Cooking in the kitchen often leaves us with a big mess to clean up. Over time, as you cook with oil and butter and all that good stuff, it will leave a sticky residue on your stove or counter top that can be a pain to remove. And how many of you have dealt with grease spattering onto your clothes while cooking? I have had several shirts that have become ruined for that very reason. There are all different kinds of commercial grease cleaners which offer really great cleaning power, but what about some natural options? With the world becoming more and more “green” and “eco-friendly”, there are indeed other ways that you can attack grease without the use of a commercial cleaner. Here are some helpful ideas:
1. Flour
Flour can be used on a more recent grease spill to coagulate the mess for easier cleanup. Keep in mind that this trick only works on a spill that hasn’t had time to become sticky so you must act quickly.
2. Baking Soda & Water
Baking soda has always had great cleaning qualities that is why many commercial companies use it as an addative for things like detergents or even toothpaste. You can use it to clean up tarnish on metals, stains from cups and countertops and also GREASE. Simply add three tablespoons of baking soda to about a cup of water and use that mixture with a sponge to scrub the grease away. Baking soda has alkaline properties which allow it to dissolve grease with ease.
3. Liquid Soap
Depending on the nature and size of the greasy spot you can clean it up using just a bit of regular dish soap. Just rub some if it into the affected spot, this way of cleaning is useful with small spots on fabric and let it soak like that for about half an hour so the soap can work its magic. You don’t need a powerful degreaser for most spots.
4. Salt and Rubbing Alcohol
For situations like rugs, carpets and cushions that will either take too much hassle to wash or that simply shouldn’t be washed, you can use a mixture of 1:4 salt to rubbing alcohol. Rub that into the spot with enough force until it lifts it. You can then vacuum the salt that remains after the alcohol evaporates and you can also use a damp cloth to wipe away any traces of the operation.
5. Vinegar
This should be used for tough spots with lots of caked-on grease especially like the ones you’ll find on the stove or around the cooking area. Just spray vinegar on the spot and let it work for about five minutes, after which it will help soften up the spot. That won’t dissolve it completely as vinegar doesn’t have the same qualities alkali have so you’ll need to do more than that to clean it up. You can boil some vinegar in a pan to help it resist grease from sticking to it. Doing this once very few months will do the trick.
Author Bio: Nicole is a passionate writer, dreamer and adventurer. She enjoys writing about home organizing and cleaning. More at: www.cleanngone.co.uk
Leave a Reply