USE HEALTHIER INGREDIENTS
FOR A HEALTHIER HOME
Cleaning tips that are fast, easy, and healthy!
THE KITCHEN
Stainless steel appliances: Baby oil is for more than just babys! It can eliminate pesky streaks from your appliances. After cleaning your appliance with a wet rag or Windex, polish the steel with a dab of baby oil on a dry rag. It will look shiny and new!
Oven: Save the bottom of your oven by placing a sheet of tin foil down. Any spills from baking will fall to the bottom on an easily replacable sheet! Just remove the foil after it has been soiled and replace with a new one. If stains already exist, create a baking soda and vinegar solution (very little vinegar for it foams quickly) and scrub with a magic eraser. If stains persist, use a razor blade to finish the job.
Electric stove top: Clear streaks with Windex. (We recommend a windex that's vinegar based). Goo and crumbs may disappear after a quick wipe with the sponge, but it leaves streaks and bacteria behind. Clean with a windex and paper towel and you'll see just how fast it clears the smudges and gunks! Like the oven, use a razor blade if stains persist.
FLOORS
Hardwoods: The best way to clean wood floors is with vinegar. Seems too good to be true, right? Well guess what...it works! Just dilute the vinegar with water* and mop up the floor like you would with any solution! You know what's even better? Vinegar not only cleans the floors, but relieves scratches from wood. Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to every 1/2 cup of vinegar and scrub with a sponge. This will eliminate all scratches (not just on floors but tables and cabinets too)!
*Use more water or a couple drops of an essential oil for a less vinegar smell
Carpet stains: Hydrogen peroxide is key! This is perfect for stubborn pet, coffee, wine, or food stains (learn how to mask spill smells here). Spray* some peroxide on the carpet and scrub with a brush or cloth. The peroxide should pick it right up!
*It is best if the peroxide is sprayed instead of poured. You can find a spray and put it in a larger peroxide bottle or pour the peroxide into an empty spray bottle
THE BATHROOM
Sinks: There are a couple of options to clean the soap scum out of bathroom sinks. You can use a little bit of baking soda and vinegar together and scrub with a magic eraser (the same solution for an oven) OR you can use a dryer sheet. A dryer sheet is surprisingly useful!
Tubs and tile walls: A wet magic eraser is all you need to remove scum or mold. If for some reason it doesn't work, then you can use the baking soda and vinegar solution. A toothbrush is quite useful in removing gunk in between tiles as well.
PETS
Hair: Having a pet means living with lots and lots of pet hair. However, it is an easy fix. You don't have to worry about lugging the vacuum out. Just place a rubber glove in water and it will work as a magnet on furniture!
Pee stains/smell: As noted earlier, hydrogen peroxide can help remove stubborn stains. However, if the smell remains you can place coffee grounds on top of the stain. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then vacuum up the grounds. Now your room smells more like a coffee shop than a pet store! (This works for other stains too.)
FRESH AROMAS
Essential oils in vinegar: Some feel that vinegar has too strong of a scent; however, the smell only lasts an hour or so. If you'd like a fresher scent that's still healthy, use a couple drops of an essential oil. We suggest lemon or orange, but there are many options to choose from.
Masking stain smells: After cleaning a stain, you can mask the residual smell with coffee grounds (as told earlier with pet stains). Just let it sit for 30 minutes and then vacuum up the grounds.
Vacuum stench: If you use your vacuum often and it leaves behind a grungy smell, try a dryer sheet. Suck up the dryer sheet with your vacuum and it will remove the scent!
The secret ingredient for a fridge: Baking soda. Many people already know this little trick. However, if you don't, leave a container of baking soda opened in the fridge and it will suck up the scents of your fridge (unless there are things growing inside, then I think you should have us help with that).
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
If my house has a strong "clean" smell then my house is healthy: Most people associate cleanliness with healthiness. Therefore, if it smells clean, then it must be healthy. However, that "clean" smell is usually full of chemicals and is harmful to ingest. We understand wanting a fresh smelling home. We suggest using healthier ingredients and masking it with essential oils for a cleaner yet healthier scent.
Magic erasers don't work: Don't be afraid to really scrub (you're not destroying it). Sometimes people over-complicate how to use a magic eraser. (It's okay; it's easy to do.) Once you understand though, they are truly Also, DON'T throw it away after every use. It's like a sponge and has a long lifespan. It may look dirty, but you can still get many more uses out of it. magical! Magic erasers can pick up everything! You only need to wet the eraser and scrub. However, for tougher stains you can use baking soda and vinegar OR a little dab of dish soap.
I don't want to use vinegar because it stinks: Vinegar does have a strong scent, but most don't realize that it disappears within an hour (sometimes within minutes). Also, as mentioned before, you can use essential oils or dilute it more with water in order to reduce the smell.
Windex can be used to clean practically everything: This is a trick statement, because it can almost clean everything. However, anywhere you use Windex you can also use vinegar. However, if you're strongly against vinegar, we suggest a vinegar-based Windex, which doesn't smell like vinegar at all.
THE ONLY 5 CLEANING PRODUCTS YOU'LL EVER NEED
Vinegar: If you have read through this page, you're probably tired of reading the word "vinegar." However, it really does work! All you have to do is try...anywhere you would normally use Windex, you can use vinegar.
Baking soda: Baking soda is quite powerful in picking up tougher gunk. Healthy and powerful? I don't think we need to say more. It's best used when mixed (lightly) with vinegar.
Razor blades: Razor blades are best for surfaces that need some extra scraping. When you can't seem to remove the last bit of gunk, razor blades work wonders.
Hydrogen Peroxide: This product is the best stain remover! It also works on clothes.
Magic Eraser: aka the "magical sponge" is the ultimate defender against grease, oils, and scum.