These time-honored cleaning recipes rely on the likes of baking soda, borax, vinegar, club soda and lemon juice that are far less harmful to people and the environment than most hazardous household cleaners found in the grocery store today. They can also save you money!!

Here are a few of the best recipes:

• Window Cleaner:  ¼ cup vinegar, ½ teaspoon dish soap and 2 – 4 cups of water. A good quality squeegee makes the windows streak free.  Others swear by 2 tablespoons of Borax for every three cups of water. Still others rely on mixing a tablespoon of lemon juice in 1 quart of water.  Wipe dry with a crumpled newspaper.
• All purpose cleaner:  Mixed together, vinegar and salt make a good surface cleaner. Dissolving four tablespoons of baking soda in a quart of warm water also makes for a good general cleanser, as well as straight baking soda on a damp sponge.
• Drain Cleaner:  Pour ½ cup of baking soda down the drain and follow with ½ cup of vinegar. Cover the opening if possible. Let it sit for a few minutes, then pour a kettle full of boiling water down the drain.  This method is not to be used if a commercial drain opener has already been tried.
• Disinfectant:  Mix ½ cup Borax in a gallon of hot water or dilute vinegar with water and use in a spray bottle and clean.
• Decal and adhesive remover:  In one word, vinegar.  Saturate a sponge with hot vinegar and squeeze over no slip decals on the bathtub floor.  Squeeze behind adhesive-backed hooks to pry them loose.  Vinegar also removes decals, stickers and price tags from china, glass and wood.  Just paint with coats of white vinegar, let it sit for a few minutes, and then rub off the sticker or decal.
• Auto or boat parts degreaser:  Use commercially sold soy-based or citrus-based cleaners.  They are less toxic and they biodegrade.
• Copper and silver polish: Use equal amounts of vinegar and salt to clean copper pots and pans.  Boil the silver with a teaspoon of salt in a pot with about 3 inches of water and a sheet of aluminum foil for several minutes.  Then wipe off tarnish with a clean cloth.