I love this book –
http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Humble-Zen-Cleansing-Michael-DeJong/dp/1402747667/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239818050&sr=8-2

it basically teaches you to clean using only 5 ingredients – salt, baking soda, borax, lemon, and vinegar

Are you just pouring the vinegar in the dishwasher during the last rinse or putting it in the "jet dry" slot?

Nix the paper towels - they're wasteful and just add more to the trash. I buy cheap face towels from target or wherever and scrub with those, since they're a bit rough.

Baking soda in place of cleanser. Added to vinegar, it's good for cleaning the countertop grout.

My homemade spray of water, vinegar, borax, and lemon is all over my kitchen.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but where does one get borax? Since seeing it so highly recommended I feel like I've looked everywhere.

vinegar, baking soda, lemon....you know...the good, non toxic, cheap stuff?

Ditto for Bon Ami.

Yes, I see them both on the Internet, but the shipping triples the price because they're so heavy.

@tasterspoon, it's not a dumb question at all! :) I got mine from my local Ace Hardware. They had to special order it for me, but they cheerfully did so. You could try a bigger hardware store, too; they might carry it. Whole Foods carries it as well.

NB: I tried it mixed with baking soda in my dishwasher, and it didn't work out for me. YMMV, right?

I love Bon Ami or Barkeeper's Friend. It's great for stuck on grease, or for that ring that seems to appear around my sink no matter how hard I try to keep it clean.

trader joe's cedarwood and sage multipurpose cleanser. great in the kitchen, the bathroom, appliances, everything. it's, cheap, got a great scent, and is made with simple and un-sketchy ingredients.

Wow, just a week ago i decided to clean out my stove. I remember having read somewhere you could use baking soda and vinegar. I was a bit skeptical but tried it out since it's all i had. I poured the baking soda on some tough stains then poured the vinegar on top. The nxt day i was amazed! Those tough burnt out stains came out completely! One stain in particular way in the back of the stove didn't come out completely so, I simply did the whole entire process again. It worked!
I also, used a whole lemon sliced it and placed it in a large microwaveable bowl with water and let it heat up steam inside, let it cool down then removed and stains gone! Cost nothing!
I also, pour close to a box of baking soda in my tub drain, then pour half a cup of vinegar let it bubble up then let the hot water run for about 10 minutes. I've heard this cleans out the pipes of buildup? I do it about every six months or once a year.

Method dish detergent in cucumber scent
Dobie sponge by 3M
Method scrub cream in eucalyptus scent
Vinegar and water for glass/windows
Vinegar/water/dish detergent for just about any surface
Bon Ami powdered scrub
Method Wood for Good for wood floors
3M microfiber cloths
Plain kitchen towels
Bounty pick-a-size paper towels

I think we picked up some borax at target where it was shelved as a laundry detergent.

Kitchen

Begley's Best Countertop Spray
Method Free & Clear Hand Dishwashing Soap
Ecover Dishwashing Tablets and Rinse Aid
This weird loofah and composted something sponge from Whole Foods. Works well.
Flour Sack Towels for me
Microfiber Clothes for husband
Method Mint Window Cleaner, we generally hate scented products but it doesn't come in unscented and it doesn't smell bad
Recycled paper towels for very occasional use
Swifter stick plus some hippie microfiber clothes that fit it

We also keep a Clorox bleach based spray for very occasional use when something foul happens. We have a 2 year old. =) After use, we then clean down the spot with a natural cleaner. I won't use anything marketed as antibacterial. We have enough disease-resistant germs floating around.

Is there a green method for cleaning silver? I have no idea what is in silver polish...

Target sells borax in the laundry section. I suspect a grocery store like Fred Meyer would sell it too. In Texas I would get it at the HEB.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bar Keepers Friend. Is there some hidden toxic ingredient I should know about? I started using it on my copper pots (works beautifully), but was so impressed that I now use it for lots of other things, like cleaning stainless steel and even the bathtub.

I've recently gone vinegar crazy. I mixed vinegar and water together in a spray bottle and now no surface is safe... I love the stuff. Vinegar smell=clean!

Also, my two cents on the oven cleaning issue: baking soda paste, vinegar and elbow grease.

JudiAU,

To clean my grandma's old silver I just made a paste from baking soda and water. Then I dabbed a bit on the silver and used a soft nylon scrubber to buff away the ick. Worked beautifully (with a bit of elbow grease!).

For the cleaning needs in my house, have a spray bottle of vinegar water in each bathroom and the kitchen (and pretty smelling method all-purpose for before guests come). For everything else I use baking soda or salt...from countertops to the oven to destinking my sofa.

And I second the anti anti-bacterial - the school district where i live actually just banned it from all the schools.

Vinegar and water is my favourite cleaner. It's especially great for windows!
No paper towels around here, we use microfiber cloths for cleaning and floors (we attach the cloths onto the swiffer)
I have a bottle of Method's all-purpose cucumber cleaner, too... It smells lovely, but I have been using it less and less in favour of vinegar.
I do like Method's bathroom cleaners, though, they leave a nice subtle scent.

@ kristina, the only thing i use to clean my copper pots is half a lemon (after i've used the juice in something else) dipped in kosher salt. works like a charm!

damp sponge with baking soda/water paste = magic eraser!

JudiAU,

Here's non-toxic way to clean silver: put a piece of tinfoil down in your sink. Lay your flatware on the foil (so that each piece is touching the foil. Add water so that the foil and silver are covered. Sprinkle table salt over the silver. I usually agitate the water for a minute or so and then flip the silver over and repeat. Rinse and you're done.

I won AT's detox contest with Danny Seo last year and this was the most impressive thing he showed me!

Now if I could only figure out how to get my BBQ grates clean...

I wonder if you could clean BBQ grates by putting them in the oven when you run the self-clean cycle?

Kathryn:
For BBQ grates, and sciencegeek the oven is a no-no (you're not even supposed to keep your oven racks in on the self cleaning cycle), but you can immerse them in a pan or tub full of water with water softener (note, water softener not fabric softener). Leave them overnight and all the grime brushes off easily. That's what I do with my oven racks and BBQ grates. Ratio of water softener to water is about 1:10.

That tinfoil method works for cleaning real silver but isn't recommended for silverplate (as it actually removes some of the silver from silverplate). Ask how many times I tried it and then learned that it was ruining my silverplate! Now, because I can never remember which is which, I just clean it all with ash and then rinse/buff.

I use a microfiber cloth and water for most things. The cloth has silver in it so it is anti bacterial, plus the fibers pick up everything and scrubs really well. I recently cleaned my grandmother's kitchen with just the cloth and some hot water. She was amazed.

For other cleaning around the house we usually use Melaluca products (my mother in law sells it). Their bathroom cleaner is amazing and leaves a fresh vinegar-y lavendar scent. And their kitchen cleaner is food safe so we wash our garden vegetables in a diluted solution before storing them. Gets rid of dirt and any bugs that might be hiding.

Tasterspoon, look for 20 Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle of the grocery store. I make my own laundry detergent from borax, washing soda and Fels Naptha soap.

I love those viscose cloths from Trader Joe's. I started using those instead of paper towels and I save a lot of money, not to mention help the environment.

Bio-kleen Oxygen Bleach
Bio-Kleen automatic dishwasher powder or Method Smarty Dish
Bon Ami
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

I just bought SeventhGeneration dish washing soap that was lavendar/mint...and gosh, if it doesn't smell like heaven in a bottle!

Swedish microfibre cloths
Bar Keeper's Friend --

my key tools, along with hot water, dish soap and scrubbie sponges

Dr. Bronner's magic liquid soap. I like the citrus scent for the kitchen.