Around the House Cleaner Series: Wrap Up!

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For a few weeks now I've been posting cleaning solutions you can use throughout your home. For your convenience, or in case you missed one, they're all listed here for you!!

• DIY Non-Toxic All-Purpose Cleaner
• DIY Non-Toxic Glass Cleaner
• DIY Non-Toxic Wood Cleaner
• Non-Toxic Disinfectant (Bleach not necessary)
• Vacuuming (the vacuum I chose and why)
• Stain Removal for Carpets and Furniture
• Leather Cleaner and Conditioner

Around the House Cleaner Series: Leather Cleaning and Conditioning

Leather furniture and accessories are more expensive, so is it worth it?! My daily-user purse is bright yellow leather, so you can imagine the dirt it shows!! It got to a point where it really needed to be cleaned, but I wasn't sure how to do so without ruining the leather, but I found an easy, non-toxic solution!

Around the House Cleaner Series: Stain Removal for Carpets and Furniture

If you live in your house, you will drop something unsightly onto your carpet or furniture, but you don't need to bust out an expensive and toxic stain remover to clean it up. Good ol' baking soda and vinegar will take care of most stains!

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Around the House Cleaner Series: Vacuuming

Many people have switched to non-carpet flooring because they don't want stained carpet or they like the way wood looks. However, we still have carpet and it's definitely the least expensive flooring option by far. Getting your carpet cleaned professionally can be costly and not very effective in the long run. If you don't have a good vacuum, you won't be able to get allergens out of it either. Therefore, I recommend a Dyson vacuum and treating your carpet yourself.

Around the House Cleaner Series: Non-Toxic Disinfectant

Has someone in your house had a cold lately? Have you had a summer party with lots of people? Sounds like you need a powerful disinfectant for those spots everyone touches, like doorknobs and handles. And all you need is two ingredients you already have (probably)...

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Around the House Cleaners Series: DIY Non-Toxic Wood Cleaner

Hopefully, if you've been reading this blog, you won't be surprised by the "junk" in your cleaners, including your wood cleaner and polisher. And, you should also know by now that you'll save yourself a bunch of money by putting a few inexpensive ingredients in a bottle yourself. But, just in case you're new here, you should know that Pledge (link to EWG database for brand) or other popular brands, aren't your friends.

Laundry Room Series: Wrap-Up

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I've finished cleaning another room without toxic chemicals, how about you?! In case you missed a post, and for your convenience, here are all my laundry room cleaning posts (plus some more!) in once place:

• Natural Detergent Options
• Natural Stain Remover
• Cut the Dryer Sheets and Your Dry Time!
• Cleaning a Top-Loading Washing Machine
• Cleaning a Front-Loading Washing Machine (from Clean & Scentsible)
• Detailing Your Dryer (aka: Prevent dryer fire!)

Laundry Room Series: Detailing Your Dryer

I know your "spring cleaning" chores are over since we're heading into sunny summer days packed with fun and vacations, but if you're going to be drying a bunch of towels from your long pool days in your dryer, then listen up!
 
Dryer fires accounted for 16,800 home fires in the U.S. in 2010, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Also, they say "the leading cause of clothes dryer and washer fires is failure to clean them." Detailing your dryer can also increase your dryer's efficiency. Duh?! If we clean out all the built up lint and gunk, our dryers will work better! I took the challenge myself last night with the used dryer we've had for about 10 months.

Laundry Room Series: Cleaning a Top-Loading Washing Machine

Your washing machine probably works hard for you, and rarely, or let's admit, never, gets a scrub of its own. It woks tirelessly, scrubbing, rinsing, scrubbing, rinsing, for you, and gets nothing in return. Oh, that sounds so sad! Seriously, though, your washer probably has some build up in places you can and can't see and could use a good cleaning a couple times a year. I just got a used top-loading washer that was all fixed up by my appliance guy, so I figured it was a good time to try this out. Here are instructions for cleaning a front-loading washer.

Laundry Room Series: Cut the dryer sheets and your dry time!!

Over a year ago I purchased and began using three different types of wool dryer balls.  What are wool dryer balls?  They're large balls of wool used with every load you throw in the dryer.  They replace dryer sheets and help reduce dry time!!  The latter is my favorite part, and they do work.  I can dry two sets of queen size sheets in one cycle if I disperse the balls throughout the sheets when I put them in the dryer.  It's recommended that you use about a dozen wool dryer balls at a time.  Also, if you're allergic to wool, you can still use these because the wool isn't being directly applied to your skin.  First are the Woolzies Dryer Balls.

These are the largest and best priced of the three types I got.  They're handmade from New Zealand wool, helping providing a sustainable living.  They seem to lose their density over time, which also makes them less effective over time.

Laundry Room Series: Natural Stain Remover

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As I shared in my previous post on detergent, what I cleaned my clothes with was a huge concern for me after beginning to switch to natural alternatives. Detergent was one of the first to change. Last year, I discovered a wonderful natural stain remover, too, that I've put to use often with my active little man. So far, it has removed:

• Grass stains
• Blood stains
• Puke stains

What IS this amazing stain remover? One of the most simple answers on the planet...

Laundry Room Series: Natural Detergent Options

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Soon after discovering the high toxicity levels in the products around my home, laundry detergent was high on my list to replace fast. The clothes that are against my skin all day, all the time have soaked up the toxins in the soap they're washed in and are transferred to my body. And what's absorbed through my skin goes into my blood stream, thereby affecting my entire body. When broken down as such, it sounds a little scary, right? It did to me anyway, so I looked for a solution. Many natural bloggers offer DIY solutions involving things like boiling huge amounts of liquids, grating soap bars, and other labor and time intensive activities. That was an immediate turn off! I have found simple, natural laundry detergent solutions!!

Kitchen Cleaner Series: Wrap Up

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I have put up a lot of posts on cleaning your kitchen naturally without chemicals, so I wanted to take a moment to link them all together for you here so they're easier to find.

• DIY Non-Toxic All-Purpose Cleaner: Use for cleaning your stove top or non-granite counter tops
• DIY Natural Disinfectant for Scrubbing in Bathrooms and Kitchens: Use for scrubbing your sink and tile grout
• DIY Natural Kitchen Counter Cleaners
• Natural Hand and Dishwashing Soap

Kitchen Cleaner Series: No Ants, No Harsh Chemicals

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The weather is ripening for ant infestation, isn't it? About a month ago, right in the middle of a few hot days, we noticed some ants on our kitchen counter. It took me a couple days to figure out where they were coming from since there was no distinct trail. There's a gap between the floor and the wall behind our stove, which was letting in ants and spiders (lovely!). We still haven't put molding back there; since I was able to get the ants to go away, we haven't thought about it, so it's on the to-do list. I have heard of MANY ways to get rid of ants and other bugs naturally, which I definitely wanted to do in the kitchen. I'm not concerned about roach bait motels in the garage, but in the house, I'm trying to use natural pesticides.

Kitchen Cleaner Series: Easy, Non-Toxic Oven Cleaner

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Ever notice some extra scent coming from your oven when baking something? If that’s the case, it’s time to clean it! My last oven definitely needed a cleaning before we moved last summer and, unfortunately, didn’t get the proper cleaning! Opps! One time I was going to run the self-cleaning cycle it had, but it was going to take hours!! I wasn’t going to be around and wanted to use the oven, so I cancelled the self-cleaning and never got around to it.

Kitchen Cleaner Series: Mopping

First, I will say, I don't have wood floors and never have, so I don't know about cleaning those yet, but I'll look into it if you want me to!! I have always had tile or linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom areas though and have used numerous things to clean them with poor to decent results, including: Swiffer dry and wet sheets, water and a few squirts of soap, a store-bought floor-cleaning concentrate added to water. If you've been reading this blog, you know that store-bought cleaners are no longer my go-to cleaners because they have loads of toxic chemicals, they're expensive, and they don't get the job done well. Anyone else resonate with these feelings? Here's what I use for mopping now:

Kitchen Cleaner Series: The Dishwasher

What's lurking on your dishes that you can't even see?! Does your food ever taste soapy? like chlorine? Is white residue plaguing your dishes? A few years ago, I answered "yes" to all of those questions, so I went looking for a solution because your dishes can actually just be clean without residue, seen or seen, left on them. A repair man recommended powdered detergent for our dishwasher, so that's what I looked for and ended up with Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwasher Powder (link to EWG report) and plain citric acid to deal with the white residue, which is caused by hard water. When I purchased this dishwasher powder, it was the best thing available that I knew of, but I will get or make washing soda when I run out of this because it has some ingredients in it that may cause cancer.

Kitchen Cleaner Series: Hand and Dishwashing Soap

Hand, dishwashing (by hand), and laundry soap were the first things I switched to natural in my house a few years ago. It was the easiest switch to make and very inexpensive. But first, let's look at the not-so-natural competition. There are tons of Dawn dishwashing by hand products on the EWG database that rate from C-F. The "original" Dawn soap, is shown for you, in part, here:

Kitchen Cleaner Series: DIY Natural Kitchen Counter Cleaners

If you spend any time in the kitchen during the day, then your counters probably should be wiped down before the day's over. We usually cook all three meals each day, so the counters sometimes need an extra cleaning midday. Let's take a look at how some of the typical store-bought granite cleaners rank on EWG. First, here's the list of granite cleaners they've investigated so far:

DIY 2-Ingredient After-Shower Spray

This post will round out my series of bathroom cleaners. If you missed a post, I'll link to them at the end of this post. All that water and soap residue isn't the greatest to just leave sitting in your shower when you're done. To help combat fungus and residue build-up, you may already use one of the cleaners shown below, as reviewed by the EWG.

First is the method Daily Shower Spray in Ylang Ylang scent. Unfortunately, this product doesn't disclose all of its ingredients on the label and EWG hasn't been able to figure out all of them yet. However, as you can see below, it does rank in all of areas of concern. It's listed at $3.19 online.