Cleaning

Throw away all of your commercial cleaning products! Do it! Now!

Seriously! You'll save money, breathe cleaner air, and make your home safer for yourself, your kids, and your pets!

I sound like a commercial. But I'm not going to advocate purchasing "natural" or "green" home cleaning products - sure, you could, but you don't *have* to. My home (2 humans, 5 cats) is cleaned almost exclusively by white vinegar (WV) and hydrogen peroxide (HP).

Here is a good resource if you want to make your own products. I have this book somewhere and if I can locate it, I'll lend it out to anyone who would like to borrow it. Truth be known, I don't use it much. I use an eco-friendly cleaning service called Eco-Harmony (EH). They use their own "green" cleaning products - except in my house! Most commercial products contain essential oils for scent, and I am very cautious about anything damaging to pets (hello - five cats). Essential oils are VERY TOXIC to dogs and cats. Please don't use these in your home if you have pets!! Even respirating them can be harmful to furbabies.

I asked EH if they'd just use WV and HP to clean my home, and they were all about it. I'm not much of a scent gal anyway - I like the smell of fresh air, no scent. It's lovely to come home to.

So some basics for DIY:

- Clean windows using a solution of WV and water, 50/50.

- Make "Lysol" by filling two spray bottles, one with WV (full strength), one with HP (3% like you get at the grocery store). One spray of each on a surface will react and combine to kill MORE germs than Lysol! Brilliant! Also, it biodegrades into water and carbon dioxide. Since I feed my cats a raw diet (that's a separate post for another day), I go through LOTS of WV and HP, making sure to get all the germs off the floor and countertops.

- WV and baking soda are great for cleaning toilets

- Try WV in the rinse compartment of your dishwasher, and as a replacement for fabric softener in the washing machine! Fabric softener should be outlawed, I say. You can also use dryer balls or tennis balls instead of dryer sheets.

Oh, the only commercial product I allow EH to use (they had to spend some time convincing me) is Bon Ami, for scouring sinks and bathtubs.

The book I mentioned above has a ton of recipes for specific things like jewelry cleaner, etc, so check it out if you have specific needs.