You were never bad at keeping house.

You were just never shown the old way. Soda, nimbu, a lump of imli, a handful of neem and a little patience do what a whole shelf of dangerous bottles do — for pennies.

You don't fight dirt, Beta. You loosen it.

The burnt handi you were about to scrub for half an hour cleans itself overnight in water and a spoon of soda. The haldi stain everyone fears lifts out in nimbu and sunshine. The tarnished brass comes bright with a lump of tamarind. None of it needs strength, or money, or a bottle with a skull on the back.

Learn the handful of cheap things and the one big safety rule, and keeping house stops being a battle.

What's inside — 13 chapters, 82 pages

Photographed, honest, and safe — the cleaning-aisle's worst nightmare.

1 How to Keep House the Old Way

• loosen don't fight, and the one big safety rule

2 The Natural Cleaning Kit

• soda, nimbu, imli, reetha, neem, besan, multani mitti

3 Pots, Pans & the Kitchen

• the burnt handi, brass with tamarind, the tava, the sil-batta

4 Smells & Freshness

• onion & garlic on your hands, the drain, the fridge, the almirah

5 Floors, Surfaces & Walls

• jhadoo-pocha, marble care, streak-free glass, dusting

6 Laundry the Old Way

• haldi, blood & sweat, whitening with nimbu & sun, reetha for silk

7 Bathroom & Water Areas

• hard-water scale, the bucket & mug, mould, tiles, taps

8 Brass, Copper, Silver & Keeping Things Last

• pooja brass, silver with reetha, rust, wood

9 Pests the Old Way

• ants, mosquitoes, weevils & moths — neem, honestly & safely

10 Air, Light & a Calm Home

• sun & air, dhoop, the tulsi, order

11 The Weekly Rhythm & the Diwali Clean

• little and often, so the festival clean is a joy

12 The Quick Reference

• the kit, what-cleans-what, the stain chart, safety

13 The Field Guide

• the whole way of keeping house on one page