Full personal care with totally safe ingredients - skin

For "body wash" I use the same thing as my "shampoo" - saturated baking soda solution in tap water, or the softest water you can get.  That's about one teaspoon per cup.

You can pour the solution on your body with an old body wash bottle.  Or you can simply put the baking soda into a bath.  First clean yourself with a little water in the bath, then add water to whatever level you desire.

I don't suggest to use another vinegar rinse as that's too much trouble with no reason.

I hope I don't need skin moisturizer in the long run, at least not everyday.

I suggest corn huskers lotion on a as needed basis or on trouble spots.  It solved all my skin troubles as the alcohol in it makes it medicated.  I use it for after shave, and moisturizer after I removed tough skin on my heel with "floating stone".  The formula has been used for just less than 100 years and all the common ingredients are said to be safe.

Some people suggest to use it for moisturizing your hair too.  But I use it on my scalp when there's something like an insect bite, or where there are some dry spots.

You may turn your solutions into lotions or gels if you mix glycerin with it.  You can make your body wash solution into something like body wash lotion.  It is easier to apply for kids and it can last for a week instead of a day or two.

Food grade glycerin is about 50 cents per oz online. You need to further dilute it into lotion. Glycerin is the main ingredient in corn huskers lotion, itself a good moisturizer and found in many personal care products and food as base.

I use it for the face too.  After washing I don't feel the face oily, nor dry.  But the oil free feeling don't last long, but not even the strongest face wash that I use last that long.  I repeat with the BS solution if I need to, or just wipe face with a wet towel.

For body scrub I sprinkle a little BS from a pepper bottle into my wet hands and rub it gently on my face or where it's needed.  Dry BS is very fine crystals and can cause fine scratch lines on glass when dry.  But it dissolves as soon as it touches water.  And it won't scratch your skin because the "floating stone" are many times tougher than that.

Full personal care with totally safe ingredents - hair

I have sensitive and problematic skin so I had tried a lot of things.  My recent experience of cleaning triggered me to research on cleaning myself, with safe and effective ingredients that I already have.

I use the most thick moisturizing body wash and that is not enough.  To sustain problem skin I need to cover myself with a good body moisturizer. 

After shampooing, I must use good conditioner or my hair will go crazy.

All these doesn't make any sense to me.  After I stripped my hair and skin of body oil, I reapply something else to re-moisturize my body.

So I found some common natural personal care routines that I can use.  I will concentrate on the simplicity of the process, the chemistry, and the safety.

For hair "shampoo" I use 2 cup of reverse osmosis water and saturate it with baking soda in a measuring cup.  That means roughly two teaspoons of baking soda dissolving in very soft water.  Then I pour the solution into an empty shampoo container and use it to apply to my dry hair thoroughly in the bathroom.  Then rinse THOROUGHLY before next step.

Over saturating the solution with baking soda probably won't do much.  If the solution don't have enough cleaning power you are the first one to know.  You aim to rinse off thoroughly so the concentration of the solution isn't critical.  You can use tap water.  But soft water itself cleans by dissolving hard deposits, and it dissolves more baking soda.  Baking soda also may have softening effects as in commercial softeners, where calcium (in water) is replaced by sodium (in Baking soda) and then extracted somewhat.  That's why people should not drink softened water, especially those who need to watch sodium intake. 

For the "conditioner" I use apple cider vinegar.  I dilute an oz or two of vinegar with reverse osmosis water in a measuring cup, giving the water pale colour but not too smelly in the bathroom.  Then I pour the solution into another bottle for use in the bathroom.  Apply to wet hair thoroughly and then rinse THOROUGHLY.

You can use white vinegar but the smell is stronger.  The two solution aren't really shampoo and conditioner as such, but the concept is never to mix them together.  They will start off a famous chemical reaction forming carbon dioxide bubbles and a temporary acid.  It may be good for carpet stains but not a good idea on your head.

Baking soda is a deodorizer and eatable, so it's fail safe.  You don't need to smell your own hair to be sure that it doesn't stink.   BS can remove grease and water scale effectively.  I would think the vinegar is optional.  But a lot of people tested it and it shouldn't cause any harm.  BS is slightly alkaline and vinegar is acidic.  So it may be cleaning in different ways.  Keep them on the dead hair and you won't go wrong.

As for the problem of dandruff, I suggest you do more research before trying.  I have no worries as my best shampoo and best conditioner still leave me with dandruff.  Every week or two I need to use medicated tar shampoo to treat my hair.  It isn't really treat but just a quick wash.  But I bet in my case it's drying of the skin under the hair so my alternative hair cleaning shouldn't get any worse.  I hope it gets better without stripping the oils everyday.  I tried other dandruff shampoo but they don't clean that good or the hair don't feel that good.

I'm happy with the effect so far, but not a long term test.  Your hair don't feel so clean during the washing, because you aren't removing all the oil.  After natural drying, my hair feels like I shampooed and conditioned as before.  So what a waste of time before.  It feels a little sticky at the end of day, but I have to wash my hair everyday because of the weather.

I have tried on kids very long hair.  It doesn't tangle that much without stripping the oil.  But it's not a long term test either.

For me the preparation is easy.  I just go to the kitchen and use the same measuring cup I use for cooking.  It's easier then making coffee.  And you can make more to use for a few more days.  For the whole family you may want to use two large milk bottles, put them high up in the shower, and fit taps on them.

Perfect carpet cleaning with perfectly safe ingredients

Now I have done all the experiments.  Firstly, the cleaning agents are not as important as the cleaning tool.  You do have to get one of the carpet "steamers" - not hot steam but will apply shampoo on the carpet and then suck it up.  Without it you have to soak the wet dirt up with a micro fibre or just cloth.  For removing stain in a small area it's perfectly OK.  It's just don't worth the manual labour if you can get a cheap steamer for smaller areas.

Now the cleaning agents.  Of course baking soda.  First you optionally spread baking soda around the carpet, more on dirty areas and stains.  You just drop a scoop in mid air and it will spread pretty evenly when the powder hit the ground.

Now spray the dirty area and stains with white vinegar,  neat or diluted.  It depends on how dirty your carpet is and how much you want to spend on vinegar.  It's cheap but still a couple of dollars per gallon.  The chemical will produce an acid temporary for extra cleaning.  The resulting neutralized salt is slightly yellowish.  It doesn't stain but if you have pure white carpet, I would try in a small area first.

Now the ingredient for carpet shampoo.  Add a cup of vinegar to it, more or less if you want.  Optionally add a cup of rubbing alcohol to it.  Optionally you need a little bubble, if only you need it to see how much dirty water is being sucked back into the steamer.  You can mix with carpet shampoo, but test first if there is adverse or mutual suppressing reactions.  You can add an oz or two of laundry detergent.  Or, I have an ultimately biodegradable car shampoo with very low suds.

Then follow the steamer instructions to clean the carpet.  Put it simply, for the first pass backwards, press the button to apply "shampoo".  Then at least pass a few times along the same area to suck back up all the shampoo.  Don't reapply shampoo unless you suck up all the shampoo that can be sucked up.  If the carpet get too wet, it will affect all the glue in all the layers.  The carpet may get loose or be damaged.

You can replace the steamer by hand.  But when I dispose of the used shampoo bucket, I always have a dark grey bucket of dirty water.  The dirty water is still very dirty even if I wash in consecutive days.  So that's the power of the steamer.

One thing to watch is that the baking soda from the carpet can "clog" the dirty water circulation.  If that happens you just need to rinse the dirty bucket in warm or cold water.  Baking soda is soluble in water.  For this clogging reason I don't use baking soda as shampoo.  But I think you can, but then don't add vinegar to neutralize it.

I had a Hover steamer, the biggest I could get.  It was a mistake.  It's so heavy to lift upstairs.  Yes you can separate the buckets from the steamer before lifting but that's extra work.  Even the to and fro action need some muscle if you go over the whole house.

My steamer clogged long ago, with fibre and dirt from the carpets.  It it also leaks from the tool tube.  I cleaned it up, took it apart, and realized that the clog can easily be cleaned if you dissemble a few parts.  It didn't look promising.  The seal ring broke into two pieces.  But when I put it back together, it works.  The leak is just a design fault, putting stress on the tube all the time.  You can use tape to stop the leak if nothing else.  The tube is for the hand tool, a mini steamer for the stairs, which is impossible for the full steamer to get on.

I'm not a fan of Hover but they do have supply of parts and repair if you need.

Getting rid of spiders and their webs with soapy solution

I have an organic garden.  That means a lot of weeds, bugs, and hence spiders.  On a slope with irregular growing ivy and occasionally tall weeds, it's Halloween everyday.  You can see spider webs covering the slope when the sun comes up, shining on the morning dew on the web.

Of course diluted dish washing liquid (for hand wash) is instant kill for spiders.  I have yet to encounter bugs that cannot be killed by it.

I tried the soapy solution on the webs.  Instantly the altered surface tension changed the entire structure of the web.  It disappears because the fine fibres got bundled into larger strands.  If you spray closer, you can dislodge the anchor points to totally destroy the web.

It's true there's easy ways to destroy the spider webs so my slope don't look like Halloween everyday.  A pole or a rack will do nicely.  But you may have delicate plants or surfaces that you don't want to disturb.

Once sprayed, the web will be useless and any spider in it killed.  It will also kill other bugs, food for the web hunters.  Hopefully they don't return.  I'll let you know.

Homemade carpet cleaner so good that it remove stains

I have a so called carpet steam cleaner.  It's too big too heavy and too troublesome to use.  And it's not that good.

People put baking soda on their carpets to clean.  People put vinegar solution on their carpets.  Some people put both.  The question is how good it is and how practical than carpet shampoo and steam cleaners.

After hand wash using microfiber cloth only, it's as good as oxiclean!  And I tried at the heavy traffic area that looks almost black.  Originally it's beige. We use to use oxiclean solution to remove stains.  The problem is that it will create a light spot on the old carpet.  After the baking soda and vinegar treatment, it's the same color as the oxiclean treated spot.

Now the practical process.  Sprinkle baking soda all over the carpet.  Work the power evenly with a brush, or use the electric brush of a steamer.  Spray the carpet slightly wet with a solution of 1 part warm water and 1/4 part distilled vinegar.  Then use a brush to clean like a shampoo, or use the electric brush.  Work more on the stains.  Wipe away wetness and lift the dirt with a microfiber cloth.  I don't even have a brush so I did everything with a microfiber cloth.  It doesn't look much when finished.  But when it's completely dry after a while, it will look the same as treated by oxiclean.

I don't know what's the long term effect on the carpet.  And you should try in a small area first.  But our carpet is almost black and worn out at the high traffic area.

Baking soda is mildly alkaline and itself a good cleaner for grease and water stains on the bathroom.  If you leave it on the carpet it will absorb odour.  It is also an abrasive power but it's too fine and soluble to damage any surface.

Vinegar is mildly acidic, and a good cleaner to dissolve grease and water stain.  You should dilute it because of the smell, and the cost if you buy it from the supermarket.

When they react, carbonic acid is first formed with heat giving out.  I would think that provide extra cleaning effect.  The carbonic acid should be stronger than vinegar and highly reactive.  The carbonic acid will then disintegrate into water and carbon dioxide.  What left is sodium acetate, a salt that is also used to replace salt and vinegar in fish and chips.  A salt is like common salt, which is transparent but white when in power form.  It will not turn into anything or change colour.

I use a microfiber cloth to lift the dirt because in repeated use, the microfiber cloth is less dirty than say cotton.  If the cloth is not too dirty I rinse it once in water.  Once a while I put it in the washing machine.

Update: It is always a mystery of using both baking soda and acid. Actually the reaction absorbs heat. When you combine both you neutralize each other. But many people swear they saw better results and so do I. Now my thinking is that the extra cleaning effect is not chemical, but physical. It's like you rub acid into hard to reach areas of the surface. And the fine baking soda powder do the rubbing.

Super homemade glass cleaner

At last I found somebody have similar interest but with more time - Crunch Betty.  This is the glass cleaner formula from her blog, well experimented in different ingredients.

1 cup hot water
1/8 cup vinegar
1/8 rubbing alcohol 70% isopropyl (first aid)
1/2 tbsp cornstarch

No matter how awesome baking soda is, it can't clean glass with streaking, and a lot of it.

This formula works without streaking.  It's easy to make instantly.  It cost very little.  The result is perfect if your glass isn't too dirty, as in exterior windows.The vinegar smell goes away very soon, and smelling not as strong as my CLR biodegradable.

The best use of it is via a dry microfiber cloth.  There is no lint.  I wash them after use and they last a long time.  But themselves aren't a green product.

For the outside window, you need some elbow grease if you clean them once a year.  I don't know if other glass cleaners fairs better.  But I can use baking soda first to rub out the stains, rinse the glass thoroughly, then the super glass cleaner.

Being professional, the problem is that her blog is full of other not so good stuff to make up the numbers.  Do you want to make your own shampoo?

The reason I like this one is that I can safely use it around the kitchen windows without moving away the other things that may one day in touch with food or eating utensils.

A bad one for example, commonly found all over in other places, is use vinegar mixed with water for carpet cleaning.  The mixture is half and half, making it quite expensive compared with carpet shampoo.  One gal of carpet shampoo can be used many many times diluted.  One gal of vinegar last a few times at most.  And if you put that much vinegar on the carpet all over the place, the smell ...

Baking soda should have put many cleaners out of business

I will be very suspicious about some organic / environment friendly source if it says vinegar is a good cleaner.   It's not, and it's impractical and it's not cheap compared to on the self cleaners.

As an acid, it's just too weak.  So the acid I prefer is the strongest one easily found in stores, and biodegradable too.  It smells because it's an organic acid, masked a little by natural fragrant I guess.  It works well - water stains, sink, toilet bowls, faucets.

Because baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is a weak alkaline, I don't even tried it to clean anything.

I just replaced my microwave hood combo.  The grease buildup is terrible, over a period of over 10 years.  My wife clean it everyday with detergent.  I tried everything from time to time, but can't deal with the grease using my favourite acid, hydrogen dioxide, and alcohol.

I can reduce the grease buildup, but I'm afraid to deal with it.  I can remove a bit on the surface but the grease become gluey on the surface and it's terrible to clean the cloth and brush afterwards.  The same thing goes for the grease filter.  I never can clean the thing thoroughly with whatever not so toxic chemical or cleaner I can find.

Out of desperation I searched the web again.  This time I found baking soda.  It was amazing.  I know caustic would work but it would burn your skin too.  I was amazed how a mild alkaline would work so effective.  Now my over 10 year old kitchen is shinning white, blinding my eyes.

The grease buildup on the stove and oven range simply gone by wiping with a damp cloth sprinkled with baking soda.  The plastic surface becomes a mirror.  All the finger marks are gone.  On the coated metal surface, even long ago baked in food residue are removed by repeated wiping with a scrounging pad for non-stick surfaces.  If you never damaged the surface with tough brushes, your range will look brand new again.  Black hardened grease stains around the outside of the oven are now gone.  I may clean the inside of the door too.  See the reflections on the range and contrasts to the grep metal parts that I haven't cleaned seriously for 5 years.

It works on the grill and bake racks and pans too.  They are not turning brand new, but the accumulated stains are getting out rather than getting worse.

My wash pad got contaminated with baking soda, and now my heavily stained mug are losing it's stains.  I didn't even tried to remove the stains.

I think the chemistry is that sodium bicarbonate reacts with grease to form soap, which is a cleaner of course.  Soap is soft so you can just wipe it away.

Baking soda would not work on some surfaces such as wood.  The resultant soap (or something else) got into the wood grains and stain it.

For wood the only think sensible thing is rubbing alcohol, which simply dissolves grease.  Alcohol will work well on grease, but not as dramatic or cheap as baking soda, and not much on hardened grease stains.

Baking soda is a pretty good cleaner for kitchen tiles, and works on the grout somewhat.  But hydrogen peroxide is the better whitener for grout, and you can combine them.

But much more use is written on the Arms and Hammer box.  It's a shame that they don't market it as a miracle cleaner and put some in the cleaner aisles.   And the cardboard box is laughable.  Seriously how can you clean carrying a paper box around without a cap?!