Making your Swiffer All Natural

After my sweet hubby sent me this funny pie chart he made of my postings, I decided I needed some more "granola" in my blog.



Okay, I'm just kidding, I've had this post planned for a while. But I thought it was a funny coincidence :)

First let me say the reason why I do love all things "granola". I believe God our Heavenly Father put lots of wonderful things on this Earth that He created to help us live healthy lives and help in healing many things. I don't believe we're made for loads of chemicals and pesticides to be put in our body daily! Also, I believe this planet God made was a gift, and should be treated with thankfulness and care, just like we treat all gifts from our Heavenly Father.

Now onto Swiffer-ing. I have a love-hate relationship with my Swiffer... I love how it makes the floors squeaky clean, but I hate that chemical smell and the EXCEEDINGLY expensive floor pads and fluid. So I poked around a bit online and found some tutorials to help one out- but most of these were aimed at "sticking it to the man" and such things like that. So I thought I'd make my own to save you the sifting through :)

First ask hubby, very nicely, to cut you a hole in the TOP of your swiffer bottle. Swiffer has ingeniously sealed the cap at the bottom to where you can't get in without breaking the bottle. Hmph. This should be about the same size as the neck of a water bottle. Rinse out the remaining fluid and dry the bottle on the outside.



Now cut the "neck" off of a water bottle. No need to ask hubby, this can be done with a plain old pair of scissors :) Unscrew the top of the bottle off the neck and get your hot glue gun warmed up. If you want a water tight seal, you'll need some fancy glue. If you want one that just makes sure no evaporation is happening and you can easily access the inside, hot glue works just fine! (If you put the bottle into the Swiffer it holds it with the access you made UP) Now glue the neck to the hole in the bottle.



I filled mine with half Vinegar, half water, and a few drops of Lemon essential oil. When I run out of pads for the bottom, I plan on using some Microfiber towels we have. Just toss them in the wash when done! :)

"Old Fashioned" Cleaning

Since we are having visitors tonight (Yay!) I spent the afternoon doing some good old fashioned scrubbing. I spilled milk last night all over the floor, and learned yet again, never ever swiffer something sticky. It only spreads it out...
Unhappy with walking around barefoot in a kitchen that felt like double stick tape, and yet not owning a good old mop, I decided to clean like Cinderella does. I got a kitchen towel sopping wet, and scrubbed the floor. I dried it with another towel, and repeated. I got a sparkly clean floor- with really not too much elbow grease at all.
Inspired by this, I took to the carpet with baking soda... and the same towel, rinsed out of course :) I got out some old spots, and some newer spots too! I then swept the bathroom instead of vacumming, and well, it was a great workout- and gave me a real sense of accomplishment, and was chemical free. It was all strangely fun... :-D

Hmmm...

Well, I tried the "home remedy" for removing rust stains- Lemons and Salt.

No, it did not work. Now... I'm thinking this is maybe because I have one of those "plastic one piece" type tubs. Oh well, it really made my whole bathroom smell fantastic, rust stain removal or not :) I ended up rubbing lemon juice on a few surfaces and then rinsing it off- it was clean and smelled just lovely in there! :)

Natural Household Cleaners

I'm not endorsing Dr. Weil here or anything like that... but this article had a lovely list of make your own type natural cleaners.

Here's the list from the article:

• Baking soda: An all-purpose cleaner; especially effective on glass coffee pots and glassware; removes red-wine stains from carpeting. A paste (made with water) can shine stainless steel and silver; the paste can also remove tea stains from cups and saucers. Make a paste with a castile- or vegetable-based liquid soap and a drop of essential oil (tea tree or lavender) to clean sinks, countertops, toilets and tubs. Pour 1 cup down the sink to clear a clogged drain, followed by 3 cups of boiling water.
  
• Boiling water: Use weekly to flush drains and avoid clogs.
• Coarse salt: Cleans copper pans and scours cookware. Sprinkle salt on fresh spills in the oven, then wipe off. Sprinkle salt on rust stains and squeeze a lime or lemon over them, let sit for several hours and wipe off.
  
• Essential oils: Mix lavender or tea tree essential oils with water and spray on kitchen or bathroom surfaces for an environmentally and people-friendly antibacterial spray.
  
• Grapefruit-seed extract: Add a few drops to water in a spray bottle for an odorless way to kill mold and mildew.
  
• Lemon juice: Use as a bleaching agent on clothing, and to remove grease from your stove and countertops. Add 2 Tbsp lemon juice to 10 drops of (real) lemon oil and a few drops of jojoba oil to clean and polish wood furniture.
  
• Olive oil: Use to lubricate and polish wood furniture (three parts olive oil to one part vinegar; or two parts olive oil with one part lemon juice).
  
• Potatoes: Halved potatoes can remove rust from baking pans or tinware - follow with a salt scrub or dip the potato in salt before scrubbing.
  
• Tea tree oil: Can be added to vinegar/water solutions for its antibacterial properties. Use it to kill mold and mildew, and on kitchen and bathroom surfaces instead of chemical products. Add 50 drops to a bucket of water to clean countertops and tile floors.
  
• Toothpaste (white, plain): Cleans silver; can remove water stains on wood furniture - dab on, allow it to dry and wipe off
  
• White vinegar: Cleans linoleum floors and glass (from windows to shower doors) when mixed with water and a little liquid soap (castile or vegetable). Cuts grease and removes stains; removes soap scum and cleans toilets (add a bit of baking soda if you like). Pour down drains once a week for antibacterial cleaning. Add to water in a spray bottle to kill mold and mildew.