Green spring cleaning tips

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There is something about spring that gives you an overwhelming urge to get rid of any sign of winter and welcome in the warm days of spring. You feel the urge of throwing open the windows to welcome the fresh air inside your home and plan your spring cleaning. You want your spring cleaners to be as environmentally friendly as the air that flows in through your windows. This is not difficult to do. Here are five tips for green spring cleaning.

Tips for going green when spring cleaning

Vinegar

The uses of vinegar for cleaning are too many to mention. You can use vinegar on just about any surface inside your home with safety. Shine your windows, clean your floors, walls refrigerator, dishwashers, ovens, cupboards, glassware, tea pots and kettles and so much more. Bathrooms can be cleaned easily with vinegar. You can clean your whole house including the carpets with this environmentally cleaning product. Do not worry about the smell of vinegar that will soon disappear and all youíll be left with is the clean smell of your home.

• Clean your walls by adding a half of cup of vinegar to every gallon of water you use. It will leave the surface squeaky clean and fresh.
• A smelly rubbish bin can be freshened by using half a cup of water and half a cup of vinegar mixed. Pour it on and let it sit for five minutes then wash it away with boiling hot water.
• Clean your microwave with a half a cup of water and a half a cup of vinegar and place in a microwavable bowl. Place inside your microwave and bring it to a boil. After you have done this food can be wiped away easily as well as the odour disappears.
• Clean your walls by adding a half of cup of vinegar to every gallon of water you use. It will leave the surface squeaky clean and fresh.
• Bathrooms can be cleaned easily with vinegar by placing a few cups of straight vinegar in the toilet and let it sit for a few minutes. Scrub after soaking and it will come shiny clean. For the bathtub, mix a solution of vinegar and baking soda and wipe out your bathtub with a sponge or cloth and it will work on sinks just as well. For water stains on showers inside and out can be cleaned quite well with a vinegar and baking soda paste.

Baking soda

Baking soda has to be one of the friendliest products that are on the market for cleaning. Combined with water or vinegar or by itself it cannot be outdone for spring cleaning stains anywhere in your home plus eliminating odors.

• For your counter that has a buildup of grease or a stain sprinkle baking soda on a damp cloth and scrub. The stain will soon loosen and your counters will sparkle.
• Sprinkle baking soda on your carpet before you vacuum or steam clean. Your carpet will come out fresh and clean every time.
• Use baking soda in your bathroom by mixing it into a paste and cleaning your sink, tub or toilet with it. Your bathroom will sparkle after this type of cleaning.
• Add a sprinkle of baking soda to the cat’s litter box to ensure the odour stay where they should.
• Use baking soda in your refrigerator to keep it smelling sweet and clean.

Cleaning materials

To clean green you should keep the cleaning materials that you use as environmentally friendly as possible. Cloths are perhaps one of these. A cloth can be washed many times over which eliminates the pile of paper towel that you may use doing the same job. You can make cleaning rags out of clothing that is ready for the garbage. This is excellent for recycling.

• Make fluffy dusting mitts out of some old flannel. They are not difficult to make just cut them to the shape of your hand and sew them around the edges leaving an opening at the top. These can be washed many times and serve you a long time for dusting.
• When doing windows you do have the option of using old newspaper but that soon ends up in the trash pile. You can use recycled clothing that will end up in the wash for the next use.
• Use a deck mop to clean your floors. Disposable mops soon wear out and you have to throw them away but a deck mop can last through many cleanings.
• To keep your deck mop fresh just soak it in a little vinegar or bleach for that matter.

Furniture polish

There are some people that cannot get past picking up furniture polish at the grocery store to shine your special items but you can make your own. Furniture polishes that are purchased in spray cans have a petroleum base and are not environmentally friendly. Making your own furniture polish is not very difficult. You will need two and a half ounces of olive oil, one and a half ounces of coconut oil, one once of bees wax, one ounce of carnauba wax and four ounces of distilled water. You will need a double boiler to melt the waxes in. Do this over a medium heat. When the wax is melted combine it with the water.† Use a mixer to mix the ingredients until they are thick with a creamy texture.

• Use a cotton cloth rag to apply this to your furniture and one to buff it once you have applied the polish. When you apply this polish work it until it is well worked into your furniture. Take your buffing cloth and continue buffing until all the excess polish has disappeared.
• You can store this polish from six months to a year.

Insect repellants

With spring comes the invasion of insects. Once you have your home cleaned you do not want to be invaded by bugs, but you want to use something that is environmentally friendly. This is not as difficult as you would think. There are many oils that you can use to combat insects such as citronella, lemon eucalyptus oil, cinnamon oil and the list goes on. Some of these can be put in a spray bottle to have it ready when you need it. Lemongrass is a†wonderful oil that can be used as an insect repellant. If you find you have an ant problem once spring arrives you can use soapy water made from dish detergent to spray them away. You can also use cayenne pepper, cinnamon, or any type of citrus oil. These are very effective for these types of insects.

Spring time is a wonderful time of the year that brings all things new and rejuvenates the outside world. Bring that rejuvenation inside your home in the form of cleaning green. It will be a plus to know that you have helped the environment, as well as having a very clean home using the five tips for spring cleaning.