http://www.care2.com/greenliving/spring-cleaning-how-to.html
Spring Cleaning How-To
By Annie B. Bond, Care2 Green Living Executive Editor
The best explanation I have heard for what spring cleaning is, and why, is that it is a custom left over from times before electricity, when everything in peoples’ houses was covered with soot from candles, fireplaces, kerosene, and lamp oils used for heat and light during the winter. By the spring, every inch of the home had to be cleaned to rid it of the layer of soot.
Even in these days of relatively clean heating and lighting, it feels so liberating to get rid of accumulated winter grime. After all, there is nothing like the sun streaming in the windows to show all the winter dust, when the days get longer in the spring. Like many of us, I like to do a good spring clean, soot or no. Here are a few easy tips for safe, energizing spring cleaning.
Cleaning without toxic chemicals is a wonderful way to turn your home into a healthy and healing place to be. I’ve archived a number of non-toxic cleaning basics and strategies on the Green Living channels at Care2.com. Here are three links that will give you the basics to clean your house from top to bottom.
- The Five Basics for Non-Toxic Cleaning: With these five ingredients I believe you can clean everything in the house.
- Five recipes for cleaning from scratch.
- Care2.com archive of less-toxic cleaning solutions.
More from Annie B. Bond (3246 articles available)
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10 comments
add your comment »Does anyone have a cleaning solution for limestone fireplace?
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I make a sink and tub scrub, using equal parts borax and baking soda. You can add a few drops of a favorite essential oil for fragrance. Put it in a jar, poke a few holes in the lid and you have a shaker for it. Cleans like a dream and rinses clean.
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hi! never did find your five basic recipes for cleaning from scratch--searched, too! found the five substances, but not the five recipes--help?
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Hey there Karen Pidcock: Other than cleaning the bottom tray that catches drips with baking soda, I have never ever cleaned my oven. Ever.
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How about cleaning ovens? Does anyone take out the elements before spraying or cover with masking tape them & the sensor gizmo? Otherwise, how can they be avoided?
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sorry i almost gagged when i saw the Wal Mart ad here, Hum Vee payments behind?
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The link for the archive is broken, and the one for cleaning from scratch leads to an article about mold from a leaky roof. The other is great though!
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The best cleaner I found was orange TKO. I've used it for general purpose cleaning, cleaning bird cages, and in the rug shampooer. The only drawback is my cats are offended by the citrus smell.
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Since switching to all-natural (usually homemade) cleaners, I don't get sick every time I clean. For stuff I don't make myself, I really like Mrs. Meyers (www.MrsMeyers.com), Bi-O-Kleen (http://www.bi-o-kleen.com/), and the products from For My Kids (www.ForMyKidsOnline.com).
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I have been using Shaklee Get Clean products for the past 4 years. These products are biodegradable,nontoxic,natural,and no phosphates. Since these cleaners are organic they are very safe around children and animals. For more infomation on Get Clean products go to www.shaklee.net/R-K-Ingle.
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