Spring Cleaning!

4/2/2021 (Permalink)

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Spring cleaning time is here again, and a great opportunity to clean and organize your living spaces.

Here are some great tips to freshen up your home and make is sparkle:

Wipe off a dirty faucet.

To get rid of lime buildup, make a paste of 1 teaspoon vinegar and 2 tablespoons salt. Apply to sink fixtures and rub with a cloth.

Tidy up a toilet.

Pour a cup or more of diluted white distilled vinegar into the bowl. Let sit several hours or overnight. Scrub well with a toilet brush and flush.

Eliminate odors.

Swab plastic containers with a cloth dampened with vinegar.

Freshen up the fridge.

Clean the shelves and walls with a solution of half water and half vinegar.

Battle litter-box odor.

Cat litter can leave behind an unwelcome smell. Eliminate it by pouring a half-inch of white distilled vinegar into the empty litter box. Let stand for 20 minutes, then rinse with cold water.

Steam away a microwave mess.

Fill a small bowl with equal parts hot water and vinegar, and place it in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. As the steam fills the microwave, it loosens the mess, making clean up a breeze.

Remove wax.

If you get melted candle wax on your wood furniture or floors, gently wipe it away with a cloth soaked in a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water.

Erase crayon.

If your kids get crayon marks on the walls or floor, dip a toothbrush in white vinegar and gently scrub. The vinegar breaks down the wax, making for an inexpensive, nontoxic way to clean up after children.

Restore showerhead pressure.

If your shower-head gets clogged with mineral deposits, soak it for 15 minutes in a mixture of ½ cup vinegar and 1 quart water.

Another great do it at home cleaning solution is baking soda.  Baking soda is great to freshen up stale and stinky smells in the home.  

Here are some tips from Better Homes and Gardens for uses of baking soda around the house:

Stale-smelling sponges

Soak these kitchen staples in baking soda and water to freshen them up so you can use them a little longer.

Musty upholstery and carpets

Deodorize the soft, cushy places around your house by sprinkling surfaces with baking soda, letting it sit for 15 minutes, and then vacuuming it up.

Grimy toys

Naturally fight the effects of your little one's grubby hands by wiping them with a sponge dipped in a baking soda and water solution.

A mildew-y bathroom

Scrub your tub, tile, sink and shower curtain with a damp sponge and baking soda. Rinse to reveal gleaming surfaces.

A messy grill

Combat a summer's worth of cookout grime by sprinkling some baking soda on your grill-cleaning brush before you scrub away.

Finally, one of my favorite non chemical cleaning items is to use lemon.  Lemons are a natural, mild disinfectant, and a quick trip to the store and you have a powerful cleaning weapon with no worries about chemicals.

According to thekitchn.com, lemons are "nature's little hand scrubbers".  Here are some of their useful tips on how to use lemon in your spring cleaning:

Clean Wood Cutting Boards

Apply salt: Sprinkle the cutting board with coarse salt.

Scour the surface: Using a lemon half with the cut side down, scour the surface, squeezing slightly to release the lemon juice as you go.

Let sit, then scrape off: Let sit for 5 minutes, and then scrape the gray, dirty liquid into a small bowl using a bench scraper, and discard.

Rinse: Give the surface a final rinse with a clean wet sponge.