5 kitchen ingredients that are also great for cleaning

If you’re not a fan of cleaning with chemical products (or you simply can’t be bothered to go to the store for them), take a look through your kitchen cupboards. You probably have a number of products at home that are perfectly suitable for a cleaning session. Very ordinary ingredients that are just as effective for freshening things up as they are indispensable in the kitchen:

Say you have a toddler at home who still occasionally has the habit of licking the table you’ve just wiped down with bleach water, or you simply hate all those brightly colored plastic bottles filled with products that practically dissolve your countertop before your very eyes… Or maybe you want to clean a little more sustainably—what do you do? There are plenty of new brands available that take a more sustainable approach. But you can also get a long way with these products!

Baking soda

We’ve recommended baking soda before, but it really is a miracle product. Mixed with water, you can use it as a scouring agent for baking trays, on stainless steel surfaces, as a drain unblocker for a (slightly) clogged drain, and even to freshen up a (non-delicate) load of laundry. You can put a bowl of it in the refrigerator to get rid of unpleasant odors that linger after you’ve thrown out the culprit. And all that in addition to baking all those cakes and cookies, which is what you use it for too!

Lemon

Because of its acidity, lemon juice is an effective way to disinfect and remove mold, especially when combined with water and vinegar. And it smells wonderfully fresh! Citrus fruit peels contain limonene, which, as an essential oil, does not mix easily with water but is a powerful odor-fighting agent in its own right. If you leave natural vinegar (white vinegar) with lemon peels in a clean jam jar for two weeks, you’ll have brewed a very natural all-purpose cleaner.

Vinegar

The natural vinegar just mentioned is a wonderfully versatile product in the kitchen, both for cleaning and, for example, in an easy vinaigrette. Just be careful not to buy cleaning vinegar, as it is definitely not suitable for consumption. Regular natural vinegar, also known as white vinegar, is the one to use. It effectively removes limescale, and its sharp smell disappears on its own, while it absorbs other unpleasant odors. Mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water in an empty, clean spray bottle, and add some citrus peels or rosemary if you find the smell too strong. Good for all kinds of surfaces (except porous stone), and don’t forget to include door handles and the banister in your regular cleaning routine!

Salt

Another product that has long been used for cleaning, especially in combination with something acidic such as vinegar or lemon juice. Coffee stains from ceramic mugs, for example, can easily be scrubbed away with a little salt-and-vinegar solution. You can make copper shine again by sponging it with lemon juice or vinegar, sprinkling it with salt, rinsing it under the tap and polishing it with a soft cloth. So that salt-and-lemon combo isn’t only for tequila!

Oil

This seems a little counterintuitive, because won’t it make everything greasy rather than clean? In a way, yes, but that also makes it a good, natural polish for wood. And if you use a drop on a soft cloth to polish stainless steel, it will give you a shiny result too. Use it to maintain your wooden cutting boards, as well as your cast-iron pans. There’s no need for fancy oil—just use an odorless one that can also withstand heat. Otherwise, it would be a bit of a waste of your delicious olive oil.

Bonus tip

I do buy ecological all-purpose cleaner for the floors. But for lighter jobs, when I simply want to wipe down the countertop or table, I’ve been using a spray bottle for years that I refill with a tablespoon of eco-friendly dish soap and a generous splash of rubbing alcohol (about half a cup), topped up with water. Give it a shake before each use, and even a child could do the cleaning…

Also read:

• Six surprising cleaning tips—with a potato!
• Aha! That’s why there’s a little tab on the olive oil bottle!
• This is the best way to remove bacon grease