"Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk while it's snowing."- Phyllis Diller
I bet everyone with kids is smiling after reading that quote because it is so true! When the kids are around it really does feel like you are shoveling while the snow is still falling! Today I woke up with the cleaning bug. I blame it on my mom who came over yesterday and was talking about a book, The Queen of Clean by Linda Cobb, that she has been using to find all sorts of ways to clean things using products you already have at home. I am interested in finding more 'green' ways of doing things and using less chemicals. This book (or her website) is a perfect fit for this!
Matt and the boys went down to Jeff & Val's to watch the football game and I was free to clean all I wanted! (Okay, how sad is it that when given time to myself I choose to clean?!? Sigh!) Can you still be my friend even if I am a complete dork? I made my own cleaners using The Queen of Clean for:
Shower- Heat vinegar in the microwave and pour into a spray bottle. Spray hot vinegar all over the shower. Wait 15 minutes. Use a nylon scrubber and wipe off the soap scum. Rinse with water.
Tile grout on the breakfast bar- Combine 1 Tbl Borax, 2 Tbl baking soda and 1 Tbl water to make a paste. Scrub the paste into the tile grout using a toothbrush to remove the dirt. Wipe clean with water.
Air Freshener- Combine 2 C water, 1Tbl vinegar, 1 tsp baking soda in a spray bottle. It will foam up a bit. Once the foaming stops use as you would Febreeze.
My favorite was the tile cleaner. I couldn't believe the difference it made! I would have taken before and after pictures, but honestly I didn't want you to see the before! :) The vinegar on the shower was pretty stinky (to be expected though I guess!) Icouldn't argue with the results though, it did work :) The air freshener I liked but mine still had some perfume scent to it because I refilled my old Febreeze bottle so I am not sure if it would normally smell of Vinegar or if the amount is small enough to not be noticeable. So I guess I haven't decided on that one yet. I will have to borrow my mom's book and try out more of these. It definitely added a little something different to my cleaning to mix things up a bit :) Let me know if you try these out! If you have any cleaning tips like these send them to me and I will try them out too!
Abby, I've been doing alot of these same things around here! I made our own window cleaner, all purpose counter cleaner (my favorite), and have even made our own laundry detergent (super cheapo and it works) and have even started cleaning my hair without shampoo....its chemical free and very effective and costs almost nothing......go you and keep us posted on how it goes with your cleaning experiments....I'll be glad to have someone else to get reviews from :) Also as a side note, borax does an amazing job cleaning bathroom fixtures...so much better than 'cleaner' I've ever purchased.....
ReplyDeleteIs your grout cleaner recipe safe on colored grout?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I really liked the results using warm vinegar in the shower. It looks great and the vinegar smell goes away very quickly. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete