The Spring Cleaning Bug

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Every year in late February something happens.  All of a sudden, the formerly invisible cobwebs on the living room ceiling begin to close in on me, then I notice the dust on top of the fridge, then the hard water stains in the toilet start to make me twitch and every closet in the house screams “organize me!”   All winter long things have built up and I didn’t notice, but now, everything is jumping out at me.  For my anxiety level,  I NEED to take action and get it done before the weather turns nice and calls me outside.  I guess the spring cleaning bug bites me before spring really hits!

For the last few years I have been trying to reduce the amounts toxins from my cleaning supplies.  I started by trying to make all my own cleaners.  I’ll be honest with you, it’s not as easy as it sounds and don’t let anyone tell you that baking soda and vinegar will clean everything!   I did find a few DIY cleaners that work really well, (I’ll share them below) but I spent a lot of time making cleaners that just didn’t work, and one can only handle so much vinegar smell before you want to run screaming from the house.  I will say I prefer the vinegar smell over the fake, STRONG, chemical smell that most cleaners have though.

Anyway!  Here is a list of the homemade cleaners that I use and LOVE, and a list of my favorite (more) natural store bought cleaners and where I get them.

Window Cleaner: Put 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol, and 2 cups of water in a spray bottle and use on windows and mirrors!

Here is my post on how to remove hard water stains in the toilet without chemicals.

How to easily clean your microwave.

Glass Top Stove Cleaner: A squirt of liquid castile soap, a sprinkle of baking soda, a sponge and some good old elbow grease.  It won’t take long and your stove top will be shining!  (make sure to rinse well)

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

Now for some store bought products that I just love!

When I got these all out for a picture I realized I really like Method cleaners.  They are effective and smell wonderful!  I got all of these from Grove Collaborative.  I’ve been ordering from them for a couple years now.  They have great natural cleaning products (many different brands)….or at least more natural cleaning products.  I’m not going to tell you that every product that claims to be “natural” is completely toxin or chemical free, but they are way better than most!  They also have Castile soap, organic feminine products, natural beauty products, wool dryer balls, unbleached parchment paper & coffee filters, and MUCH more.  I love that I can pick my favorite brands and they come right to my door for great prices.  They will even price match if you find it cheaper somewhere else!  If you click over to Grove Collaborative web sight from this link you will get $10.00 off your first order and I will get $10.00 off my next order!

Do you have any favorite homemade or store bought cleaning products that you use?  I would love to hear about them!

Happy Spring Cleaning!