Dear GA ~ I cannot find the original post so I will leave a new one.

Maybe others knew, but you told me about hyd. peroxide to take the brown out of the tiny cracks in coffee cups. IT WORKS!

I have used bleach for years to accomplish this task. I knew there was a safer & greener way, and as we say in Texas, sure nuff there was. I poured a small amount of straight peroxide in the cup and let it sit overnight. The next morning the brown was gone.

Thanks to you again for sharing all your green knowledge with us.

KJH


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Progress not perfection

Glad to hear you broke the chlorine habit on your mugs... Good job KJH...any luck with those reusable bags yet?

I have yet to try but read that a bit of borax thrown in toilet over night removes all rings without fuss....love it when something nontoxic does the trick. I sometimes start to spray down my tile in the shower with vinegar followed by the hy peroxide and get called away....many of the stains lifted while I was gone.

Keep on greenin'.........

Green Alice ~ I purchased 7 cloth bags from
Wal-Mart last week. Forgot to take them Wednesday. I have now put them in the car. Since I only purchase for 1, this should be enough for me.

I have used Borax for laundry for some time. I am excited to know that it can be used for other things. Baby steps, baby steps.

The thing, for me, about going green is that it is not only good for the enviroment, but it is cheaper. I live on SS and a small retirement. The cost of "at home" products vs. expensive cleaning products will almost pay my water bill for the month. How can one not be excited about that?

KJH



If life hands you lobsters, squeeze them on lobster tails.

Just wanted to say that I'm glad you are finding so many things that work for you. I must say it's nice to walk by the cleaning isle and not even give it a 2nd glance!

I realized this when I was at Sam's the other day. I generally go through the isle and grab huge jugs of detergent, bleach, and what not.... haven't visited that isle in a while! And for Meijer, I haven't bought anything from their cleaning isle aside from an occasional box of Borax or washing soda in a while.

Welcome to the world of thrifty green

Thanks for the tip on the hyd. peroxide. Hubby is a tea drinker, so his cup is always full of stains. I will put it on my list for next time I go shopping. I will let you all know how it worked out.

Rachel...my children all hold their breath now when we walk by the cleaning aisles...

Mary J ~ Let us know what you think.

My mission now is to find a place where I can buy a large container of peroxide. At least, larger than Wal-Mart sells.

KJH


"Old age is not for cowards" Lady Bird Johnson

If you know somone w/a whole sale membership Sam's or Costco has HUGE bottles of peroxide and rubbing alcohol and they could pick them up for you (if you don't have a membership your self)

Rubbing alcohol is a great cleaning aid as well. gets stuff off tables and I even got black sharpie marker out of a otoman one time with it.

Rachel ~ I am learning, I am learning!



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Progress not perfection

I've got no choice but to walk down the cleaning aisle because I work in a grocery store. We just set up a huge "green" section in the cleaning aisle. It really wants to make me gag. Twice the price of the regular stuff, says all natural, but if you look close enough, you'll see that little asteric next to it. Really not much safer than the regular stuff and the company is making a major profit off of it. The only green product that I like to buy is Sun and Earth, which has been around alot longer, and is cheaper than the regular stuff. I like the dishwashing liquid the best, you only need a little dab and it cleans so well.

Now if I could just convince my local coffee shop to stop using styrofoam, life would be great!! My DH made the mistake of coming home from the store with styrofoam plates once, he went back to the store immediately with his tail between his legs.

Let me guess Renee...Clorox got their GreenWorks market shelf space right next to their other products....or is it Mrs Meyers...they have a huge section in my grocery. The grocery store always has much higher prices on the green items I DO find there than other sources....maybe you can hold your breath too at work......ha....
Really it does rather stink compared to the other aisles....

Rachel I read in some book some reason to not use or use sparingly rubbing alcohol....can't remember the why so I will look for it...maybe it was the alcohol absorbtion thru the skin...not sure but if I find that issue in my books I will share.

Renee ~ The green products on the shelves are more expensive than the others, but baking soda, salt, peroxide, vinegar, water, Borax, etc. are not.

These products are a LOT cheaper, green, and for most things work just as well.

KJH


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Progress not perfection

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KJH,

I don't use it often. It does dry out your skin. But it is most handy when the kids get to coloring with markers and miss the paper at the table!

I've also had to use it when I was dumb enough to wipe my glasses on my shirt only to have forgotten I also have glue on my shirt

You got that right!!! I'm glad I've gotten out of the habit of "buying" cleaning products, I've got alot more space underneath my sink. Baking soda should be a girls best friend. I make a paste out of it to remove stubborn stains. I put some down the sink when the drain starts to stink. It absorbs odors in the fridge when that bowl of leftovers gets pushed to the back of the fridge and gets forgotten about. Helps keep the kitty litter box fresh smelling (well, to a point!!).

I had a stain on my countertop. Nothing would take it up, not even bleach. I tried leaving a slice of lemon on it all night. Guess what was not there in the morning. The stain!!!

I love using hyd peri on stuff. I also use it on sponges that I use to scrub the dishes.

For stains I have been using baking soda and for the most part it has worked but I have a few ceramic things that it wouldn't work on and I used barkeeper's friend on them and they are gleaming white. I'll keep hyd peri on the list next time those stains come up. Thanks for sharing!

Peroxide is a must-have product in my house. We buy several large bottles at a time because we use them in the laundry instead of bleach. Works great. In fact, I personally think it works even better than bleach. I have never tried it inside a coffe mug, but now that I read this, it seems so obvious. Thanks for the tip!

I also heard denture tablets can take away stains. Never tried it but other people swear by it.