Conscious Shopping Cleans House
House cleaning not your favorite thing? I don't mind it, truthfully. But I will say this: if I'm going to put the energy into cleaning my house, I do actually want it to be clean. I mean, how clean is your house if your cleaning products are toxic?
My first apartment out of college had the tiniest bathroom I've ever seen–outside of a moving mode of transportation or a port-o-let. In fact, that whole apartment could fit into what is now my kitchen. But I loved it. I lived by myself and everything in it was mine–all mine. No more roommates, no shared bathroom down the hall. Peace, quiet and privacy. I thought it was heaven–until the first time I cleaned that totally-mine, totally-private bathroom and had a severe asthmatic reaction to the fumes from the cleaning products. That's when I switched to natural cleaning solutions. It's amazing–not to mention cost effective–what you can do with some white vinegar, baking soda and a couple of lemons.
Use lemons to clean your microwave.jpg)
I use a lot of lemons when I'm cooking and instead of discarding that half a lemon I just juiced for a delicious salad dressing, I place it a cup or so of water and microwave it for a minute or so. Then simply wipe out the inside of the oven with a clean, damp cloth. Not only do cooked-on spills wipe away easily, your microwave now smells lemony fresh.
What do you mean, you don't do windows?
I literally cannot remember the last time I used anything other than white vinegar to clean my windows–and a lot of other things like kitchen counters, appliances and mirrors. Just pour plain old white vinegar into a spray bottle and spray away. It cuts grease and grime and doesn't leave streaks. Worried about the smell? Don't. The vinegary aroma disappears when the vinegar evaporates.
My stainless steel appliances are covered in fingerprints!
Mine were, too, until I learned a simple trick. Clean your stainless steel appliances with white vinegar and dry with a soft cloth. Then pour a tiny amount of baby oil onto the corner of a clean cloth and work it gently into the stainless steel. This will not only help remove any stubborn fingerprints, it will also make that refrigerator door a little more resistant to getting them in the first place.
March 1st, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Great ideas. You inspire me to clean…thanks
March 1st, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Perfect timing! Just got home from work. I have four days in which to do some serious cleaning. And, yes, I feel inspired!
March 5th, 2012 at 10:04 am
I really love your ideas. Especially how to approach cleaning stainless (hardly!) steel appliances. Everything I've tried has only left more streaking. Thanks for much!
March 5th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Awesome info.! I may even be able to get my kids on board with this. I am sure they'll get a kick out of using lemons to help clean!
Also, if you are looking for a really great aromatherapy cleaning product, I highly recommend Terralumina's Mountain Mist (www.terralumina.com). Made in hand batches in Woodstock, NY, it's not only anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial but it has an energy charged Reiki crystal in the bottle and blend of organic essential oils is heavenly! I know I sound like a commercial but this stuff is powerfully good to have on hand.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to go shopping – I'm out of lemons!
March 5th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Kids love cleaning with weird stuff. Lemons, baby oil, baking soda. If you can make it fun and a little weird, they forget they're cleaning.
They love gadgets, too, by the way. Hello, FlipFold.
Glad you plugged Terralumina! I'm adding the info to my links page now!
March 5th, 2012 at 11:35 am
I recently started using lemons and white vinegar to replace my bathroom and kitchen cleaners and I can't believe how much better and cheaper it is. I have stainless steel appliances and I'm going to do the vinegar and mineral oil on them. I'll let you know how it works! Thanks for the awesome tips.
March 5th, 2012 at 11:46 am
I just posted Terralumina on my Resources page. Here’s the link: http://humbleneighborhood.com/resources/
March 5th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I love this. Encouraging people to clean with lemons and vinegar vs toxic chemicals! I am all about using products containing tea tree oil as well as using lemons and vinegar. It kills mold, mildew, germs, etc. etc. and is actually good for your body in many ways as well! Thanks for posting this, Maia. Awesome blog!