My past wage earning adventures before retiring to the luxurious and lucrative joys of farming and running a dairy consisted of, amongst other things...house cleaning. I cleaned houses for private clients for nearly 20 years. Sometimes it was a part time job on top of a full time job, but for the last 7 years that I cleaned houses, it was a full time job/business and I worked cleaning 2 and 3 houses a day, 5 days a week.
I've had several people inquire about my methods and ideas on housecleaning, and I thought that I would pass along this little bit of information. I hope that you can find something here that helps you. I may not be able to single handedly save the world (environment), but I used to think to myself when I went to work that I was "saving the world, one house at a time". So here it is, the all natural, non-toxic, effective house cleaning know how.
Items that I have in my cleaning arsenal (shopping list):
- Distilled White Vinegar
- vinegar is amazing. it kills bacteria, mold, and germs!
- Dishwashing liquid (whatever kind you use for hand washing your dishes)
- Citrasolve (I buy from the co-op-huge savings)
- this is the best de-greaser I've found. I use it straight to remove all manner of sticky stuff.
- Lavender essential oil (from co-op)
- lavender is an antibacterial
- Tea Tree essential oil (from co-op)
- tea tree is a broad spectrum fungicide and kills all mold it contacts.
- Baking Soda
- Borax
- Cornstarch (optional)
- Club Soda (the cheapest plain stuff you can find)
These items will cover most any cleaning issue I have. If I get stumped I check the book How the Queen Cleans Everything by Linda Cobb. You can check it out from the Johnson County Library, or drop me a line and I can look it up for you (I have my own copy).
THE RECIPES
WINDOW CLEANER:½ distilled white vinegar
½ water
2 T cornstarch (optional)
Combine in a one quart spray bottle.
ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:
½ distilled white vinegar
½ water
2 T Citrasolve
2 T liquid dish soap
5-7 drops lavendar essential oil
5-7 drops tea tree oil
Combine in quart size spray bottle. Use to clean and sanitize all counters and surfaces in kitchen and bathroom. I spray this on the bathtub and in the toilet first, then clean the sinks, counters, shelves, mirrors and windows while it soaks on the tub and toilet. After it has soaked I shake on the homemade "soft scrub" and scrub the tub with a bristle brush and the toilet with a toilet brush. Weekly use seems to help keep the hard water stains, mold, and mildew down to a dull roar.
SOFT SCRUB:½ baking soda
½ borax
Combine in jar with screw top metal lid that has holes poked in it with a screwdriver. (I use an old salsa jar) Shake on liberally any place you might like to use a soft scrub cleanser. This will never scratch.
CARPET STAINS:
If you catch them right away, you can soak the stain with club soda. Apply the club soda to thoroughly saturate the spot and then lay rags on top of it. Stand on it for a few moments and leave to soak for several hours. If you get a stain that simply won't budge, then try Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain Remover. I don't keep this on hand, but if I get a bad stain will pick some up at the store to use.
Removing stick off of jars after removing a label etc.... Citra Solve straight on a rag will do the trick. Use it instead of CLR and Lime Away.