Clean Green (and frugally) in the bathroom

The amount of poisonous chemicals most households use to clean is astounding to me. I use only 3 totally safe, edible ingredients for the majority of my cleaning - baking soda, vinegar and elbow grease (okay I don't recommend eating elbow grease but you know what I mean). For my porcelain tub and sink I generally use a plastic mesh pad. You can either make your own out of an onion or potato bag or buy one with a handle. It lasts for a long time and it is easy to scrub off the soap scum that accumulates. If you use chemicals to scour you are not only touching and bathing in the residues of those chemicals but also inhaling them as you work. When you rinse these chemicals away you introduce them to the natural environment through our wastewater. For natural cleaning you can add a little baking soda to your mesh pad to make the job even easier and baking soda acts as a natural deodorizer. For the toilet I use a toilet brush and a mixture of 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 distilled water from the dehumidifier. I keep this mixture in a spray bottle that you can get from the dollar store or simply reuse one you already have. The vinegar is a natural cure and preventative for mildew. You can also spray this mixture on your dish strainer if that tends to get moldy to inhibit mold growth. This can also be used as your glass cleaner. For our tile floor I generally just use an old dish rag and water. Do not expose yourself, your family and the environment to the chemicals in bathroom cleaners and do not expose your money to being spent on them when you have a safer, cheaper, greener alternative.