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Awhile back, Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman espoused the greatness of vinegar as a naturally and ridiculously cheap cleaning agent. You can’t beat a product that for under a dollar can clean your shower head and your coffee maker in a couple of sprays and a hard scrub.
But if you’re looking for another natural and fairly inexpensive natural cleaner, you should check out Grapefruit Seed Extract or GSE. I was introduced to it a few years ago by a friend whose son was always reacting to cleaners, and ever since then I’ve kept it under my kitchen sink and in a few spray bottles around the house.
I admit I was completely skeptical at first because, well, it seemed like a whole lot of nothing. But GSE has natural anti-bacterial properties, killing heavy duty viruses like Staph, Strep, even Salmonella on contact.
Like vinegar, you can use it to clean almost anything, and it’s pretty cheap. But unlike vinegar, it’s practically odorless, which is great for my super sensitive nose.
This concentrated liquid found in a tiny bottle at your local health or natural foods store for around $5 not only cleans out your insides (that’s right, you can ingest it), but it will do wonders at disinfecting your house as well.
Here’s a few things I’ve cleaned with GSE:
1. My Gut: Okay, sounds gross, but a few drops in juice or water gets rid of germs and leaves the good bacteria. It’s pretty heavy duty though, so make sure you thoroughly dilute it and keep it out of the reach of kids. It’s also great for sore throats and colds. In fact, if I feel a cold coming on, I dose myself with several drops a few times daily (diluted in juice) and it works as a natural immune booster.
2. My Toothbrush: Just place a few drops in a cup of water and put your toothbrushes in there for around 15 minutes. In fact, you can leave your brushes in the water and just change it weekly. It even works for tweezers and nail clippers too. Well, not in the same glass obviously. (ha!)
3. My Kitchen: Mix about 50-100 drops with 32oz of water (I usually do it in a spray bottle) and get cleaning. It works on tough grease and dirty counters, and it will even rejuvenate your standing dish water (not that you have standing dish water anymore, but hey, you never know).
There are endless uses for GSE (seriously, ENDLESS!), and considering you really only use a few drops, that $5 bottle will go a heck of a long way.
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Wow, sounds great and I have never heard of it! I also do not like cleaning with vinegar due to the smell, but will definately look into getting some GSE.
Wow, here in Canada a bottle of GSE goes for around $25! It lasts forever, except when my other half leaves the bottle in a hotel room, rental car, on the bus…. Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I put 15 or so drops in a shot glass full of diluted juice and gargle - kills off anything with plans to make you sick. You can also use it to wash produce while traveling, which is marvelous.
But man, I never waste it on cleaning because it’s so expensive. I obviously have to get down to the US soon and stock up!
So glad I stumbled upon this post. I have a bottle of this sitting in my medicine cabinet b/c we have used it for cold-fighting purposes. I am going to mix a batch to clean my kitchen right away. I usually put the toothbrush heads in boiling water, but I’ll give this a try. Thanks.
Oh…by the way. I use 5 drops of GSE in about 20 oz. of water and it is still REALLY bitter.
@Jesse - A 2oz bottle is around $6 - I’ve seen it cheaper though. And I’ve had that same one (pictured above) for going on years now. I gargle and swallow it. But yes, like Christy said - very bitter!
@Christy - Yes, I have to try to remember to use it for colds. It’s one of those things that I have laying around but sometimes forget to use it! It does great for - brushes and boy is it bitter to drink. I didn’t notice the taste at all when I cleaned the toothbrushes though.
I’m super excited to try this! We have a 2 year old who’s into everything, so a more natural, less toxic cleaner. I went to 2 health food stores adn they both had the 4 oz bottles for $22 and one had a 2 oz bottle for $18, but I figured spend a few more dollars for twice the GSE was s good deal.
Thanks for the info Kristen!