Monday, April 1, 2013

spring cleaning

I hope you had a fabulous Easter with your peeps! (Get it?)  My whole family got together at my Mom & Dad's house for our traditional egg hunt and taco feed.  I don't know how tacos became our Easter tradition, but I'm not complaining!


Seeing how it's spring now, I woke up Saturday morning and decided some spring cleaning is in order.  I absolutely loathe cleaning and can never seem to find the "perfect" cleaning products to get the job done.  So I decided to go the all-natural route this time.  You've probably seen lots of natural cleaning recipes floating around Pinterest lately, and I really wanted to try some of them.  

Being the undomesticated diva that I am, most of the "common household items" that the recipes called for were nowhere to be found in my household.  Which meant a trip to Safeway to begin the day.

My loot:


Some items that didn't make the photo were a new mop, a bucket, and three empty spray bottles.

Next, I channeled my inner-chemist and got to mixing.  Here are the recipes* I used and some tips I discovered along the way.

All Purpose Cleaner
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp Dawn dish soap
  • 4 tbsp white vinegar
  • 400 mL warm water
Stir/shake to mix well.  Use a squirt bottle for optimal usage.
My tips: You might want to mix these ingredients in some type of container before adding them to your squirt bottle. I dumped each ingredient one by one into the spray bottle and shook, and things started fizzing out of control and shooting out the lid of the spray bottle, even though it was closed.  It still worked but was messy.  Maybe if you had a more heavy-duty spray bottle and not a cheapy $2 one, it might work out better for you.  Overall I loved this cleaner though.  Be sure to wipe it up with a damp cloth or paper towel after spraying, otherwise it does leave a slight residue.


Toilet Bowl Cleaner
  • 1/4 c baking soda
  • 1/4 c borax
  • 1 c white vinegar
Place ingredients directly into toilet.  Mix gently with bowl brush.  Let sit at least 30 minutes before scrubbing.
My tips: I didn't read the directions very carefully and ignored the part that says "place directly into toilet".  As in, don't pre-mix these ones.  There is a foaming reaction similar to the all-purpose cleaner, and it needs to foam up in the toilet to get the best results.  Oh, and if you're like me and have never heard of Borax, you can find it at Safeway next to the powdered laundry soap. (You can also add a scoop of borax to your laundry to get rid of that mildewy towel smell.  You know the one I'm talking about, don't pretend that you don't!)


Glass Cleaner
  • 1/4 c rubbing alcohol
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 c warm water
Stir/shake to mix well. Use a squirt bottle for optimal usage.
My tips:  Pretty self-explanatory.  My mirror had a little bit of streaking after this dried, but I think it was mainly user error.


Tub Cleanser
  • 1/2 cut grapefruit
  • 1/4 c kosher salt
Place salt directly on grapefruit half.  Scrub tub!
My tips:  I've heard of this method before so I had high hopes, but honestly it didn't seem very effective to me.  Except for the fruity smell which was great but I still wanted a clean tub.  Eventually I gave up and went back to my tried-and-true recipe of dish soap mixed with baking soda.


Heavy Duty Floor Cleaner
  • 1/4c white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp liquid dish soap
  • 1/4 cup baking soad
  • 2 gallons tap water, very warm
Mix together in large bucket and mop until floors are clean.
My tips:  I really loved this cleaner, it didn't leave my floors sticky at all like other cleaners I've used in the past.  I bought a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop and it worked great.  It feels so good to have squeaky clean floors!



So far I've only managed to deep clean the kitchen and the bathroom.  I spent most of the day sorting through bathroom cupboards and discovering that I'm a beauty product hoarder.  Seriously, I had so much junk under the sink, it was cray-cray.  Tony just shook his head as he probably asked himself what he's gotten himself into buying a house with me.

Lastly, I added some tulips because nothing sets off a clean kitchen like bright and cheery flowers!


Have you done any spring cleaning yet?

*Recipes from He and She Eat Clean and Food.com.


 photo 6aea1961-02ec-4e8e-bd75-c531bef8bfa0_zpseb939cde.jpg

8 comments:

  1. look at you!! I love the inner-chemist in you ;) I have been putting off my spring cleaning.. but neglect to realize that I am moving to Boston next month

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    1. We're moving next month too! Hopefully by cleaning now, it will be easier to do the official "move out" cleaning. My least favorite part of moving out is cleaning the blinds!! I should google a better way to do that...

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  2. Love the flowers! In going to make some of these when I run out of my other cleaners! I was lol about u dumping it all in the spray bottle and it foaming, haha!!! Did u get the house? I haven't seen any posts about it!

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    1. Haha Tony laughed when it started foaming and said those are pretty much the same ingredients kids use to make volcanos in school.

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  3. Is it okay that I'm totally giggling at how much foam and fizziness there was in your household?! Bwaaahaha fabulous.

    Glad you're all spic and span!

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    1. It was pretty funny. :) Picture me holding the spray bottle over the sink saying "Oh no! Oh no! Is this supposed top happen?!?" And Tony just laughing, of course.

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  4. oh girl, i LOVE cleaning but for some reason i am just not into it this season....uh oh.
    The chemistry projects you were working with...love it. I would have done the same thing and gotten stuff EVERYWHERE.
    p.s. fresh flowers in the house always make things better!

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    1. I envy those people who always have fresh flowers!

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