Spring is in full swing and that means warmer weather, outdoor activities, and less time to spend cleaning.
I recently caught up with Marie Stegner, consumer health advocate and blogger for the green cleaning leader, Maid Brigade, to find out some of her green cleaning secrets for healthy spring cleaning.
“To save time, I always keep healthy cleaning supplies close at hand,” Marie says. “It’s amazing that you can safely and effectively clean your home with common household items like olive oil, baking soda, white vinegar, and lemon.”
I love this approach! I know a lot of the common household cleaners contain all kinds of bad stuff I really don’t want my family to inhale (or lick, in my son’s case. He actually LICKS counters as I spray them, and then looks at me with a stinker grin. That boy … ) I much prefer to use ingredients that are safe (even edible) and effective.
Here are four of Marie’s go-to green cleaning recipes that are safe for your family, pets, and the environment.
Those ugly rings. To remove rings from your furniture, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil and apply it with a microfiber cloth (moving with the wood grain). Use another clean, dry, microfiber cloth to shine it up.
Let the sun shine in. Spring is a great time to clean the windows. Start by preparing your window cleaner by combining ¼ cup white vinegar, 1-tablespoon cornstarch, 2 cups club soda (or warm water or a mixture of both), and ¼-cup rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. Shake well to mix. Spray on the window and wipe the surface clean with a microfiber cloth or a squeegee, whichever you prefer.
Stink in the sink. Clean the garbage disposal by throwing vinegar cubes down the disposal and turning it on. (You can make the cubes by freezing full-strength distilled white vinegar in ice cube trays.) To remove odors, put lemon or orange peels in the disposal.
Scum be gone. Tackle that nasty residue around the tub and shower with a scrub paste made from baking soda and a tiny bit of water. Rub with a microfiber cloth.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Maid Brigade is the only house cleaning service that is Green Clean Certified®. The company has a consumer advocacy program led by Stegner that aims to provide safe, green cleaning solutions for people and pets.
For more green cleaning tips and recipes, check out Marie’s blog. You can also download Maid Brigade’s Green Cleaning GO TO Guide.
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13 thoughts on “Green Spring Cleaning Tips”
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Love the natural tips! I knew vinegar was a powerful cleaner…but olive oil, huh? I think I’ll try it!
I like to slice up a lemon and put it in a bowl of water and microwave it for about 3 minutes and let he steam penetrate the grime before opening the door. It wipes right off with a cloth afterwards. Then I dip a cloth in the lemon water (after it cools a little!) and sprinkle some borax on my stove top and use the cloth and lemon water to scrub the stove clean. Then I send the lemon slices down the garbage disposal to clean the blades. Malden Rushett Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
Quick floor cleaner: mix 3 drops of dishwashing liquid with half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of water. Spray on the floor sparingly and then mop up.Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
Thank you for sharing.You can make your own cleaner for way less money than you would spend on a commercial cleaner. Even if not, I would still prefer to make my own for the other benefits. Gallows Corner Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
While the vinegar does clean very well AND removes odors (strangely enough!), I thought I’d hunt for something a little less strong in the smell department that would also clean well. Not surprisingly, lemon turned up on many lists as a good natural cleaner due to its acidity (what’s even better is that I have a lemon tree in my back yard. So, this one has the potential to be FREE for us other than that it takes TEN MONTHS for a lemon to mature on a lemon tree! Who knew?!?!).
I’ll admit that cleaning the windows, mirrors, and glass doors of our house is something that frequently goes by the wayside. When I do remember, I generally use a store bought window cleaner like most other people, but I find I need to wear gloves to use it. The smell just stays on my hands. But what else besides the scent is staying on my hands? Whatever it is, I figure that it can’t be healthy.
I’m very fond of green cleaning and I like to collect interesting tips and information about cleaning in general. Thanks for sharing yours! I will share this with my friends and I’m sure they’ll like it just as much as I do 🙂
Thanks for the great article! We recently wrote about a few other green cleaning ideas that we wanted to share with you. https://ecocentricmom.com/5-eco-friendly-keeping-germ-free-home/
I liked that you pointed out that it would be best to try to clean the windows on a sunny day. I hate cleaning my windows because I always seem to miss something. So it does seem like a good idea for me to try doing it when it is sunny. That or just hire a professional cleaning service to come clean my windows.
Your article is really useful for me. I read your article and i get the great valuable tips for spring cleaning. Thanks for sharing this so interesting post! I really want to be thankful for the way you have put it here.
Really useful article – Didn’t think olive oil would be that useful for cleaning!
Green cleaning is one of my favorite things to do, and I enjoy gathering useful cleaning tips and information. By the way, there are a number of professional carpet cleaners in the area. However, http://carpetcleaningofchulavista.com/ stands out from the crowd due to the exceptional services they provide. Apart from carpet cleaning, they also provide upholstery cleaning, tile floor repair, mattress cleaning, and a variety of other services.