Foods that help clean up

With the festivities soon coming to a close, you will most likely find yourself doing a lot of cleaning. From the kitchen to the living room and bathrooms, a thorough cleaning up and disinfection is necessary not only to prevent stains from rendering your home unsightly, but also to prevent germs from breeding and spreading diseases.

However, this does not mean that you have to spend a fortune on commercial soaps and disinfectants; foods from your pantry and refrigerator should work just fine. This is according to Ms Sellah Wairimu, a food and nutrition expert and  blogger.

“During the December holidays, people tend to throw away a lot of food,” laments Ms Wairimu. “They do not know that they can actually use these foods as nature’s gift and use them to  clean around the house.”

Of the foods that can be used for cleaning around the house, vinegar is the most handy. According to Ms Wairimu, it  can be used to clean virtually anything. Mix vinegar with water to form a solution and then pour the solution into a spray bottle. You can then spray and wipe off the solution from countertops, floor tiles, bathroom and kitchen fixtures and glass surfaces. This will remove any marks as well as kill most of the germs and pests that might be living in them.

To eliminate odours, simply place a cup of baking soda in the room and leave it overnight. Baking soda can also be used to eliminate the smell of urine from bedding and carpets. 

SPARKILING CLEAN

Ms Wairimu demonstrates how to use baking soda to clean a bathroom sink by sprinkling two tablespoons of baking soda in the  sink and rubbing it with a wet sponge, taking the grimy stains along. This technique, she says, can also be used to clean bathtubs, shower tiles, and metal surfaces. If you have a saucepan covered with black, burnt food, you can easily scrub it clean by sprinkling a little baking powder on in and scrubbing it.

Cutting   a lemon, Ms Wairimu explains that since  lemons and oranges are acidic, have excellent anti-septic and anti-bacterial qualities, making them perfect for cleaning kitchen countertops since they kill germs.  Lemon can be used on walls and drapery to remove stains caused by tea, coffee or vegetation. “You can eat the flesh and rub the peels on stained surfaces,” she says.

Don’t panic when someone accidentally pours coffee, tea or wine on your sofa or carpet. Sprinkle salt on the spill instead. It will absorb the liquid and dry up the area, making cleaning the spot much easier.

At a loss how remove stains from your cast-iron pan before making chapatis? The pan should clean easily if you sprinkle some salt on it and rub with a piece of cloth. Salt can also be used to clean mirrors and shiny surfaces. To remove those annoying stubborn brown rings that y form at the bottom of coffee and tea cups, mix salt with water and use the solution to clean the cups.

“If you have rust forming on a metallic surface in the house, peel a potato, dip it in baking soda solution and scrub the rusty area with it. Copper surfaces can also be made to appear shinier by rubbing tomato juice or ketchup on them and wiping it off with a towel,” Ms Wairimu reveals, adding that ketchup can also be used in the same way to clean cars for a glossier finish.

To protect wooden cabinets and floors from losing their shine, wet teabags can be rubbed on the surfaces. And just in case there are some ink stains on these surfaces or on the walls, a cucumber can easily be used as an eraser. If someone breaks a glass on the floor, you can use a slice of white bread to scrape off tiny glass pieces that would otherwise be missed by regular brooms.

What if, at the height of merry-making, you run out of toilet bowl cleaner? Ms Wairimu says you can pour Coca-Cola into the bowl, let it sit for a while, scrub with a brush, then flush the toilet.

After eating the bananas, don’t throw out the peels. You can rub them on your silverware to give them a  polished look.