It's time again…you can hear the birds singing and smell the warmer but still crisp air…it's Spring. And with it comes the spring clean. It really can be a satisfying and pleasant task that makes your home shine and smell as fresh as the buds that are blooming outdoors. And after a shut-in winter fighting flu bugs and snow and salt and grime, in some areas of the country, there's nothing like opening those windows and doors and perking your home and floors right up.
You want to bring nature's burst of freshness indoors, but you don't want to pollute your home with heavy chemical-laden floor cleaners that can affect your health and your kids' health. It's kind of contradicting your purpose. The "fresh scents" and "perfumes" that are in chemical cleaners are bad facsimiles of the real cleaning power of natural products.
So do you have to do out and buy overpriced, difficult to find "green" cleaners off the shelf? Well, you can, but you certainly don't have to. There's a motherlode of products that are probably in your cabinets and closets right now that can help you to clean your home and clean it right, such as baking soda, peroxide, essential oils, and vinegar. And don't forget your small brush to get those baseboards and nooks and crannies dirt likes to hide in.
To green clean your floors, you have several options. If you have hardwood floors, you can take warm water and let some tea bags steep in it for a bit. Then using a soft rag that is slightly damp with the solution (tea, in this case.), buff your hardwoods to a glorious shine. For ceramic tile and stone, just basic warm water can do the job, or go with a steam cleaner that sanitizes as it cleans. Borax and warm water are a great combo to clean vinyl floors, and real linoleum can be cleaned with simple liquid dish soap and water, followed by a vinegar and water rinse (one part vinegar to three parts water)—the floor will shine like the top of the Chrysler building. And just pull out your baking soda and mix with water to make a paste to clean stains and scuffs off of linoleum or clean your grout.
The spring clean is on…make it a healthy and lively one.
