Homelife
Related Articles
- Gardening with children
- Happy mealtimes
- Meal planner
- Making ends meet
- Shop Window: Inspirational home
Related Local Information
Related National Boards
'Clean' Spring Cleaning
Quick Links
- Bicarbonate of Soda
- Olive oil & vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Essential oils
- More tips
- More help
- Environment Section
It's spring and with the first few bursts of sunshine comes that sudden realisation that the house could really do with a bit of TLC. All those niggly jobs that don't seem to matter in dark depths of winter suddenly can't be put off any longer.
But before you crack open the heavy duty, chemical laden cleaning products check out these tips for a more eco-friendly - and cost-effective - way to get your home clean and gleaming.
The tips are taken from our book, How to be a Happy Mum - find out more here. You can also read some great tips for general home organisation here.
The natural difference...
As well as many being tested on animals (bad karma!), many cleaners contain a cocktail of chemicals, which can not only irritate your skin to use, but destroy friendly as well as dangerous germs. There are growing concerns as to the effect these chemicals have on eczema and asthma as well as skin allergies.
You can safely involve your children in cleaning using the tips, ingredients and ideas below and it is a perfect introduction to showing your children how easy it is to work with the planet...with not a flowery skirt in sight!
Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
This breaks down grease and is great added to vinegar or lemon juice to make them more abrasive. It is also a great deodoriser in fridges and dish washers as well as a water softener.
Mix it with a bit of water to dissolve grease and grime.
Use dry on carpets to lift out stains.
Bicarbonade of soda neutralises most strong odours.
Use on a damp sponge and smear on stains on general surfaces.
For blocked drains chuck some over the plug holes and then pour some vinegar over.
Bicarbonate of soda can also be sprinkled on carpets before vacuuming to freshen them up.
More help...
Check out the interesting eco-friendly cleaning tips in this book: Green Clean: The Envrionmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home.
Find a cleaner on the Household Help board and take the strain out of the weekly cleaning.
Use olive oil to get rid of finger marks on stainless steel surfaces and utensils. Put some on a kitchen towel and rub over the finger marks.
White vinegar (or better still white wine vinegar) is an all-purpose cleaner. It will clean and deodorise as it goes. Here are just some of its uses:
Use 50/50 mixed with water as a cleaner in your bathroom and kitchen.
Put an egg cup full in your washing machine to use instead of softener. It's great for towels or cloth nappies as the coating fabric softener gives them makes them less absorbent.
It's a great descaler. Soak paper towels in the vinegar, wrap them around taps, cover with plastic bags and secure with elastic band and leave for a few hours - taps will come out looking brand new.
Clean your windows with vinegar and water.
Use this to dissolve scum, particularly in hard water areas. It can be mixed with vinegar to make a cleaning paste that will get rid of serious stains and is also useful as a bleaching agent.
Mix one cup of olive oil with half a cup of lemon juice and pour into a spray bottle for furniture polish. Spray a little on and then rub it all over. The lemon juice cuts through the dirt and the olive oil gives it a nice shine. Buff with a dry cloth.
Lemon juice is good for microwave smells - add a few slices to a bowl of water and microwave on high power for a couple of minutes.
Mix some olive oil with lemon juice to make furniture polish. (Double amount of olive oil to lemon juice)
If you soak nappies try a couple of drops of Tea tree instead of bleach. It will make them last a lot longer.
Throw out your antibacterial spray and create your own using a couple of drops of lavender, a couple of drops of tea tree and some eucalyptus oil in the winter or citronella in the summer (to deter flies).
Put a few drops of essential oil into home-made playdough to make it smell nice. Lavender perhaps or eucalyptus in the wintertime to help colds.
More eco-friendly household tips
Light a candle to help get rid of smells (be careful with children and naked flames).
Consider using Eco-Balls instead of washing powder or liquid in your machine, great if your child has sensitive skin.
When you replace your white goods buy the most economical one you can, 'A' being best.
Use the washing line when you can, but when you must use the tumble try using dryer balls. They shorten drying time and soften fabric.
A steam cleaner can be a great way of cleaning without chemicals.
Sunlight can be used to bleach out stains.
