The third edition of this best-selling book features greener formulas for homemade cleaning products, expanded information on using essential oils for cleaning and sanitizing, and updated packaging recommendations and preparation guidelines for a zero-waste approach. In this updated edition of her best-selling book, The Naturally Clean Home, Karyn Siegel-Maier brings together the formulas for home cleaning solutions that readers have trusted for years with new information and ingredients updated to today's green standards. A new introduction shines a light on the antiseptic properties of essential oils, addressing different grades of oil and their effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, as well as updated safety precautions and cost. Updated recipes eliminate Borax (banned as a food additive in the U.S. and from cosmetic and cleaning products in the E.U.) from ingredient lists, replacing it with safe substitutes that include citric acid powder, hydrogen peroxide, diatomaceous earth, cornstarch, washing soda, and baking soda. New recipes show readers how to make easy, nontoxic, environmentally friendly substitutes for popular cleaning products, including molded laundry and dishwasher tablets. Packaging updates emphasise the use of glass containers for homemade cleaning products, to diminish environmental impact of plastic waste. AUTHOR: Karyn Siegel-Maier is the best-selling author of The Naturally Clean Home and a writer who specialises in herbal medicine, natural health and wellness, and green living. Her work has appeared in numerous consumer and industry publications, including Mother Earth Living, Mother Earth News, Let's Live, Natural Living Today, Real Woman, The Herb Quarterly, Delicious!, Better Nutrition, Natural Pharmacy, and Energy Times. A life-long student of herbal wisdom, guided by the seasons, she spends her time writing, foraging, gardening, cooking, and practicing the botanical arts, from tincturing to blending teas and making natural products for the home and body. She lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York and can be found online at herbalmusings.com.
The Naturally Clean Home is the reformatted third edition of Karyn Siegel-Maier's 1999 book on DIY green alternatives to harsh chemical cleaners for the home. Due out March 30th 2021 from Storey, it's 224 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
The introduction contains some very basic info about the science of soap and cleaning, concerns with bleach (and alternatives) and how and why to adopt more earth-friendly alternatives. The following chapters are grouped thematically: kitchen, bath, laundry, wood care, cleaning metals, walls & carpeting, cleaning the air, garage & basement, garden & landscape, and the home office. There are many (many) recipes and tips and tricks in this volume. Recipes are listed by category. Ingredients are listed bullet style in a sidebar with American standard measurements (no metric). Most of the ingredients will be readily available at a well stocked grocery store or co-op/health food store. Some few ingredients will need to be sourced at a pharmacy or online. The layout is easy to read and has good text contrast. There is very little photography, but recipes are enhanced by small line drawings. The recipes are not very involved, so tutorial photos weren't necessary.
Most people are becoming more aware of the desirability of reducing our plastic waste and our impact on the environment. This book contains a lot of good tips for making cleaning products with less waste, much less packaging, and fewer harsh chemicals.
I would recommend this one for smallholders, off-grid folks, people trying to live healthier lives with less detriment to the environment, money-savers, and the like. Five stars - basic info, but it's very convenient to have it collected and arranged in a logically accessible volume together.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
