Green Cleaning

During the week I conquer some deep cleaning but in a green way. Lately I been obsessed with home blogs and one of my favorites is Manhattan Nest. I was thrilled when I found out that Daniel (MN author) is writing a column for Design Sponge all about cleaning ( I know I'm a huge dork) and I was surprise about the products he uses and his methods. So I decided to give it a go and to my surprise it really works!! Now I'm going to convert to green cleaning and save a ton on cleaning supplies...plus my corneas won't have any third degree burns with those pesky cleaning fumes. Here are the basics:

The staples of a good cleaning toolkit are as follows:

1. A few empty spray bottles for mixing your own cleaners.

2. White vinegar is great for deodorizing and disinfecting, and its acidity means it’s good for breaking down calcium in tubs and other inorganic compounds around the house. Need to clean glass or wood floors? One part water, one part white vinegar. Done. Vinegar smells, well, like vinegar when it’s wet, but the scent quickly dissipates when it dries.

3. Baking soda is a very gentle but powerful abrasive, and it’s good at cutting through grease, so it’s a great option for cleaning pots and pans, ovens and stove tops. It’s also safer and cheaper than commercial cleaners. To scrub away messes in the kitchen, mix one part baking soda with three parts warm water and get to work. Place a box of it in your fridge to keep food odors at bay.

4. Dish soap is great when diluted in water as an all-purpose cleaner or mixed with baking soda into a paste to scrub things in the bathroom, like grout. For an all-purpose cleaner, mix two tablespoons dish soap with two cups of water. Just remember to wipe everything down with water to avoid leaving a soapy residue.

5. Lemon juice has mild bleaching properties, naturally deodorizes and disinfects and is great to mix with a vinegar solution for bathroom and kitchen cleaning. It smells fresh, too!

6. Rubber gloves. Your hands will thank me later. If you’re at the dollar store already, get fancy and spring for the $1.49 gloves that are made of thicker rubber and extend further up your forearm. That’s class.

7. A toothbrush. Toothbrushes are essential for cleaning hard-to-reach areas like corners, around faucets, the edge of a kitchen sink, grout lines, the base of your toilet . . . the possibilities are endless!

8. Sponges with a soft and rough side (much like your personality) are helpful when scrubbing stuff with natural cleaners. Low-tech cleaning products do take a bit more elbow grease, but you can usually make up for that with a little light scrubbing.

9. A lint-free cloth is good for cleaning almost anything, including glass and acrylic, and wiping down counter tops.

10. Recycled paper towels. Yeah, I know they’re wasteful, but sometimes you need to be able to throw it away and be done with it. You’ll know when the occasion to use a paper towel arises because the mess will rank high on the grossness scale.

image via: hayanarts