Decluttering Your Main Rooms- Part 2 (Green) Clean it Up

 I don't know about you but it has been WAY too long since I deep cleaned the main rooms.  When was the last time you vacuumed the curtains, cleaned your ceiling fan, or cleared the rooms to completely clean your floor?  I'm not going to tell you my answer but can say I'm excited to see how great the rooms are going to look.

We recently discovered that our almost 3 year old, Rita Clare, has environmental-related allergies.  Our family doc suggested we invest in a air purifier, especially since we often run our ceiling fan.  The fan kicks up all the dust from the room and contributes to allergies.  Our 8 month old, Tyler, is also crawling/pulling up like crazy.  That boy is also putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.  Our floor and table space is overdue for a deep clean.  And it's time to eliminate all spit up spots and lost cheerios once and for all!

Materials Needed:
A lot of rags
Mop
Vacuum
Bucket
Safe Cleaners (might need to purchase materials and spray bottles)

You're more than welcome to use store bought cleaners.  We personally like 7th Generation.  However, here's an opportunity to make your own and see just how easy it is.  I also want you to take this opportunity to COMPLETELY say good bye to all your harsh chemical cleaners.  Bye bye oven cleaners, drain stoppers, chlorine bleach, windex, Comet, and all other toxic cleaners.  Instead of the running chance your child might poison themselves or doing yourself harm from inhaling or absorbing these chemicals into your system, let them go and vow to only clean safely. Guess what?  Those harsher chemicals aren't going to outperform your green cleaners.  That's a myth!  In fact, they might actually harm the things you're trying to clean by eating away what they are trying to clean (pipes, clothes, floor surfaces, etc). What's even better is that you will save A LOT of money too.

What to do with your old cleaning bottles?
- Give them to a neighbor that uses them or use Freecycle.
- Dispose of them properly by bringing them to your local hazardous waste center.

Much like transitioning to cloth diapers, the hardest part about switching to green cleaners is the upfront education, purchasing the materials, and using them for the first time.  After that, you'll probably be thinking "why did I think this was going to be so hard?"  Let's just say "the man" wants you to believe that you are incompetent to do things on your own. Ok, enough of my soap box.  Here are some easy recipes for getting started:

Glass/Mirror Cleaner:
1 C White Distilled Vinegar
1 C Water

All Purpose Cleaner:
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2 t. borax
1/2 t. liquid soap or detergent ( Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap is recommended)
2 C hot water

Wood Cleaner (all types of wood, including bamboo):
1/4 C Vinegar
30oz warm water

NOTE: Oil-based cleaners are not recommended for wood floors, contrary to popular belief. 

Soft Scrub Formula (Stove, Bathtub Grime, etc):
-1/2 C Baking Soda
-2 T. Castile Soap (Dr. Bronner's)
-Enough water to make a paste.
 

Other Things to Clean with just Vinegar:
-Defogging glassware
-Deodorizing toilet
-Stove and Refrigerator- Removing sticky substances
-Coffee Pot

Most of these items can be purchased at a Dollar Store (white distilled vinegar, baking soda, borax).  Here in Tallahassee, Dr. Bronner's can be purchased at New Leaf Market.  I'm sure it can be found other places too.  Where have you found it? Also, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for a nice fresh scent.  What's your favorite?  We like lemon and eucalyptus!

OK, now that we have our supplies here's what we're going to tackle.  Remember to clean from top to bottom or you'll spend time re-cleaning surfaces.

1. Cobwebs on ceiling and room corners (Tip: Wrap a rag around the end of your broom using a rubber band and swirl in circles on the webs).
2. Dust ceiling fan (all you need is a few damp rags).
3. Ceiling air vents (take off the covers and soak/scrub them in a bucket of warm water)
4. Clean windows inside and out (tip: Wipe vertically inside and horizontally outside to see which side still needs more attention)
5. Dust off all items on table tops.  If necessary wipe them down with a multi-purpose cleaner.
6. Wipe down all surfaces with a new damp rag (only water necessary).  After wiping down, dry off the wood surfaces.  Recondition them with olive oil.  Using a clean rag, dab olive oil on rag and rub it into the wood in a circular motion.  Get ready for some serious shine!
7.  Time to pull out those cushions and vacuum inside your couch and chairs.  How many cheerios did you find?  Any money found to treat you for doing a good job cleaning?
8. Move out your furniture and clean up your floors (don't forget the base boards too!).  Spot clean your rugs, vacuumed and sweep.  Then clean up your floors if they're wood (see cleaner above).  

This is also a good time to consider rearranging your furniture.  It's amazing how different a room feels when the furniture has been changed!

Special considerations for Kitchen:
1.  Clean under the heating elements with a baking soda/water paste.  Let the paste sit on it for awhile and it will come right off.
2.  Use the same paste in your kitchen sink.  Voila, a bright (and disinfected) sink!
3.  Use the same paste inside your oven too.  Bye bye toxic fumes in your house with the self cleaner!
3. Microwave and fridge can be cleaned out with the multipurpose cleaner.

Did I miss anything?  PLEASE share some of your homemade solutions with us.  We'd love to hear what you use!

Other Green Cleaning Resources:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-cleaning/
http://www.ewg.org/healthyhometips/greencleaning

Good luck and HAVE FUN!

Peace,

Jen
Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887

Decluttering Your Main Rooms- Part 1 Reflections

 Well, it's clear my time line was a bit off ;o)  In my house, these days, decluttering a room is kinda like digging a hole in sand close to the tide.  If the tide is low, then the hole I dig may stick around a while and I might be lucky enough to make a great sandcastle.  But if the tide is on its way in, I can't make too much progress before it disappears.  Right now, I feel the tide retracting and thus can make progress on simplifying our house.

Our first part of decluttering the main rooms has been a 2 tiered project.  I typically don't think of our house as being terribly cluttered. What I found was that once I took away the visible clutter and piles that initially bothered me, I realized that I have many little things laying around that have been there so long that I hadn't even really noticed them anymore.  I changed my lens to a finer focus and started to tackle the little things and they were mostly "unfinished projects" like taping up a ripped page in Rita Clare's pop-up book, putting cd's back in their cases and storing them in the other room, random seasonal items needing to be put away, etc.

With the main rooms cleared away, I actually feel a lot more organized and clear headed, even though many of the others rooms are still a disaster (trying not to think about it!).  I now enjoy my living space and feel more "present" in the room.  Who says Feng Shui is bogus?  :o)

Unfortunately, this journey toward simplifying your home isn't a quick project.  At least, not in my home.  Maybe before kids, I could tackle this all in one weekend.  Now, I can barely finish 1 project from start to finish.  If I do, I usually feel a bit guilty that I've neglected my kids.  Alas! 

Now you have a choice.  You can either move on to all your other rooms and do a big sweep of purging the unnecessary items OR clean up the other rooms.  This is a great opportunity to deep clean the rooms, since you'll have less to move out of the room before more things return and take up space.  I'm going to move on to cleaning in my next post and then will revisit cleaning up the other rooms later on.  Each other room has some special considerations.

If you've started this journey with me, what are some obstacles you found?  Any surprises? Issues?

Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887

Step 1 Achieved: Local Media Coverage

 Tonight, my story was shared on our local news highlighting the greater issues with Delta's safety regulations in question and accountability for their flight attendants.  This was a great jumping point for us, especially since the station made it the lead story for the 5pm news.  By being the lead story, it reiterated how significant this issue really is and how it has potential to make some real positive changes in regulation and our experiences flying with Delta.

Next, we REALLY need someone national to pick up the story and run with it.  Delta isn't going to make any changes without some serious attention and pressure.  Here's the link to the story:

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/103754494.html

The best way to keep up the momentum is to copy this link on your Facebook, Twitter account and continue to ask your friends to spread the story around.  Delta cannot get away with treating families poorly and should be providing us with extra consideration during our flights.  

Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887