Natural Cleaning Alternatives for Healthier Pets

Alana and Crepes here today! We’d like to talk to you about cleaning supplies!

Two all-stars: both fastidious cleaners, but only one uses her tongue.
Two all-stars: both fastidious cleaners, but only one uses her tongue.

Crepes: Now, cats are very clean creatures, but sometimes you still need to clean house, especially if you have a dog.

Alana: Actually, our dog is cleaner than any one of you.

Crepes: As if. Now then, I’ve repeatedly told MomFOD to stop wasting paper towels and just lick up the stains, but she says –

Alana: Crepes, I’m not going to do that, and neither is anyone else reading this article.

Crepes: A cat would.

Alana: Moving along, although Crepes would like me to simply lick the floors clean, I’m not going to do that. However, what I also don’t want to do is use harsh chemicals in the house. Why? Because our little furry friends sit on the floor, drop their food on the floor, roll on the floor, play on the floor –

Crepes: Slide on the floor, puke on the floor, eat the puke that we just put on the floor –

Alana: Right. They get it. So, putting chemicals all over the house is not a good choice, we think, to keep the house clean. So what do we do? Well, years ago, we got rid of all our chemical cleaners and replaced them with very inexpensive ingredients that are safe for our little fuzzies to be around. Here’s what works for us:

Vinegar: An all purpose winner! It’s acidity kills bacteria, mold, and other beasties.

Baking Soda: Again, an all around amazing tool.

Borax: A powerful cleaning agent that we use less frequently but is still helpful to us.

Steam: disinfect with nothing but water!

Lemon: Delicious and helpful.

Don't use lemons in a cat's immediate area - they're sensitive to citrus.
Don’t use lemons in a cat’s immediate area – they’re sensitive to citrus.

Consider these uses for the above-mentioned items:

Clogged drain: Sprinkle down some baking soda followed by a healthy pour of vinegar. Your drain will be cleaned out in a few minutes! It’s worked for us many times.

Smudged mirrors or windows: Put a bit of vinegar and water into a spray bottle and use like a glass cleaner.

Laundry: Borax is amazing for removing smells from laundry. Let it soak a bit before running the wash cycle and all your linens come out fresh! Works great for anything that may smell of mildew.

Floors: We use a steam floor cleaner. It disinfects everything and cleans up all sorts of stains. There’s no scent at all and it leaves nothing on the floor afterwards.

Look at that cat on the floor. Do you see how close she is to the floor?
Mrs. Peabody is dangerously close to the floor.

Carpet Smells: Sprinkle baking soda on the carpets, let them sit for about thirty minutes, and then vacuum it up. (Cesar Milan suggests you can also do this for doggie fur! Skip the vacuum, though, and just use a brush.)

Carpet Stains: Mix a little vinegar and borax into a paste and rub it into the stain. Let it sit until dried and then vacuum.

Stains on counters, etc.: Mix baking soda and water into a paste and use as a scrubbing abrasive. It’s safe to use wherever you prepare food.

Cutting board: You can use the mix above to clean the board, and then rub it with a freshly cut lemon to neutralize odors from other foods like onions.

Toilet: Pour a few cups of vinegar into the toilet and let it sit for awhile. Brush thoroughly and flush!

Garbage Disposal: Toss some lemon down there and let it do its job! The lemon will help keep the disposal fresh.

 

Alana: Did I forget anything, Crepes?

Crepes: Yes. The tip about rubbing tuna juice into the floors near the cat tree-

Alana: Nope. I didn’t forget anything.

We hope you enjoyed these tips! We feel that natural cleaning is an important part of keeping our pets and families safe in a world that’s overloaded with chemicals. Everything listed above has been working for us for years and we hope you find it useful, too!

A few more resources for you: Dog Care Cleaning Tips from Cesar MilanVinegar Tips: 1001 Uses  25 DIY Green Cleaning Tips (This one suggests essential oils. Use caution because cats may be sensitive to certain oils like citrus and tea tree.)

Love,

Crepes & Alana.

PS.

We’re still waiting for Guy LaFurrr to arrive, but he’s sent us a little trailer to help us prepare! Enjoy, and if you like it, please share so we have a great audience waiting for him when he finally arrives.

 

15 Comments

  • Great tips, Crepes! We don’t use any chemicals at our house either. Love your Guy LaFurr trailer…can’t wait to see what that’s all about! (And we wanted to say that we were really rooting for you with Catdance and voting daily…we love your video and wish that you would have won.)

  • Thank you so much for the great tips! Did not know about Borax–will have to try that. I have been using the others for years due to my chemical sensitivities and trying to protect the health of my cats.

    Can’t wait to see Guy LaFurr in action!

    Pee Ess: Crepes, as much as I love fish, I do not want to clean with tuna juice.

  • Thanks for these great tips. Our Mom hates cleaning products because they give her migraine headaches. She says she can just imagine what they are doing to us if they are giving her migraines. It’s great to have alternatives.

    Guy LaFurr looks adorable! Love, Cali ,Andy, Tater and Shelly (C.A.T.S)

  • *quickly scribbles on paper* Rub – tuna – juice – on – floor – next – to… *runs to peeps* Here! HERE! You’ve GOTTA try this! Crepes says it will keep our house sparkly clean and everythin’.

    Purrs,
    Nissy

    PS. Thanks for the tip! purrs

  • crepes…due knot listen ta doodle…her drinkz toy let waterz…..mrs. peabody…toss sum bakin soda in with de vinegar…AWESUM ….and “guy” we canna wait ta see yur film..niles…meowloz ta ewe dood just coz we can

  • Thank you for the wonderful tips!! I was just asking the vet the other week what we could use to clean stuff because I worry about all the chmicals with my babies. I’m bookmarking this so I can refer to it often!

  • This is some great information. We’re gonna share this with the mom since she’s the one that does all the cleaning around here.

  • Ms. Phoebe would have agreed on the one your MomFOD forgot to mention at the end Crepes. She always felt tuna and the ‘juice’ from it made excellent natural healing and cleaning remedies. I can’t say I agree with you ladycats about using it on the floors and such, the odor of fish throughout the house isn’t exactly my idea of a pleasant homey atmosphere…

  • These are awesome tips! I’m gonna share – well, I’m gonna schedule shares! (It’s late here, if I post now nobody will see it.)

  • Cats hate the smell of lemon and vinegar There so many odorless natural products like Fizzion that work better and are less toxic. Smack me with a wet noodle but with all the bad press Cesar Milan has lately, I do not want to see a link.

    • Fair enough thoughts! We considered not using the Cesar Milan link, but the recipes he had there for the cleaning products seemed sound. Cats do dislike lemon, which is why I put the disclaimer under the picture and only suggested it for the cutting board and garbage disposal, two places we don’t want our cats going anyway. As for the vinegar, it’s an inexpensive product that everyone can afford, so it fit the bill for our theme. I wouldn’t recommend spraying it near the cats, but rather cleaning while the cats are napping elsewhere. – Alana.

  • Great post! Our Mommy is very cautious about using natural cleaners for our health. She didn’t even think about the Borax, though. Thank you for such an informative post.
    Have a great WEdnesday!
    XOXO

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