4 kitchen basics can clean the house

Not only effective, these few items — lemons, distilled white vinegar, baking soda and olive oil — are inexpensive. Additionally, they are ingestible and non-toxic. Store brands generally are not.

Somewhere during the past few decades, we forgot this.

"At some point in our collective history, we bought into (the notion) that we need Pine Sol and bleach to clean our homes," said Jennifer Taggart, an environmental lawyer and author of "Smart Mama's Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's Toxic Chemical Exposure" (Center Street, 2009).

Taggart attributes Americans' dependency on single-use cleaners to fear — and good marketing by the companies that tout these products.

"We seem to be terrified of germs," she said. "We think if we make our own (cleaning supplies), they won't clean as well."

And that, according to Taggart, 40, is simply untrue. Homemade cleaners do exactly what prepackaged cleaners do: They pick up and carry away germs.

Lemons make excellent deodorizers. And because they're acidic and have antibacterial properties, they can clean certain surfaces, such as cutting boards, according to Anne-Marie O'Neill, deputy editor at "Real Simple" magazine.

Distilled white vinegar also is acidic and performs as a gentle cleanser on most surfaces, including wood floors. (Do not use vinegar to clean limestone or marble surfaces.) O'Neill recommends adding 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar to laundry to neutralize strong odors. Add it to the final rinse in lieu of a fabric softener.

Baking soda is gritty, so cleans a little harder than white vinegar, according to O'Neill, and it deodorizes. Make a paste with water, and use baking soda to scrub away grease and grime, to gently polish silver or to brush your teeth.