Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing

by Michael de Jong

It’s easier than you think to clean your home in a nontoxic, environmentally responsible way! Conceptualized and designed by legendary publishing visionary Joost Elffers—the force behind such bestsellers as Play With Your Food and The 48 Laws of Power— this wonderful guide will help get your house shipshape without hurting the environment or your health. Inspirational cleaning guru Michael de Jong writes with humor and a Zen-like spirit as he presents five safe, all-natural products that take care of just about Baking Soda, Borax, Lemon, Salt, and White Vinegar. Each one gets a chapter featuring dozens of clever tips, while a handy alphabetized directory, organized by category, makes it easy to locate the information you need. With its graphically stunning and easy-to-use design, Clean helps you find your spic-and-span center.

Genres: Nonfiction, How To, Reference

127 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word "cleansing" in the title might make you think this book is about giving yourself coffee enemas and drinking gallons of lemon juice. Or is it lemon juice enemas and drinking gallons of coffee? I can never keep it straight. (Don't ask.)

Anyway, that's not what the book's about. It's about using the fab-five Zen-Cleansing ingredients to keep your house, clothing, car, and even your pets, clean and odor-free. Toss out those toxic chemicals and stop poisoning yourself and the planet. You can keep things clean safely and cheaply with baking soda, borax, lemon, salt, and vinegar.

De Jong tells you how to (and how not to) use these five ingredients alone or in combination to accomplish any cleaning chore. Clean your oven, remove stains and hard water deposits, unclog a drain, and polish your silver -- all without exposing yourself to the poisons in common cleaning products. (Coffee enemas are, of course, optional.)

[Linty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cool little book. How to clean just about anything with the big 5: Baking Soda, Borax, Lemon, Salt, and White Vinegar.

I have been looking for non-toxic means of cleaning and have heard a lot about baking soda and vinegar. I wasn't aware of the other three.

The author lists what item is best for each particular area or item to be cleaned and gives directions on how much to use. He covers a wide range of to-be-cleaned items.

I'm glad I found this handy little book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to try alternative cleaning means.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reference this book regularly, as I avoid chemical-based cleansers for the health of myself and my pets. The index of sorts definitely helps, but otherwise it can be a bit difficult to quickly find what you need at the moment; tips are organized by ingredient (i.e., baking soda) rather than use (kitchen). A lot of these tips work better than commercial products I've tried.

[Jan Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple book of cleaning most things with 5 ingredients: which to use, recipes and/or instructions on how-to. Can’t wait to try some!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manuale simpatico ma non ha detto niente di nuovo

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely little book that gives ways to clean almost everything safely and environmentally using just 1 or a combo of: salt, lemon juice, borax, vinegar and baking soda.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This simple read was amazingly practical. The author is quite OCD with his cleaning, but he's aware of it, which is good. He also tells you very simply how to clean anything with only baking soda, borax, lemon, white vinegar, and salt. He includes a very helpful chart in the beginning of the book that details which supplies you'll need to clean different things. I'm pretty sure I'll never have to buy another mass-marketed (chemical or eco-friendly) cleaning product again. Oh, also, a little two-page history of each cleaning agent is included, which I loved (who knew that Cleopatra would dissolve pearls in white vinegar to prove that she could drink a fortune in one meal?)

[Lynn Buschhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a sceptic, like I am, about spending big bucks on things like cosmetics and household products, this is a great little book. De Jong describes how to clean your house with five simples cheap ingredients that are basically non-toxic. I'm going to check out his new one on cleaning yourself. I've already figured out how to make mouthwash for my husband, who always spent big bucks on BIG ugly green bottles of commerical mouth wash. We'll see what De Jong suggests for the rest of the body.

[Jacqueline115 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast read....it definitely makes me want to change the way I clean and what products I have been using. With allergy suffers in my house and all the spray bottles, I'm going to try his ideas. Many of them are ways our grandmothers and great-grandmothers cleaned.

[Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simplified approach to cleaning using only the elements of baking soda, borax, lemon, salt and white vinegar. I definitely want to try this out! The less I pollute our home with harsh chemicals, the better!

[Tessa]

Thank you, Michael de Jong, for teaching me that I can clean everything I own with four simple ingredients: borax, baking soda, vinegar and lemon!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

L

[Semi-Academic Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife loved this book and pulled recipes outof it.

[Jacqi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still wary of using borax as anything.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, its a book about cleaning stuff. Enough said.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read, but I have been referring back to it multiple times. I love how there are only 5 ingredients listed to clean with : Salt, baking soda, Borax, White vinegar, and Lemon