Cleaning Paste

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There are few things that make me more frustrated than not being able to get things clean. I don’t consider myself a neat freak though. I just like to have things clean. Dirtiness and disorganization cause me to have unnecessary stress at home. This becomes more difficult when you’re trying to eliminate toxins from your home because the easiest cleaners usually are the most toxic. This cleaning paste checks both boxes of being effective and being non-toxic. 

Dish Soap

A quick caveat before we dive in. This recipe calls for dish soap. The only way for this to remain a non-toxic cleaner is for the dish soap to be non-toxic. If you throw in a Dawn dish soap, it loses some of the appeal. Unless you’re not concerned about toxins, in which case add away. It just seems like if you’re going to go that route you might as well buy a strong cleaner from the store but, hey, that’s just my two cents. Really, what the heck do I know?

Cleaning Paste Ingredients

• 1 cup baking soda
• ⅓ cup water
• 2 Tbsp dish soap

That’s it! Simple ingredients that you likely already have sitting around your home. 

If you want the smell of a good cleaner just add a few drops of essential oils. A pine to smell like Pine Sol or a fresh lemon scent. It won’t change the efficiency and if it helps you like it more, I say go for it. Personal preference option and I personally don’t mind that it doesn’t smell much. It has a hint of the dish soap smell but the Truly Free version (what we’re currently using) isn’t too strong. I bet the Attitude dish soap would make it smell great, no oils needed. 

Directions 

Mix all ingredients together to form a runny paste. Depending on what you are doing you can vary your application method. 

To scrub mildew spots off your ceiling- apply paste to a rag and scrub. 

To clean shower glass- put it in a squirt bottle to spray on the glass or use a dish to pour it on the glass. Use an electric scrubber for maximum penetration through the grime. If you don’t have a scrubber a sponge and some good elbow grease will also do the trick. Rinse the area down with water when you are finished to reveal that sparkling clean look. 

If you’re cleaning your tub or other flat surfaces just pour it on and scrub away. I use the electric scrubber for my tub but wouldn’t recommend it for open areas because it does make a mess! The soap builds up and can fly off if you just keep going and don’t rinse it off. Again, a sponge works well here too. Make sure to rinse when finished here too. 

Failed Methods – Glass

This is the only thing that’s been able to power through on our shower glass. It’s been bugging me for two whole years. Since we moved in I tried to get it off without introducing toxins to our shower. I’ve tried so many things-

• Bon Ami
• Warm water and dish soap
• Dish soap and lemon
• Razor blade scrapers
• Multipurpose Cleaner
• Window Cleaner (The Brandless version and the Azure version.)
• Glass Cleaning Rags 
• Tub & Tile Cleaner (The Brandless version and the Truly Free version.) 

If we had it here, I tried it! I looked in books and asked people online. In the end, the paste finally did the best job out of all of them. 

Failed Methods – Mildew

The mildew was a more recent development in our bathroom. We had no issues for the first year. Honestly, we don’t have much of it and it’s a limited issue so I didn’t try as much. It became another little annoyance though as something I couldn’t get clean. I started to feel like our bathroom was overtaking me. Too much that I struggled with. Too much I couldn’t get quite clean enough. Until this cleaning paste!

Other things I tried on the mildew- 

• Vinegar & Baking Soda
• Multipurpose Spray
• Bon Ami

Thankfully I caught a video talking about how bleach won’t clean mildew or I probably would have tried that too! I do want to note that I’m not bashing any of these cleaners. In fact, most of them are used in our house often even after they didn’t work for these applications. Sometimes it just takes the right cleaner to be able to get through something. One ingredient or tool can make a world of difference! 

Other Uses for Cleaning Paste

The list of things I’ve tried this paste on is short. Tub, glass, and ceiling. That’s it! However, I know based on the effectiveness that it’s something I need to share with all of you. Even if it just cleans the shower glass, that in itself is worth it. 

I do plan to give it a try on my kitchen sink, stove, and oven. It reminds me of a soft scrub type of cleaner and that has applications on all of those places too. Heck, maybe I’ll throw it in the toilet to see if it works there too! It has a lot of similarities to the toilet cleaning fizzies but not nearly as much effort. 

In Summary: Cleaning Paste

This cleaning paste is a lifesaver. I’ve gone as far as wanting to take the glass out of our shower but it is tiled around it. Yes, that’s how much it bothered me that it wasn’t clean! I can’t wait to keep using this around the house and finding more purposes for it. Quick, non-toxic, and effective. What more could one ask for out of a cleaner?!