Green Clean~

I thought I would write a little post about something I try to incorporate into my cleaning...the use of natural products that do not contain harsh chemicals. First, let me start by stating that I am a bit of a clean freak. This does not mean that I don't let my children make messes when they play. I just like things clean and tidy most of the time. I used to use harsh chemicals to do all of my cleaning. The bad thing about that, is they just are not good for us to be around all of the time. The skin is a permeable membrane, meaning it will absorb things and they get into your body. This is good when needing to use say, an essential oil, but not so good when we are talking about chemicals that are toxic. There for, I have tried to use more and more "green" products when cleaning my home. I started out by purchasing the natural cleaning products, and progressed to making my own to use in addition, or even in place of the store bought ones.

I really like to buy the Meyers dish washing soap and surface cleaners. They work well, and have a pleasant scent. Another store purchase that I have found to work well is the Seventh Generation Disinfecting spray. It kills 99.99% of germs all botanically. This stuff is all natural, but it does not smell good at all. However, the smell does fade and it works well.

For my home-made products, I like to use vinegar and water. I scent the vinegar with essential oil, however, you can still smell the vinegar. I have not tried this as of yet, but I guess you can add lemon or orange peels to your vinegar, and let set in a jar for two weeks, then remove the peels and add to your spray bottle the vinegar and water. I use about 1/3 cup of vinegar to 3 cups of water, when I make my vinegar spray. Vinegar naturally cleans very well, and the smell does go away shortly after you use it. To make my house smell good, I like to boil some water and add a little cinnamon to it. It not only smells great and is chemical free, but it also adds much needed moisture in the winter time. (Some add citrus peels to this, or essential oil of lemon, or orange)

Baking soda it great for scrubbing sinks and tubs and then do a vinegar spray clean and rinse after wards. Also, baking soda with essential oil works great to freshen carpet. I mix this in a bowl by hand, kind of squeezing the mixture to disperse the oil. My last tip, is invest in a steam mop. I have had one for years, and it works well and no chemicals needed, the steam does all the work!