93 Clever Uses for Common Household Items to Save Money and Avoid Toxins
Whether you’re looking to save money or want to avoid the long list of chemical ingredients in everyday products, these 93 clever uses for common household items might come as a shock.
The hidden powers of these ordinary household items are truly remarkable in what they can achieve. For example, while some cleaning products can only achieve just one job, some of the items listed below can achieve multiple. Whether it’s your kitchen, bathroom, garden or body that needs a little tender loving care, these common household items got you covered.
Why Avoid Toxic Products?
Most cleaning products, beauty-care products, or even those you might need around the house or garden contain harmful toxins.
Prolonged use of these products can cause irritation to the skin. They’re also particularly harmful to our delicate lung tissues, given the toxic off-gassing these products create. Children are especially susceptible to these harsh chemicals.
Products that contain long chemical ingredient lists are also harmful to the environment, and usually require animal testing before they’re deemed “safe” for human use.
Instead of supporting the animal testing industry, putting yourself and the environment at risk, why not ask yourself why you’re still using these products, when there are many natural alternatives?
Most people seem to think that natural products don’t clean very well, but you’d be surprised at how well they compare to their toxic counterparts. They’re also much more versatile, and cost-effective.
93 Clever Uses for Common Household Items
Here are just a few ways to use products you probably already have at home!
1. Lemon Juice
A tried and true alternative to chemical products, lemon juice cleans glass mirrors, disinfects your cutting board, whitens your whites and refreshes your toilet.
It can be utilized to help high-light your hair and eliminate blackheads, and also acts as a natural deodorant. You should also keep lemons on hand to reduce wrinkles, and lighten sun spots.
Use it internally to improve digestion, detox the liver, lose weight, strengthen your immunity and soothe a sore throat. Check out my article on the health benefits of drinking lemon water to peek the amazing benefits of this citrus fruit!
2. White Vinegar
Vinegar is a very effective natural cleaner – without all the toxins that come with most conventional cleaners. It can be used to kill weeds and helps flowers grow. You can clean the windows with it (without streaking) and it can unclog the drains and polish silver.
For more personal uses, vinegar can be used to help bruise marks fade faster, and prevents hair colour from fading too soon. It also helps condition your hair! Internally, white vinegar can soothe heartburn, keeps veggies fresh, controls blood glucose levels and prevents infections.
3. Castile Soap
Castile soap is a gentle alternative to almost any household cleaner. It is easy on the skin, but powerful enough to kill bad bacteria. Use it as an all-purpose cleaner and dish soap. It can also be used to clean out the tub and you can substitute it as you would regular laundry detergent.
You can try using castile soap as shaving cream, hand soap, shampoo and body wash. It can also be used to treat acne and psoriasis. Try using castile soap as a steam bath in a hot bucket of water with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil – it’ll be sure to clear out the sinuses.
4. Coconut Oil
As we all have heard, coconut oil can fix anything. It can polish wood, replace WD-40, remove shower scum and even remove sticky stuff from your clothing, carpet or jars where you want the label removed. As a beauty product, coconut oil acts as an effective moisturizer, hair serum, prevents wrinkles when used on the face at night, and can be used to oil-pull for an effective mouthwash.
When taken internally, coconut oil is by far a total-body healer. It fights inflammation, treats eczema and psoriasis, balances hormones, supports digestion, improves thyroid function, prevents bone loss and osteoporosis risk, balances cholesterol levels, protects against cancer, kills candida, and helps sick pets.
5. Baking Soda
Baking soda is another useful household item that can be used to clean messy stovetops, remove coffee stains from mugs and machines, clean your oven or grill and freshen up the refrigerator. It is also an effective tile/grout cleaner when you scrub with it, and cleans a dirty sink in seconds!
Baking soda acts as a great mouth freshener, too, when you mix a little bit of it with water and swish it around in your mouth. It can be combined with coconut oil to make a simple, cost-effective toothpaste, and can also be used as a deodorant and for alleviating diaper rash.
Internally baking soda can be taken to alleviate heartburn. It also kills fungi, mould, and parasites in the body, and relieves bloating and gas. You can also use it to minimize coughs and a sore throat.
6. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is an incredibly versatile item if you have some laying around. It is great for repelling fleas, deodorizing your laundry, removing water stains on furniture and fighting bathtub mildew. People also use apple cider vinegar as a soil fertilizer when diluted with water.
Keep a 1:1 dilution of apple cider vinegar and water in your shower to help fight dandruff, acne, relieve sunburn, tone oily skin, use as an aftershave and condition hair. This vinegar, when bought in its raw, unpasteurized form, is also incredibly detoxing, and can be taken internally to aid weight loss, control high blood pressure, eliminate candida, strengthen the immune system and improve digestion.
7. Castor Oil
Castor oil can be used for so many things – around the house and even personally. In the garden, it can be used on your ferns if they seem a bit less than healthy. Combine a tablespoon of castor oil with 4 cups of warm water and drip 3 tbsp. of this mixture into the dirt around the fern. Use this same mixture to spray on plants in the garden to deter pests.
Castor oil can also be used as an all-around lubricant for squeaky hinges (like doors), or scissors that have lost their lust.
In the beauty sector, castor oil strengthens and thickens your hair and nails, heals cracked lips, provides sunburn relief and even dissolves scar tissue. Castor oil also treats dry and itchy skin, acts as an effective laxative, induces labour and improves immunity when taken internally. Castor oil packs can also be utilized to help get rid of ovarian cysts.
There are so many great alternatives to chemical cleaners and beauty products. For the sake of your health, give them a try – if you have more to add to the list, leave a comment in the comment section below!
