Clean and green

Week two of my simplifying experiment.  This week I attempted a full house cleaning on a single day and only managed to clean the kitchen and the master bathroom.  I did have my 3 year old son at home with me at the time, so I'm not going to worry about it.  Clearly, I need to plan cleaning around life and not the other way around.  

So today I am going to give everyone in my family a list of chores that need to be done daily and weekly.  They will have to put their name down next to a certain number of chores each week.  For example: if they have to choose ten items, they might choose to do the dishes three days during the week, sweep the floor once, do their own laundry, and feed the animals five days.  Some things will have to be done only once during the week, others every day.  And I KNOW that the hard part is going to be establishing these routines for everyone and getting them done in a timely manner.  

So more on this after we have tried it out for a week or two.  Let me know if you decide to do this (or already do it) and how it works out for you.

I took time last week to go to the bookstore to relax and read for a while.  I found a book by the two guys who started the company Method which makes cleaning products that are not harmful to our health or the environment.  The book they wrote is called "Squeaky Clean" and went through the house room by room explaining that basically we live in a chemical haze and store what amounts to a toxic waste dump under our sinks.  

I have long been concerned about the amount of chemicals we are exposed to today compared with when our parents and grandparents were growing up, and a few years ago, I began using baking soda and vinegar to clean with, but I also used other products like window cleaner with ammonia, bleach, all-purpose cleaners like 409, the list goes on.  

This week I realized that by cleaning my own home, I can really go much more green than any cleaning company ever would.  So I did all my cleaning with two mixtures that I made myself from ingredients in the kitchen that are not harmful if inhaled or ingested!  The first is an all-purpose cleaner made with 3 ingredients plus water.

All-purpose Cleaner

1/4 cup baking soda

1/2 cup vinegar

squirt of biodegradable dishwashing liquid 

4 cups warm water

Mix this up in a large stainless steel or glass bowl because the baking soda and vinegar will foam up a lot.  Then you can transfer it to a glass jar to carry it around more easily.  I just used a sponge to wipe everything down with the solution, then wiped it down with a clean wet cloth and wiped it dry with another clean dry cloth (I used microfiber.)

The second recipe is even easier.  I used it on all glass and mirrored surfaces.

Glass Cleaner

1 cup vinegar

3 cups water

This can be used in a clean spray bottle.  You must use newspaper or a microfiber cloth with this solution, otherwise you will get streaks, smudges and foggy glass.  I used newspaper on the outside and microfiber on the inside.  Two tips--make sure the newspaper and microfiber cloth is clean or you will just smear around the dirt, and don't spray too much on the glass, because it doesn't evaporate like window cleaner. If you spray too much, you will have to wipe a lot longer to get it dry.

Other good uses that I have found for baking soda and vinegar are scrubbing my pots and pans, the floor of the shower stall and bathtub, sinks, toilets, etcs.  Also, they are good used together for clearing drains when running slow.  When the sink gets too clogged for this to work, then I take apart the pipe section directly under the sink and start probing it with a stretched out wire hanger.  Its gross (wear rubber gloves and put as large a plastic tub as will fit underneath) but its effective for clearing clogs completely....and much, much better for our waterways and fishes.  I also probe shower and bathtub drains with a wire coat-hanger when they are clogged.  This used in conjunction with baking soda and vinegar and a plunger has taken care of every clog we have had.

I have also read that baking soda and vinegar mixed into a paste can get up carpet spots and then vacuumed once dry.  I will try that out this week.  And Hydrogen Peroxide makes a fabulous bleach.

Recently I purchased biodegradable dishwasher detergent.  And we only run our dishwasher when it is full -- about every other day.  My dishwashing liquid is also biodegradable.  Next I will be switching to biodegradable laundry detergent too.

OK--so enough about cleaning already!!  It seems to have taken over my life at the moment.  That and writing really boring blogs about cleaning (this is my 3rd and final try--it will be posted so I don't have to endure another one.)  

Til next time....