Monday, June 28, 2010

Natural cleaning, how do I do it?

In the past few years since having children, I've looked into natural cleaning products.  When I started cleaning houses for money in college, I explored some natural cleaning products called Mrs Meyer's Clean Day.  I love them.  They are aromatherapy cleaners that are all natural.  They are just very pricey, but very nice.  I have their stainless steel polish and it smells so great!

One of my recent loves has been Seventh Generation.  Yes, they have been around a bit, but they recently developed a disinfectant cleaner using Thymol (a derivitave of Thyme oil).  I love it for kids toys, the bathroom, you name it! It smells pretty good too.  I really like their multipupose concentrate too, even though it's not "disinfectant".  You can find it super cheap at Super Target and using coupons that you can print monthly for $1 off from their site, you can find great deals for sure!  Target also had a coupon from their site a while back that was for another $1 off and you can stack them, so I got some cleaners for 49 cents!  Nice :)

Vinegar- let's talk... I use this for everything.  Straight for really smelly things or 1/4c in my first rinse for my cloth diapers in the wash.  Terrific cleaning power and disinfects too.  I use 1/2c vinegar and 1/2c baking soda in the potty to clean it.  Curtis loves to watch it fizz.  Hehe!  Vinegar also gets out pet stain smells.  It's a great neutralizer.  50/50 mix of water and vinegar in a spray bottle makes a good spritz for your toys in the playroom that can't be submerged to clean.  IE Leap Frog table, wooden tool bench, toys with batteries and plush. 

Bathrooms seem to be the area in most people's homes that they "freak out" about not using some sort of bleach on.  Let's be real here, before bleach was created people were still able to clean their bathrooms and keep them as germ free as possible.  Now, I'm not a germaphobe, but I do like a clean bathroom.  One of my pet peeves is having a dirty bathroom and when the kids are constantly using it and Wesley is crawling on the floor... let's just say I clean it OFTEN.  I usually use the 7th Gen cleaner listed above.  The bs/vinegar fizz for the potty etc... Bleach is NOT NEEDED!  I know... "Hi, my name is Elaine and I used to be a bleach addict" There I said it, but really, you DO NOT NEED IT!  Vinegar does just the same as bleach and NO CHEMICALS!  I no longer have to worry about cleaning in yucky clothes because of fear I might bleach my good jeans or whatever.

I'm going to put this in list form, for those of you who don't want to read my "book" above

  • Kitchen:
    • 7th Generation Disinfectant spray for counters or just soapy water.  I use the spray when we make meat dishes especially
    • Baking soda paste (mix BS with castile soap until it resembles icing) I use this to scrub my stove or pots and pans
    • 50/50 vinegar/water for spraying the doors and other hard surfaces for killing germs.
  • Bathrooms:
    • 50/50 baking soda/vinegar for potty "fizz" cleaner
    • 7th Gen spray with Thymol for the counters and potty seat, handle and floors.
    • Mrs Meyer's Clean Day Stainless Spray for the fixtures on the sink
    • Bottle of warm water, dash of dish soap and 1/4c vinegar for the mirrors.  I use flour sack towels to clean the mirrors with
    • BS paste with castile for the tub to scrub off the soap scum and stains
  • Bedrooms
    • Use my vac to dust with or a damp cleaning rag with castile soap
    • Lambs wool duster for the fans
  • Playroom
    • 50/50 vinegar/water spray for toys
    • Mop with 7th Gen multipurpose cleaner with 1c vinegar in the water
    • Soak other toys in the sink with vinegar water
    • Wipe down the changing table with the 7th Gen Thymol cleaner (they make wipes too if you like using wipes instead of spray)
Post your other great ideas below and share with us!

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