Ten Tips for a Greener Cleaner Home

Leave it to Twittermoms to come up with another post that hits so close to my home! I've always believed that if you use natural products in your home, then all you need are natural products to clean it. Most of my products come from the same places that my food comes from. With the addition of a few ingredients. I find that my cleaning schedule is simple. And after working for a cleaning company, I try not to put anything on my surfaces that we wouldn't find in the earth.

Ten Tips for a Greener Cleaner Home

1. Throw out the bleach: Its horrible, and you don't need it. Vinegar can kill bacteria just as efficiently, and it won't take the color out of your clothes. Use it to clean surfaces after they have come into contact with raw meats or just to disinfect.
2. Baking Soda: Use this to shine pots and pans, It polishes the surface without breaking down the enamel like other harsh clears can do.  It also will get rid of the smell on your wooden cutting boards. Just sprinkle a little bit on and then use a sponge or cloth to buff the surface.
3. Polish Your Wood: Mix equal parts lemon juice and olive oil to clean and polish wood surfaces. I love this method and use it on everything in the house, it smells better then pine-sol because its real lemon juice!  The olive oil conditions the wood and gives it nourishment as well as cleaning off dust and giving it a shine
4. Soapnuts!: I know that I have shared the benefits of soap-nuts with you before, they are hard to beat.  They are my absolute favorite for the laundry, they are free of synthetic fragrances so they don't build up on my diapers, or on my clothes. They are also great if you grind them up and then use then to scrub off baked on grime. 
5. Dr. Bronner's : There was a time in my life when Doctor Bronners was the only soap in my house. We used it for dishes, laundry, counters, shampoo, soap, even toothpaste. (I don't reccomend the last one) But the point is that you don't need a whole cabinet of fancy cleaners, an all purpose cleaner such as Dr. Bronner's  can fill all your cleaning needs. I like to use it in my dishwater through the day to help release the dirt from my plates
6. Daily shower: This stuff is a lifesaver, it basically breaks down the soap on your walls so that it doesn't all build up and make it hard to clean I currently am using one by Method, try to have everyone use this  after the shower, if not don't worry I just spray it after everyone is done taking showers for the day.
7. Essential Oils:  This site has recipes for aromatherapy blends, building your collection of essential oils is great, you can use them to make your own cleaners that have scents. I like adding sweet orange oil to my cleaners for the kitchen, and I have some lavender cleaner that I made for the bedrooms, and living rooms. I like to switch it up in the bathroom depending on my mood.
8. Carpet Freshener: Is that carpet stale? Last time I tried commercial carpet fresheners, they left me with watery eyes and an itchy nose (my carpet was very clean though). Now I make my own my sprinkling some essential oils in a mason jar with some baking soda, I shake it up and then sprinkle it on the carpet. I leave it for about fifteen minutes and then vacuum it up. It leaves my carpet and my vacuum smelling great and extra clean.
9. Microwave cleaner: I love this trick for the microwave that I learned from my grandmother. Put a microwave safe container 3/4 full of water into the microwave and heat on high for about a minute. The steam will loosen everything off the sides and make the grease and grime wipe off easily.
10. Your Air: Clean the air naturally with houseplants, they filter the air and bring oxygen to the environment. My favorite are spider plants which can be grown in just glasses of water! Try your had at macramé and  you can have some decorations that bring you back to the sixties, and make you and your family feel better while you are at it. I also have an Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier I love how I can see the dirt that comes out of the air on the filter.
11. Use those brown paper bags: If you're like me and haven't quite mastered remembering your reusable  bags to the grocery store every time. . Then put all those bags to use and use them to hold your garbage when you run out of plastic bags, or your recycling. I always would end up with piles of brown paper grocery bags now I use them to hold my trash because they biodegradable instead of sitting in a landfill for years.

I hope these help to make your homes safer and cleaner, while saving you time and money, keep a schedule and do certain chores on certain days and sooner then you know it it will be second nature!  Good luck, and happy cleaning

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Mrs. Meyer’s blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.