, I would not combine them beforehand.

My Recipe
So my final recommendation would be along these lines:

1. Put some white vinegar in a spray bottle and spray your shower with it.
2. Wait five minutes.
3. Put some hydrogen peroxide in a separate spray bottle and spray your shower with that too.
4. Wait another five minutes.
5. Mix together in a jar: one part baking soda and two parts borax.
6. Put a few drops of liquid soap on a sponge and sprinkle the baking soda/borax generously on the sponge then start to scrub your shower in a circular motion. Use some water if you need more moisture.
7. Rinse your shower out with water and wipe out any residue with a clean rag/sponge.