Editor - May 1, 2020When the weather starts to heat and we see indications of the awakening of the world again, most of our minds often turn to beginning again. Any grime that needs our consideration shows more sunshine. We have more strength with increased exposure to sunlight and water, much like animals coming out of dormancy. Just the criteria to push us into house cleaning!
Makers of chemical cleaners have persuaded millions of people over the past few decades that this annual rite of washing includes heavy-duty compounds that are harmful to human health and the environment. More individuals, however, have come to realise that a genuinely clean home rejects chemical contaminants, somewhat contrary to mainstream messages. Here’s what you need to learn this year to have a healthier, greener spring.
Improve air ventilation
Indoor air also has much more toxins than most outdoor air, even though you do not deliberately carry contaminants into your house. Our furniture, our water, and our cooking all put substances in the air that we don’t breathe better. It will clear the air and help you breathe easier by allowing fresh air into your home as soon as the weather permits. Consider adding several essential oils to your cleaning items if you want to add a genuinely new smell to your home. Or placed a bowl of baking soda on a counter with a couple of drops of your preferred essential oil to absorb odour and add fragrance. I greatly love the upbeat orange blossom and fruit scents. Consider installing window louvres to help facilitate greater ventilation to improve air quality over time.
Clearing the clutter
The colder months will test our tolerance for clutter with boots, jackets, caps, shawls, gloves and all the gear involved with winter. After the cold-weather togs have been put away, look about to see if there are other places more cluttered than you would like in your house. Maybe it’s messily pushed onto shelves with toys or books, or a wardrobe that’s become useless because it’s so filled with stuff. To get rid of stuff you don’t need, use, or want, pick an area whose clutter upsets you and tackle it with an eye. Another pleasant tradition of spring cleaning may be a ride to donate your discarded items to your nearest thrift shop. Then embrace your de-cluttered house and not have to tackle the mess with the extra time you would enjoy.
Use non-toxic cleaners
A perfect solution of vinegar and water can handle many cleaning tasks, such as floors, surfaces, and windows. Insert essential oils like lemon or orange for extra cleansing power plus a good fragrance. For most scrubbing programs, soap and baking soda helps. There’s also no lack of recipes made from non-toxic ingredients for homemade cleaners that you likely already have on hand. Pick nontoxic versions if you lack time and choose to buy pre-made cleaners. You will enjoy a crystal clean house without any of the harmful chemicals with plant-based cleaners intended for windows, furniture, or floors. These are suitable for timber, porcelain, and stainless steel washing. But there is extra work needed for some works. For example , a good scrubbing tool such made of recycled glass will benefit from baked-on oven grime. It helps to remove stuck-on goo from lacquer and glass cookware, glass stains, grout, and more, besides ovens and stove burners. You can easily use it on hot and cold areas as well. It is also fully chemical-free, and will not accumulate odor-causing microbes like sponges. With the hardest stains, a heavy-duty cleaner will also be useful. Despite being plant-based, they still handle stubborn stains on surfaces.
Using recycled materials and instruments
To accomplish your cleaning activities, you do not need rolls of paper towels. With rags made of garments that are no more wearable, most can be treated. Instead of depending on throwaways, use a mop with a reusable pad. For extracting muck from nooks and crannies, save old cleaning products. Try using newspaper to minimise the grime that builds up on walls, which you can recycle when you’re finished. Try reusable, biodegradable cloths rather than polyester sponges filled with a potent hormone disruptor recently removed from hand soaps. These absorbent cloths act like sponges and are so sturdy, they outlive fifteen rolls of paper towels. When they’re no longer helpful, they can be washed many times and then turned into compost, so much better for the environment than paper towels. They’ll even save you bucks.
Get rid of pests
When things heat up, ants come to our homes looking for food and other unwelcome houseguests. This can scare the resident into using additional items for toxic pest control. But these occurrences are typically localised and short-lived, and can be best handled by simply wiping the newly hatched insects with a damp paper towel or similar process. An alternative to hiring professional pest control services, is by concocting homemade nontoxic pest control solutions to get equipped for them. Diatomaceous soil is the first line of protection against insects in your house. Diatomaceous earth is wide spectrum, non-toxic, healthy around children and pets, and possibly the only insect protection your home would require. When all the delectable spring and summer fruits begin to arrive in your kitchen, a decorative wall fruit fly trap looks like a display but will help keep concentrations down. When these unwanted pests take a ride on it, an electric flea trap will help. When you pack up those winter wooled socks, don’t forget any moth deterrents! Placing with your clothes some cedar or teabags of honeysuckle, dried lemon peels, or cinnamon sticks may help make your favourite woollens less attractive to moths. If you have additional time, engage a false ceiling contractor to do regular maintenance every few years to ensure no pest is breeding inside.
Time for bonding
Nothing makes the job more overwhelming for a major cleaning project than having to go alone, so get everyone to participate in. Give children age-appropriate tasks and make a family tradition for spring-cleaning. Put some relaxing music on it and turn the job into a game. I was astounded some springs ago when my nephew enthusiastically took my brushes and vigorously scrubbed our grim porch floor for over an hour. She thought it was a blast to play in the water and asked pretty often if we should clean the porch again, even if it wasn’t dirty. My son and her two-year-old sister help collect buckets and go scrubbing every spring. With my helpers, the job goes easier, we have pleasure bonding, and we could see that children feel a sense of accomplishment in assisting with a household task. Then we organise the furnishings and sit down to enjoy our work together. And very young children really love cleaning the windows and woodwork, even finding the chores a delight. Other tasks that kids can assist with are sweeping and vacuuming. More demanding cleaning activities can be offered to older children, such as cleaning bathtubs and rearranging through items in the house.
