4 Ways To Naturally Clean Your Home This Spring

• Posted on 18 April 2013
• By Dr. Jill Tack
• Posted in How to clean your home with natural products, Organic cleaning, Safe cleaners for your pets
• 0

Now that spring has arrived, we are excited to get outside and spring clean the house. But have you ever stopped and thought about what you use to clean those windows and the rest of the house? Have you ever tried to be a chemical-free house? It can be done and there are many cleaning solutions out there that are less harmful than what we purchase at the grocery store.

Now that spring has arrived, we are excited to get outside and spring clean the house. But have you ever stopped and thought about what you use to clean those windows and the rest of the house? Have you ever tried to be a chemical-free house? It can be done and there are many cleaning solutions out there that are less harmful than what we purchase at the grocery store.

We’ve all had the occasional mishap of the dog drinking out of the toilet bowl. But did you know many of the toilet bowl cleaners have pesticide chemicals in them? As well as many off-gases that can be irritating to the nose and throat. If we are that sensitive, it surely affects our household pets.

Instead of a chemical cleaner, try these simple recipes:

Toilet Bowl Sizzler

½ cup of baking soda
½ cup of white vinegar
Pour the ingredients in the toilet. Let sizzle, then scrub and flush.
If you feel like you need to make sure no germs are left in the toilet, prior to the toilet bowl sizzler spray the inside of the bowl with a tea tree essential oil solution. Tea tree kills bacteria and any fungus. Use 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Leave on for 30 minutes before continuing with your toilet bowl sizzler.
And what about the shower? If you have a curious cat like we do, your cat climbs into the tub to check out what’s going on.

Again, to avoid off-gases and other harmful chemicals, try this:

Soap Scum Spray

1 teaspoon borax
½ teaspoon liquid detergent (such as bronner’s)
¼ cup white distilled vinegar
2 cups hot water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle, and shake to blend. Spray. Follow with a sponge. Rinse. The white vinegar is key in this recipe because its acid content eats up the soap scum.

All Purpose Cleaner

For an all-purpose cleaning, using white vinegar is great. You can add a scent to the vinegar by adding leftover orange or lemon peels (or a combination of the two) to a jar and cover with vinegar. After two weeks, strain and put the vinegar solution into your spray bottle. You can use this to clean your countertop, kitchen table, windows or just about anything. The essential oils of the rind will be absorbed into the vinegar giving antiseptic, antiviral and antifungal properties to it.

You can find out other ways to use white vinegar here.

One of my all-time favorites is the home-made solution for dusting and cleaning furniture. It is simple, non-toxic and in my opinion does at outstanding job compared to the sprays that are on the market.

Lemon Oil Duster

10 drops lemon oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
A few drops of raw linseed oil or jojoba oil
Combine the ingredients in a jar. Shake to blend. Dab some on a cloth (about ½ teaspoon at a time), and dust. Note: Make only as much as you need at a time since the lemon juice can turn rancid.

Remember that every substance you use within your house affects all living beings. It is easy for us to spray something and leave the house if we find it irritating but isn’t always the case for our animals. We have natural, enzyme based cleaners here at the store if you don’t have time to make your own solutions.

For more at home cleaners check out this fantastic book "Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living."