Clean Cleaning

When it comes to my two most dominant personality traits -- 1) frugality and 2) a desire to be fit, healthy, and as "natural" as possible* -- it's hard to say which trait is stronger.

So when I find tips and tricks that serve both masters, I'm a pretty happy camper.

The other day while perusing Pinterest (it's grown on me in the past year -- I don't check it daily, but a few times a week I scroll through and repin some things that interest me...and sometimes I actually FIX the recipes I pin. Novel!), I saw a pin about Natural Cleaning Tips and Products. It linked to this blog telling about "Eight Ways to Ease into a Natural Home."

Katie outlines some facts about cleaning products, including the one that there is no Federal regulation for cleaning products and that bleach, when mixed with other cleaning agents, releases a poisonous gas. (And which "other" cleaning agents are they, I always wonder? That's had me scared straight for years--I never mix bleach with anything.)

So I was pretty interested in learning all those little tidbits, but then Katie says she's going to show us some  natural products that work just as well and...it will be cheaper too! Smack me sideways...you had me at "cheaper."

I'll let you read Katie's blog for the whole story, but here's the gist:

For pretty much any kind of clean up you need, you can turn to one of four products that you probably already have in your house:

• White vinegar
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Baking soda
• Rubbing alcohol

(And I'll add two of my own that I've used in the past: lemon juice and salt -- they make an excellent scrubbing agent.)

For counters and floors you've got your vinegar and water mixture (4 TB vinegar to 3 cups of water). For mirrors and windows you've got your hydrogen peroxide:

Look at that! I love how you just stick the spray nozzle straight onto the peroxide bottle. I went to The Walmarts this weekend and picked up two empty spray bottles (98 cents each) and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (52 cents). I stuck the sprayer in the peroxide bottle (apparently it's important to keep peroxide in the dark bottle), and cleaned the yuckiest of yucky mirrors -- the sweat-stained one in our gym. It worked great! 

Like she mentions in the blog, I'm going to have to wean myself from my view that bleach smell = clean. But if I can get things reasonably sparkly with those few easy "ingredients," I'm happy to comply with Katie's wish that we would "Get rid of the toxic stuff."

Try it and let me know how it works at your house!

* I have to admit that my desire for non-toxic things abruptly fell by the wayside the minute I had an ant problem in my kitchen, at which point I wanted to lay down a chemical storm the likes of which those ants had never seen. I didn't end up unleashing it full force, but it seems to be enough to have stopped the problem for now. I wonder if ants hate vinegar?

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Pure Cardio

Love this one! It's brutal, but it's over quickly.