Many of the items you have around your house can be excellent cleaners, you just have to know how to use them.

Baking Soda-

Baking soda makes an excellent non-abrasive scouring powder besides being a refrigerator deodorizer.

Baking soda can also be used for removing odors from laundry if you place 1/2 to 1 cup in the laundry.

Use baking soda as a drain cleaner. Pour 1 cup in the drain. Let sit for 10 minutes or longer depending on the clog, then pour 1 gallon of warm water down the drain. For really stubborn clogs, pour 1 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1 cup of white vinegar. Cover the drain, if possible, and let the foaming action take care of the clog. Wait 20 minutes and pour 1 gallon of warm water down the drain.

Sprinkle baking soda on your carpet before vacuuming to remove carpet odors.

Lemon Juice-

Lemon juice will remove hard water deposits, dissolves dirt buildup on wood, and will take the tarnish off of silver.

Lemon juice can also be used as a fragrance in other household cleaners such as vinegar.

Use lemon juice as an air freshener. Add 1 cup lemon juice to 2 cups water and leave sit out in a shallow bowl. The fresh scent of lemons will fill your room.

White vinegar-

White vinegar can be used as a daily shower cleaner. Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray over shower walls after showering. If the smell of vinegar bothers you, add lemon juice to the mix to freshen up the smell.

Vinegar can also be used in place of lemon juice for removing hard water stains, dirt buildup, and tarnish.

Essential Oils-

Essential oils such as lavender, clove, and tea tree, as well as grapefruit seed extract can be used as an antiseptic or a natural fungicide.

Mix 1 to 2 teaspoons essential oil to 2 cups water and put in a spray bottle. For grapefruit seed extract use 20 drops to 1 quart water.

Washing Soda-

Sodium carbonate is its other name, and is caustic so be sure to wear rubber gloves when using it.

It is great at removing lipstick, cutting grease and getting wax out of clothing.

It can also be used to neutralize odors.

Borax-

Yes, this is the same item your mother used for laundry.

Borax can be used to brighten laundry and deodorize.

Use in garbage disposals to remove unwanted odors. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons in the drain and let stand for at least 15 minutes. Then run water in the drain for a few seconds with the disposal on.

Remove odors on mattresses and pet urine or spoiled milk odors by dampening the area and sprinkling Borax on the spot. Rub the Borax into the spot and then let dry and vacuum or brush to remove the dried Borax.

For porcelain mix Borax and warm water and wipe down the surfaces. It will make your porcelain shine.

To remove hard water, add 1/2 cup of Borax to your regular laundry detergent to get cleaner, fresher smelling clothes.

For delicate clothes add 1/4 cup Borax to 1-2 tablespoons laundry detergent and let sit in a basin for 10 minutes, then rinse in cool water.

To deodorize garbage pails sprinkle Borax in the bottom of the dry garbage pail.

To keep humidifiers free from odors, dissolve one tablespoon of Borax per gallon of water and add it to the unit.

For cleaning toilets, sprinkle 1/4 cup of Borax into the bowl and swish around with a toilet brush. Let stand 30 minutes or over night for a clean, fresh bowl.