"Subscribe" To Greening Your Cleaning

Spring cleaning is just around the bend and it's a great time to try some new things, especially if you are a newbie to green cleaning. Or maybe you just want to stretch your wings and try something different. Either way I know you want to better your home by not only creating a nicer environment but also one that is free from toxins and poisonous chemicals. Not sure where to start? I have created a program that will get you on your feet and give you some momentum.

I've put together the Little Cleaning Box. This is a collection of hand-picked samples that will be delivered to your door once every three months. In the first box I've included samples of 4 different scents of Mrs. Meyer's Dish Soap, 2 pods of Grab Green Laundry Detergent, a Skoy cloth which does the work of 15 rolls of paper towels, Modern Mermaids glass and all purpose cleaner, and a sample Just Bee... laundry bag that takes the place of toxic dryer sheets. All of these samples are delivered to your door for just $10.

This is a simple, easy, and affordable way to tap into the newest and best green cleaning products. Or a great way to try out some products that you wanted to try  but didn't want to make the commitment of buying a large amount. All the products in the little cleaning box have been hand-selected and I highly recommend. And the best part is you get a new "little cleaning box" every three months so there will be plenty of great products you'll get to try!

Also, if you are having trouble finding the right gift for that special someone, the Little Cleaning Box can be the answer. Not only will your friend or family-member get the original box but they will continue to receive "little cleaning boxes"  all year long. It's the gift that will keep reminding them how much you really care! And if your sending them the "little cleaning box" it means you care A LOT.

Tide - A Reminder of the Benefits of Green Cleaning

Some recent news has once again reminded us of why green cleaning is so attractive. When using green products or creating your own home cleaning products, you have the power not only to monitor exactly what is going into your home and coming in contact with your skin and lungs but also to eliminate anything that is deemed harmful or dangerous. There is no mystery when you combine all the ingredients by hand to make your own laundry detergent or when you use simple baking soda to get your cups white.

Recently it has been discovered that Tide Free and Gentle contains a chemical called 1,4 dioxane that has been linked to cancer. Not only is this chemical harmful but it also wasn't included on the label leaving the consumer oblivious. Tide isn't the only company who don't list all of their ingredients. If you're curious about the products you use, you can check out http://www.womensvoices.org/science/fact-sheets/dirty-secrets/ It's just a reminder that no matter how many strides commercial products take to promote themselves as safer and gentler, there is nothing more sure than the cleaner you make on your own.

Surprise- Today is not the last day!

Our goal was to have the entire home clean a few days before Thanksgiving so you could concentrate on the food and the fun. But today is not the last day. We aren't going to clean today, we are just going to check on a few things.

The first thing is the light bulbs. Make sure all your light bulbs are bright and working. If you need to replace some, remember you should recycle the old ones. You can either take them to Home Depot or look up your recycling program at http://www.earth911/. Just plug in your zip code and it will tell you where to go to recycle anything!

Guest towels - If you are having overnight guests, make sure you have enough and they are in great shape. You can add a scent of essential oil on a cotton ball inside them so your guests will feel special.

Fresh Flowers - Think about buying some fresh flowers in the next few days. Or get a few Poinsettia plants and place them around the house. This is a great Feng Shui idea that will make your guests feel more comfortable. And it will naturally cleanse the air.

Check things outside - You might want to check on your front door mat. Do you think you need a new one? And do some little things around the outside of your home like fill the bird feeders and make sure the trash cans are put away. You want your home looking it's best - inside and out.

Check on your front hall closet - Make sure you have enough room in your closet for your guests' coats and more than enough hangers so you don't have to hang their coat over a chair. You want them to feel that their belongings are just as important as they are!

Just take a "walk" around your house as if you were a guest and see what your guests will see. I suggest starting from your car in the driveway, walk up the walk and then into the front entry way. Today is a great day to see how welcome they will feel.

Day 5 Quick Clean the "playroom"

AAAUGGHH! Only 5 days left! Let's clean up the "PlayRoom" today. This is the room where the adults and kids will be watching TV,playing video games and hanging out while you're in the kitchen. At our house we call this the family room, but in reality it's a play room. To clean it we are going to use our new technology. Grab a dry microfiber cloth, a damp "blue" microfiber cloth and the vacuum. Pick a spot to start and work in a circle. You can dust with the dry cloth and use the damp blue one on computer screens, flat plasma TVs, glass pictures and furniture. Make sure you dust the wood trim too. One tip I've learned when dusting is work "top to bottom-back to front" and you won't miss a thing. After you've dusted the circle - finish dusting whatever is in the middle of the room, like your coffee table and any overhead lights. Vacuum yourself out of the room and you just cleaned like a professional. This entire room should only take you 15 minutes - even if it's really dusty. Put the CAUTION TAPE up and that room is all set for next Thursday (if only we could!)

**Remember we are having a Virtual Open House this Friday and Saturday. Follow us on Twitter (@greenyourclean) and our Give-away site to win free samples and offers both days!

Day 8 Rest,Regroup and get Ready for next week

Today is Sunday - and it is a great day to stop, rest and regroup. Let's go over the list of things we've done already to be ready for your guests. You will be very surprised how much you have gotten done!

Day 20- The guest bathroom is clean

Day 19 The refrigerator is clean and ready

Day 18 The microwave is all set

Day 17 All the small appliances are clean

Day 16 - 15 Your windows are sparkling clean and the light is pouring in

Day 14 The curtains are dust free

Day 13 The dining room is dusted

Day 12 The pantry is cleaned out and ready for the big shop

Day 11 All of our dishes and glasses are sparkling clean

Day 10 Our table cloth, napkins and runner are spot free and ironed

Day 9 The entry way is clean and saying "Welcome" to our guests

Today is the day to rest and get ready for another busy week. Go over the list above and work on things you really didn't have time to do during the week. I still have 4 sets of windows to clean and I'm going to wipe down my bathroom-(darn kids). Then sit down with a good book and a glass of wine and know you are going to be ready for Thanksgiving. Now you can understand why I call my book The Joy of Green Cleaning- I didn't say it was totally fun, but once you get a system, you can feel a lot better about "keeping your home". That's why we call it homekeeping.

Day 9 Make your entry say "Welcome"

People say that within 5 minutes of meeting you, they have "sized" you up. I think that happens in your home too. The first impressions of your home should be welcoming to your guests. Today we are going to work on the entry way. This includes the outside sidewalk and steps into your home. Grab a broom and sweep everything outside out of the way. You are going to have to do this again before your guests arrive, but today look at the outside of your home as if you are a guest. Do you need to get a new mat at the front door? Can you put some cut greens into that empty flower pot? Take a new look at the way your home says "welcome to my home".

Inside you want to spend some time vacuuming the stairway. A quick tip is to put on a rubber glove on your left hand and use it to wipe around the crevices of the step. The rubber against the carpet will create static and easily pull dirt out of those tight places. Also carry along a wet rag and wipe down the wood trim along the sides of the stairs.

Dust and vacuum the entire entry and take a minute to look a the lighting. Make sure all the light bulbs are working and if you have a glass cover over the lights - either wipe them or take them off and pop them in the dishwasher. They will come out sparkling clean and light up your entry way. Shake out the entry mat and think about getting some fresh cut flowers a day before Thanksgiving. Now your entry will say "we are so glad you are here! Welcome and come join us!"

Day 14"Dust the curtains"

The Count Down Continues- Day 14
We are counting down to a clean Thanksgiving.

I don't know about you, but when I was cleaning my windows this weekend I noticed a nice layer of dust on my curtains. So I think today is the day to "dust" the curtains. This is going to be easy. Just take down the curtains in the rooms people will be in, like the family room (oh wait, that will be the men watching football- don't bother) kitchen and dining room. Pop the curtains in the dryer and set on cool for 15 minutes. Make sure you take them out right away and hang them back up. See - That Was Easy - I need my Staples easy button!

The Daily Green does the Math

Save $28 on Green Cleaning Products

Article by Leslie Reichert

Recently, Johnson and Johnson was asked to remove two ingredients in their baby shampoo. If baby shampoo has nasty stuff in it, what do you think is in your cleaning products? Along with knowing what's in your cleaners, you can save money by making your own.

Let's compare the cost of making our own all-purpose cleaner with a gallon of cleaner purchased from the grocery aisle. Here's the math: a gallon of white vinegar will be $3, and if we are being fancy, we'll use distilled water, which will cost us another dollar for a gallon. Combine those two ingredients. Pick up a bottle of essential oil for $4, which will give you enough fresh scent to last a year or more, since you only need to add a few drops to each batch of cleaner you make. All told, we've spent just over $4 to make two gallons of cleaner, or about $2 per gallon.

Now let's go to the cleaning aisle and buy a name brand pine cleaner. We will be paying around $3 for a 12-ounce bottle. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, so we will have to multiply the cost by 10 to get a gallon. So, if we've done our math correctly, we would save just shy of $28 by making our own (the difference between $30 and almost $2).

And the best part is that we KNOW what is in our homemade cleaner. If you can't give up the smell you're used to, trick your nose and use a pine essential oil. You'll still get great quality of cleaning, along with a fresh scent.

This example is just some of the money you can save by making your own cleaners. The underlying advantage is that you won't be surprised someday when a manufacturer is asked to remove a chemical ingredient from the cleaner you've been using around your children and pets. Play it safe and try using a green homemade cleaner. Everyone will be glad you did.
For more green cleaning recipes download the e-book "The Joy of Green Cleaning" or purchase the spiral-bound recipe book from Amazon. (Put in coupon code DG09 for the e-book and get 10% off.)

Making cleaning REALLY fun!

SUMMERTIME

It's officially the last day of school. Are you going to try recruiting your kids for some summertime cleaning? Have any ideas that work for you? I'd love to hear them. Come on - there has to be a way to make cleaning fun. Think like a kid!

Here are some things to help get you started:

We have a Mrs. Meyers Snap Pea Starter Kit to give away!
This can make cleaning really fun. Just go here and follow the directions!

And for something nice and sweet while your cleaning, this recipe is from one of our readers from down South. Thanks Megan.

Southern Sweet Tea

Use 2 large lipton tea bags and two cups of sugar. Put them together in a 2 qt pan. Bring it to a boil and then pour in a 1 gallon jug. Add cold water in jug until full and then stick it in the fridge!

Ta-da! Happy Summertime!

Guest Post-Chelsie Hill from Declutter Your Life dot org

"Many of us love to recycle, but it’s so hard to separate things without creating a big mess under our kitchen sinks!"

Contain It! I like to use bathroom size garbage cans for my recycling items. I keep a couple under my kitchen sink and label them so everyone knows which one is used for what. The smaller ones work easier because you can fit more under there than the larger ones. I have found that grocery sacks just don’t look neat, and it’s easier for items to fall out.

Dump It! In addition to bathroom size garbage cans under my sink, I have regular garbage cans in my garage with the same labels as the smaller size cans. Since the little cans don’t hold very much stuff, every day when I dump my trash cans I also dump what is in my recycled garbage cans into their larger garbage cans in the garage. When I’m going to do my recycling, I just put the larger cans in my back seat. Works for me!

_____________________________________________

Write It down- Thanks Chelsie for these great tips. I also like the journal for other great green organizing and cleaning ideas. You can see more at declutteryourlife.org.

Great Advise!

A dear friend forwarded this to me. I would like to share it with all of you. After you see it, let me know if you are a Tigger! http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw
Happy Cleaning!!

Thoughts on the day

I find it funny that people feel guilty about liking to clean. I should start a support group for all of us that actually like to clean. I guess we would be considered "closet cleaners". I have tons of people who apologize for enjoying cleaning! But there is something satisfying about making my house clean for my family. Not that I like doing it alone- I much prefer to have lots of help.