Spring Cleaning Week: Under the sink

Starting this weekend I began a small crusade of spring cleaning. With all the sun and fresh air it certainly got me motivated to get some things off the list from one of my clipboards. So this week I hope to share the completed tasks and tips that have helped me along the way. I should warn you I will be showing before and after pictures so there may be ugly pictures involved. So here is the first one.

First off the list is cleaning under the sink. What's going on under there? No answer.

What should be under there spray bottles filled with homemade cleaning solutions, laundry detergent, dish soap, borax, baking soda, bleach( sorry but that was a last resort purchase) rags and a bucket for cleaning. Why all the other spray bottles those are for the kids to fill with water when it's hot out. It's better than those water guns that don't hold too much water or the super huge soakers.

I try to keep away from the lemon and pine smell nasal burning cleaners and make my own. What I have found useful in cleaning my home is Green Up Your Clean Up. This book is a handy reference on cleaning the home inside and out using homemade recipes. It's a good cleaning guide to keep around the home because of the green cleaning methods, glossery on the dangerous ingredients and other references. What's odd is that with a few essential oils to added to vinegar and/or water while cleaning actually made my home smell clean not deadly and dangerous. And if you can believe it we even survived the flu season using the recipes from this book. Makes me wonder about all those 99% germ figthing disinfecting products marketed out there.

After all that under the sink cleaning I found some homemade recipes on one of the spray bottles to pass along.

• General Cleaner: Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to 16 oz. warm water.
• Window Cleaner: Add 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar to 16 oz. warm water.
• Disinfecting Cleaner:Add 10-20 drops of tea tree oil to 16 oz. warm water.
• Floor Cleaner: To 16 oz warm water add: 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap, 1/2 teaspoon borax, squeeze of a lemon or splash of vinegar. Spray floor with solution and mop as usual.
• Linen Spray: Add 5 drops of your favorite scented oil to 8 oz. water. Use to freshen linens and curtains.

Some of you may know these recipes and some may not but no harm can be done by making a small change for the sake of the environment or passing it along or gift giving a couple of spary bottles of homemade cleaners with a recipe card.

Happy and healthier living.