Most store-bought cleaners contain chemicals that can cause not just eye and skin irritations but even cancer, asthma and birth defects. They can be accidentally ingested by children and pets.

According to the EPA, household cleaners can contain an array of hazardous chemicals, "including carcinogens, persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals, endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may pose risks to human health and the environment."

But these products aren't just dangerous inside the home. "Cleaning products are released to the environment during normal use through evaporation of volatile components and rinsing down the drain of residual product from cleaned surfaces," the agency says. The nitrogen in window cleaner, for example, forms dangerous nitrates that pollute groundwater.

And it's not just the chemicals in the cleaners that are a problem: The plastic containers require oil to produce and when the product runs out, that container ends up in a landfill, where it can take 1,000 years to degrade, all the while leaching out more harmful chemicals. When you look at their entire lifecycle, it's clear there's nothing clean about these toxic "cleaners."

Thankfully, nature has provided us with all the necessary ingredients to keep our homes spic and span without killing ourselves, wildlife or the environment. Just use these six non-toxic ingredients—most of which you probably already have in the kitchen—for a natural cleaning that's better for your health and for the air, soil, water, plants, and animals around you.

1. Lemon

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade—or a perfect nontoxic household cleaner. A natural bleaching agent and deodorizer that will give your home a fantastic fresh scent, natural lemon juice also cuts through grease, removes stains, gives hard surfaces a beautiful shine and even eliminates mold and mildew. Dilute some lemon juice with water to clean stains on cutting boards and kill germs. Dip an old toothbrush in lemon juice to remove grout. Add some salt and you've got an effective cleaner for metal grills and a polisher for chrome. Soak plastic food containers in lemon juice overnight to remove smells. Put diluted lemon juice in a spray bottle to keep your kitchen countertops clean and smelling great. Who needs toxic chlorine bleach for the laundry when you can just add a cup of lemon juice to your load for bright colors, white whites and a lemony fresh scent? The list of things that can be cleaned by lemons is impressive. 2. Olive oil Not just for cooking, olive oil is a great natural cleaner and polisher. Add some salt and you can scrub pots and pans. Rub it into leather to get scratches out. Add some lemon juice or vinegar and you've got a great natural wood polisher. The citric acid in lemon juice makes it perfect for dissolving tarnish. Use a cotton cloth to buff stainless steel and brass to prevent streaks and corrosion and get a brilliant shine. Use a halved lemon dipped in salt to brighten copper cookware. Plus, you can use it to lubricate all your kitchen appliances, from blenders and grinders to any cookware with movable parts—or even fix a squeaky door. And before you start your springtime gardening, spray some olive oil on your garden tools to reduce dirt buildup. With all this value (not to mention its culinary, health and beauty applications), it's no wonder that for the ancient Minoans, olive oil represented wealth. 3. White vinegar The natural acidity in white vinegar makes it a great natural antifungal and antibacterial. In addition to being a fantastic non-toxic degreaser, it eliminates soap scum. Put on a white cotton glove and dip your fingers in a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and hot water and suddenly cleaning Venetian blinds and piano keys is a breeze. Dip a cotton cloth in a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and olive oil to remove water rings from wood tabletops. To clean and brighten rugs and carpets, dip a push broom in a solution of 1 cup white vinegar and 1 gallon of water. Use the same solution to clean brickwork. To get rid of tough odors like cigarette smoke, leave a bowl of vinegar in the room overnight. There are over a hundred different ways you can use white vinegar around the house.