April 14, 2008

A Cliche' with a Twist

No, that's not me in the picture above. The only thing she and I have in common are the marigold gloves; but boy do I wish I looked that good, and that happy, when cleaning my house.

I try to avoid cliches at all costs, but I have been bitten by the spring cleaning bug, so here's my post about clearing away those cobwebs and opening your windows to a green field, a blue sky, and some fresh linens blowing in a light breeze on a clothesline. Now that I've set the mood...

My cleaning supplies are a cornucopia of eco-friendly mixed in with disastrous, bring tears to your eyes, toxic. I'm ashamed to admit I even have such things in my repertoire. So, my effort this season is to spring clean my cleaners. I will no longer gloss over the idea of using natural ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda and lemon to clean my home. I have already switched to purchasing earth friendly laundry detergent, dish washing detergent, countertop cleaner, etc., but I feel compelled to really go all green across the board.

Consumer Reports has a web page dedicated to green cleaning products and recipes and this is going to be my map for the future sparkles of our household. When you really get down to reading these recipes and natural solutions, they are quite incredible. Who knew baking soda was so versatile?

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve when it comes to cleaning with natural products? If so, please share your expertise in the comments section. If you are so inspired to try new cleaning methods after reading this post, write in and let us know how they worked for you!

1 comment:

Allie said...

I'm beginning to think baking soda is magic. Salt is a great cleaner too -- it's a good abrasive when you need to scrub, and will soak up stains if you leave it to sit for awhile.

It's interesting, isn't it, that we use so many commercial products when we have a kitchen full of stuff that works just as well?