I saw this headline, and one word immediately popped up in my mind: vinegar!

Yes, when it comes to homemade cleaning products, it's difficult to beat the wholesome properties of ordinary white vinegar, diluted with water.

To begin with, vinegar is useful in cleaning lime build-up from faucets and shower heads. I've used vinegar with somewhat satisfactory results in cleaning other metals as well. Although I personally haven't used it for this purpose, vinegar can be used as a degreaser in place of ammonia. Vinegar also has some limited antiseptic properties, though it's not quite as good as another substance, which we'll discuss in a few minutes. Did you know ancient Roman soldiers regularly used vinegar as a disinfectant?

Vinegar makes an excellent glass cleaner. Make a solution of a 1/4 cup of white vinegar to 2 cups of water, which can be sprayed on a surface. And I always use old, well-crumpled newspapers to clean my household glass. Nothing cleans windows better than newsprint. Never use cloth to clean your glass. Once upon a time, whilst I was the janitor at a lumberyard and home improvement center, the president of the company caught me washing the front windows with newspaper. He told me to switch to cloth towels, because using newsprint looked "trashy." So, I dutifully made the switch. His front glass went from looking like crystal, to looking like milk. Even after I pointed out the difference, he remained adamant to use the towels, because towels "looked more professional."

There are more common household items that make good alternative cleansers. We've been talking about vinegar, let's move on to its arch-rival, baking soda. (Remember the old trick, mixing soda and vinegar together? It was a lot of fun for me on Friday nights my freshman year in high school. You remember those nights, right? You don't? Oh.)

Baking soda solutions are a particularly effective deodorizer for containers, especially your refrigerator and any coolers you might have. Earlier this year I killed some serious shoe odor by pouring some soda into them. No more foot odor, but it made walking a little awkward for a while. I know of a few people who use it in their laundry in tiny quantities, but I personally can't vouch for this. I can, however, say baking soda and hydrogen peroxide make a good makeshift toothpaste that I thought left my mouth even fresher than the conventional products.

And that brings me to the final product, hydrogen peroxide. It's a wondrous cleanser for kitchen tops and bathrooms, and not only sanitizes, but leaves the air smelling fresh. It's much better to use a 3% solution, which is more difficult to obtain. Most stores carry a 2% solution. Years ago, I found a book, "O2xygen Therapies: The New Way of Approaching Disease" by Ed McCabe, which detailed treatments with hydrogen peroxide. It's a fascinating read.

Alternative cleansers are more common, easier to use, and effective than most people think. In addition to being less expensive than regular agents, they also tend to be non-toxic and more environmentally friendly.

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