Hi everyone. I just spent hours this morning washing, drying and folding clothes. I was not great about doing a little each day this week and I paid for it. I spend an enormous amount of time doing laundry. I now have a system where I inspect the clothes to make sure they are dirty before irresponsibly washing clean clothes-it is a waste of water, detergent and energy to wash clothes that are not really dirty so I try to be more careful about that these days since I am so busy. Sometimes I don’t allow myself to think about it because it overwhelms me so.It’s one of those things we know we have to do or it builds on itself and stresses us out. Most people have a day or days of the week when they do laundry. I personally try to do some everyday so that I don’t get too stressed and bogged down with it.
Isn’t it funny that many of us have some kind of routine for how and when we do laundry, set up work meetings, make schedules for our babysitters, but not a set day of the week when we go shopping or prep food for the day or week? One of the most basic aspects of life, food to keep us alive and healthy, but we don’t set aside time for it in our busy life.
I believe it is because we are so enabled by our food industry culture of prepared foods, take-out, etc. In the old days, we HAD to cook so we HAD to set aside time to do it or we didn’t eat.
Anyway, I found this really helpful list of natural, non-toxic ingredients to clean the kitchen and the rest of the house as well as our laundry from foodandstyle.com. I especially like the tip about using baking soda on stainless steel-who doesn’t like a shiny, grease-free looking pot? The cleaner the kitchen, the more inspired we may be to prep and cook in it. Don’t eat the ingredients! They are recipes for cleaning-not for dinner!
Ingredients to purchase:
Distilled white vinegar
Baking soda
Grapefruit essential oil
Eucalyptus essential oil
Lavender essential oil
Seventh Generation bathroom cleaner
Seventh Generation automatic natural dishwashing gel
Seventh Generation natural dish liquid (for hand washing)
Seventh Generation natural laundry detergent
Earth Friendly Products OXO Brite — natural oxygen powder
Glass, mirrors, counter tops, faucets etc… (excluding marble and granite*)
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup filtered water
8 drops grapefruit essential oil
1 spray bottle
Mix all ingredients and pour in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use. Spray on surface and wipe in circular movements with an old cotton dishcloth, until dry-this works better than paper towels which are less absorbent.
* for granite and marble counter tops, use warm water with mild soap and wipe until dry. Do not use any acidic products on natural stones.
Floors
1/2 gallon warm water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup Seventh Generation natural dish liquid (for hand washing)
12 drops grapefruit essential oil
Place all ingredients in a bucket and mop.
Sinks (ceramic or stainless steel), tubs, showers, toilets & tiles
Seventh generation bathroom cleaner
Baking powder
Eucalyptus essential oil*
Spray surface with bathroom cleaner, sprinkle baking soda over the whole surface and scrub. This will disinfect, remove hard water stains and make everything shine.
For toilet bowls: spray toilet bowl with bathroom cleaner, sprinkle heavily with baking soda and scrub with toilet brush. Add a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil in the toilet bowl and let stand at least 30 minutes before flushing. It will deodorize your whole bathroom!
* Eucalyptus essential oil is not only an antiseptic, it also deodorizes and purifies the air.
Dishwashing
Seventh Generation automatic natural dishwashing gel
Baking powder
Seventh Generation natural dish liquid (for hand washing)
Automatic dishwashing: place dishwashing liquid in your dishwasher and sprinkle your dishes with baking soda. This will help with hard water spots.
Hand-washing: to remove stains on stainless steel pots and pans, sprinkle entire surface with baking soda and scrub with a sponge soaked in natural dish liquid and warm water. Your stainless steel pots will look like new!
Laundry
Seventh Generation natural laundry detergent
Earth Friendly Products OXO Brite — natural oxygen powder (safe for whites or colors)
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
12 drops lavender essential oil
Pour 1 scoop natural laundry detergent and 1 scoop of OXO Brite in the washing machine. Fill with warm water and run the wash cycle plus 1 rinse cycle. To soften fabrics: pour 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar and 12 drops lavender essential oil with the second rinse cycle. Your laundry will not only be soft and bright, it will smell of fresh lavender.
One Response
I’m really excited about this list! I’ve been trying to use fewer chemicals in cleaning my home, and this list is a great compliment to my efforts.
I have also been thinking of getting a steam cleaner. Supposedly, it vaporizes dirt, soap scum, grease, and a myriad of germs. They are VERY expensive, so I’m researching it thoroughly before I buy. But, anything that can obliterate the grease on my backspalsh AND any trace of mildew in the shower gets a big YES! from me. 🙂