The windows have been closed all winter but with spring in the air, spring cleaning is not far behind. Read on and enjoy a green spring cleaning guide for earth-friendly households. Learn about green cleaning products, cleaning services, house cleaning tips, and of course the dreaded window cleaning chore.
Table of Contents
Stocking the Arsenal
Sure, you could spend a small fortune on a host of commercial cleaning products, but why would you? The simplest green-friendly products to use are white distilled vinegar, baking soda, washing soda, olive oil, and lemons. Invest in a couple of sponges with good scrubbing surfaces, household gloves, spray bottles, newspapers, eco-friendly dish detergent, and some lint-free rags.
Green Spring Cleaning Starts in the Bathroom
If the tub lacks luster and spring cleaning demands removal of the dark ring, baking soda on a moist sponge takes the place of any scrubby cleaning product. You can pretty much clean the tub, toilet, and sink with baking soda and a heavy-duty sponge.
Disinfecting the Bathroom during Green Spring Cleaning
Once the dirt is gone, follow up with a spray of a 5% white vinegar solution. Keep the spray on for a little, and then simply rinse off with clear water and pat dry with lint-free rags.
Green House Cleaning in the Kitchen
Since winter most likely forced you to do most of your cooking indoors, there are likely copious grease splatters around the stove. Sure, you meant to clean them at the time … but time just got away from you. Put on some household gloves, get out the sponge, and break open the washing soda. Careful! This is not for use on fiberglass!
Polishing Wood
Green spring cleaning for wood is easier than you might think. Combine a bit of olive oil with the juice of one lemon, apply the mix to a clean, lint-free cloth, and start polishing. If the wood is very dirty, start off with a few quick sprays of the vinegar to remove grime and grease, and then follow with the polish.
Freshening the Carpet
After Fido and Fluffy spent an awful lot of time indoors, resting up for the spring ahead, the odds are good that the rugs and carpets smell just a tat musty. Sprinkle on a good helping of baking soda, walk it into the carpet for about half a day, and then simply vacuum up the baking soda. With the baking soda you are also vacuuming up the musty pet smells.
Freshen the Air
Slice open the lemon and leave its pieces sitting on a plate. Better yet, if you still have the heat going, place the rinds on top of the heater. The essential oils will be warmed and release that lemon-fresh scent you have come to enjoy.
Opt for Natural Cleaners
If you simply cannot let go of commercially made cleaners – for now – head on over to Well.ca and take a look at the natural cleaners they have to offer. They are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and even certified kosher!
Green Window Cleaning
Mix water, vinegar and natural liquid soap. Annie Bond suggests two cups of water to ¼ cup of vinegar and a small squirt of liquid soap. Grandma probably also suggested using newspaper (no, not magazines), although it might be a good idea to start out with the rags to get the grime off.
When All Else Fails: Hire One of the Green Spring Cleaning Services
Well, not all of them are actually completely green cleaning services, but upon request, Sona Maids will only use eco-friendly cleaning supplies or use the ones that you have at home. If you have no time or inclinations to whip your home in shape yourself, this kind of spring cleaning is probably the simplest way of going about it.