Thank you for stopping by! This site shares lots of resources for cleaning in safe, natural ways. You'll also find articles about cheap home decorating, frugal gift ideas, and just frugal living in general. We’re excited to "see" you here and WELCOME you to this website! Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy.
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Have a wonderful day,
Michelle
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Thanks to one of the readers of this blog, I have a great deal to share with you! 
If you’ve checked out the “Shop” tab on the top of the page, you know one of the books I highly recommend is “Clean House, Clean Planet”
Right now you can get that book for $4 and change through a cool promotion at Buy.com if you use Google checkout for the first time.
Note from Michelle: With the tips in this article you can brighten your natural cleaning with herbs and essential oils! I do not, however, recommend reusing commercial cleaner containers to store your homemade cleaners. You can buy new plastic spray bottles and squirt bottles very cheaply and I suggest those instead.
By Lisa Fraley
There are benefits if you use a homemade natural cleaning product instead of a chemically laden commercial one.
Making your own cleaning product doesn’t consume a lot of time and it is inexpensive too. How long does it take to fill a spray bottle with white vinegar, water and a few drops of essential oil? About a minute or two.
Once it’s done you have an appliance and glass cleaner that’s natural and chemical free.
Commercial cleaners can be very expensive and the prices are rising. Homemade alternatives cost only pennies to make and you don’t need to use as much.
Most homemade natural formulas are multi purpose so you will need less space to store cleaning products. This is a big help for those of us who are limited on storage space.
You can be creative with your packaging too. Wash out those old containers that use to store the commercial products and reuse them to store your homemade natural products instead. Store car and wood polishes in recycled coffee tins (the kind with the plastic lid). For your homemade powder cleansers reuse sprinkle top plastic containers (bulk spices come in these).
Essential oils
Essential oils are available in health food stores and you can find them online also. Be sure you are buying pure, undiluted oil and not one that has been diluted with carrier oil. Store your oils away from heat and light to keep them potent for the longest amount of time. The bottle will come with a dropper and that is what you use to measure how much you put into your cleaners. Essential oils can irritate the skin and must be diluted with either carrier oil or other liquid before use.
Here is a list of oils and herbs to have on hand if you are just starting out:
Oils:
Citronella
Citrus (sweet orange or lemon)
Wintergreen (take extra care when handling this oil)
Tea Tree
Herbs:
Thyme - antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral
Rosemary - antibacterial
Basil - anti-fungal
Mint - antibacterial
Oregano - antibiotic, antiviral
Lavender - antibiotic, antiviral, anti-fungal, antiviral
Lemon Balm - antiviral
Sage - antibacterial
Here are a few natural cleaning product recipes you may be able to make right now. The ingredients are common items you may already have on hand.
Herbal Sink Scrub
½ cup baking soda
½ cup coarsely ground sage leaves
¼ cup ground rosemary leaves
Combine all ingredients in an airtight container and blend together by shaking. Sprinkle a small amount into the sink and scrub with a damp sponge or cloth. Rinse the sink well. Use only whole dried sage and rosemary leaves.
Rust Remover
¼ cup baking soda
Juice from half a lemon
Sprinkle the baking soda directly on the rust stain. Sprinkle the baking soda with lemon juice. Let set undisturbed no stain overnight. Wipe away baking soda and rinse thoroughly.
No scrub Toilet Bowl Cleanser
1 cup borax
1 cup vinegar
Combine both in a plastic bowl or bottle and pour all at once into the toilet bowl. Allow it to sit overnight and in the morning just flush. This works great for toilets that have an everlasting ring around them. By morning even the toughest stains will be gone!
Laundry Fabric Softener
6 cups of white vinegar
1 cup of water
1 cup of baking soda
Combine all ingredients into a plastic container (heavy duty). Only takes 1 cup in your rinse cycle per load for wonderfully soft clothes. If you want to scent this, simply add about 15 drops of your favorite citrus essential oil.
~~~
Lisa Fraley is the author of “Frugal Comes In Green“. An e-book packed with earth friendly ways you can have more money for the things you want.
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Note from Michelle: This article offers some good, basic cleaner recipes and suggestion for safer, cheaper cleaning supplies.
Cleaning house has come a long way since the days of doing laundry in a washbasin and scrubbing the floors with vinegar and water. Yet with all that progress comes some drawbacks, namely dangerous chemicals that can pose risks to your family’s health as well as the environment.
Prior to World War II, most homeowners kept a cleaning toolbox of only a few healthy, natural items they mixed themselves to use all over the house. Today, advances in chemistry and cleaning have stocked store shelves with products for nearly any household chore. But those choices might not make your home any healthier, so it might be time to consider looking to the past for safe, all-natural cleaning tools.
Here are a few time-tested, all-natural cleaning products, as well as a couple of recipes to consider incorporating into your home- cleaning routine.
White vinegar-One of the most versatile and affordable cleaning agents around, white vinegar’s grease-cutting powers can be used to clean your dishes and countertops, polish some metals, clean glass and even absorb smoke odors.
20 Mule Team Borax-For doing laundry, nothing kicks out stains better than 20 Mule Team Borax, a brand-name natural laundry booster that’s more than 115 years old. Team it up with your favorite laundry detergent for whiter whites and brighter colors. Borax is also versatile enough to make everything sparkle-from fine china and cookware to showers, tubs and tiles. It’s also a natural deodorizer.
Lemon juice-Affordable and naturally fresh smelling, lemons are excellent for breaking down hard water and soap scum build-ups. Lemons can also be combined with vinegar to create a bleach substitute, to be used on clothing and cutting boards. Throw one down the garbage disposal to get rid of unwelcome odors.
Baking soda-This is another solution for absorbing bad odors, such as those in the refrigerator. Rather than dumping unhealthy chemicals into the sewer system, mix baking soda with boiling water for a safe and effective drain cleaner.
Here are a couple of recipes to get you going on the road to natural cleaning:
General Household Cleaner
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
1/2 cup vinegar
1 gallon water
Window/Glass Cleaner
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 quart water
For more recipes, tips and information, visit www.20muleteamlaundry.com.
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As a regular reader of Dr. Mercola’s website and newsletter I had to share this link when I saw it:
Items Hiding in Your Kitchen Cabinets to Use as Alternatives to Toxic Cleaners
Elsewhere on the Mercola website you can find other great related articles. Just start at the homepage and search: www.mercola.com
By hari
Having kids means that there will be disasters to your upholstery, carpets, walls and furniture. It just goes with the territory. Chewing gum on new tile floor, crayon on the freshly painted walls, and… who KNOWS what that tacky black stuff on the sofa cushion is. The only thing you’re sure of is it isn’t supposed to be there.
Welcome to the wonderful world of sticky kid stuff. If you found us because you were searching for how to remove gum techniques, or how to remove crayon from furniture, then you’re in luck. We’ve got a handful of tricks to help you get gum, crayon, tar and … oh, I know what that is on the sofa cushion! Melted Gummi worms! Right – if you’ve got kids like mine, I’ve got some helpful household hints that can help save your furniture – and your sanity.
You’re supposed to keep the gum IN your mouth!
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said that, I could just replace the carpets, bedspreads and furniture that ‘wasn’t me!’ smeared with chewing gum. Here’s how to get chewing gum (and most other sticky stuff) out of just about anything.
- Getting Chewing Gum Out of Hair
There are three things to try before resorting to the scissors – and all three are relatively painless.
The Peanut Butter Method: Rub a glob of peanut butter into the hair around the gum. Keep massaging it between your fingers. The oil in the peanut butter will help loosen the gu so you can pick it free.
The Ice Cube Trick: Rub an ice cube against the gum so that it gets hard and losses its tackiness. Again, you should be able to pick the hair free once the gum is hard.
The Citrus Remover: The oils in citrus fruits are a natural solvent. Use orange peels or lemon peels. Rub them against the gum to get it loosened up so you can pick it out of the hair.
Picking the Gum Out: Don’t try to pull the gum out of the hair – pull the hair out of the gum. You’ll find that if you work on a few strands at a time, it will hurt a lot less than if you try to yank the gum out of the hair.
- Getting Sticky Stuff Off Of Clothing
Any of the above methods will work on clothes too – but the citrus and the peanut butter are likely to stain. One neat trick is to put the gum-enhanced article of clothing in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. Once the gum is hard, you can bend the cloth and practically peel it off. Treat anything that remains with a stain remover that’s meant to get out the tough stains .
- Getting Gum and Jelly Beans and Marshmallows Off the Upholstery or Carpet
Obviously, you can’t toss your couch into the freezer to get that gum out. If your kids have managed to get sticky stuff in your carpets or upholstery, your first step is to try with an ice cube. Rub the ice cube on the blob till it’s hard, then try scraping it away with a dull knife. Hit anything that’s left with a spritz of a citrus based gum removing spray.
- Or spray it with a shot of Freeze It, which is specially designed for removing gum, candle wax and other sticky stuff from your furniture and walls.
- Removing Crayon from Furniture and Walls
- Gum’s not the only thing the little critters smear on the furniture and walls. If your little Rembrandts leave their marks on furniture, floors and walls, a good citrus based solvent will power it off without damaging the fabric or wood.
Author Vincent Platania represents the Fuller Brush Company.
Fuller Brush has been in business since 1906, and offers safe, environmentally friendly products for keeping your home and your body clean.
Visit http://www.fuller-brush-products.com
Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles
There is a relatively new phenomenon in North America called ‘voluntary simplicity.’ The term ‘voluntary simplicity’ is used to describe a process whereby people opt out of the harried life of modern day living, and chose to live a life of frugality. Frugality in this sense doesn’t mean poverty rather, it means, enjoying the virtue of getting good value for every minute of your life energy and from everything you have the use of. Frugal is characterised by or reflective of economy in the expenditure of resources.
Simplicity means making time for yourself in a hectic world. You clear out what is superfluous and make room for a life of passion, depth, and joy. As people become more and more stressed out from the pace of modern life and as we become increasingly concerned about the price of our over-consumption of the planet’s resources, the movement to living in a state of ‘mindfulness’ has increasing interest as a chosen life-style. To be mindful means to dwell deeply in the present moment knowing there is only one opportunity and it will never come again.
Voluntary simplicity comes from within. It is a social movement of a more sustainable, gratifying, and spiritually connected existence. Voluntary simplicity is a matter of personal responsibility and conscious awareness of how we live on the planet. It means identifying the difference between our needs and our wants. Needs are those things that are necessary for our survival - food, clothing, and shelter. Wants are all the other things we desire and to a large extent are driven by media advertising. Simplicity as a life-style is the identifiable difference between needs and wants, and the awareness of the cost in terms of our life force energy and our willingness to pay the price.
Pursuing a Life of Simplicity
The Chinese pictograph for ‘busy’ is composed of two characters: heart and killing. When I first read this, I thought of the many people who are ‘too busy’ to make that phone call to someone they love and then one day it is too late; the many children who get gifts and/or money instead of their parents’ time and then one day they leave home and it is too late; the many times we have an opportunity to touch someone’s life with kindness but we are ‘too busy’ and the moment never comes again and it is too late.
As we search for meaning in our lives, we start to become aware of the emptiness and shallowness of a life based on materialism and consumerism. We become aware of the tremendous expenditure of our ‘life force energy’ to just keep up with the daily ‘rat race.’ We start the search for a life of deeper meaning and ask ourselves ‘what gives us joy?’ We realise we don’t know and can’t answer the question but we feel a yearning in our hearts for a sense of connection, a sense of purpose, and the sense that our life matters. The question demands an answer. We discover that all the myths such as: get a job, get married, have children, buy a mortgage with a two-car garage, and you will be happy, makes us wonder what is the matter with us when we feel the increasing futility of it all. The emphasis on externally meeting our needs leaves a ‘hole in our soul’ as we consume more and more and feel less and less satisfied. Consume by definition means to do away with completely; destroy – to spend wastefully; and squander – use up. Is consumed by our meaningless and frenzied consumerism a description that all too closely resembles most our lives?
What we don’t realise is that we are spiritual beings, in a physical body, having a human experience, and when we don’t connect the internal (spiritual) and the external (physical), our lives increasingly lose a sense of balance or harmony. There is literally no distinction between the outer and the inner when our lives are in balance, and as we seek this stability, where do we start? We start by examining our expectations and assumptions including the belief systems that drive us to live our lives ‘zombie-like’ without determining whether or not we want to play this game. We move towards consciously asking the questions about how much of our ‘life force energy’ we are prepared to exchange for the material goods we consume. This expenditure of ‘life force energy’ includes the storing, cleaning, insurance costs, maintaining, etc. all the stuff that clutters our lives.
Practical Steps to Simplifying Your Life
1. Reuse paper bags, envelopes, newspapers, etc. Newspapers and shredded paper make excellent mulch in the garden. The mulch will break down over a period of time and add humus to the soil. (Don’t use coloured flyers.)
2. Have a Buy Nothing Day.
3. Carve some space for ‘mindful living’ so that you have time for ‘beingness’ rather than ‘doingness.’
4. Find friends who know the glass is half-full or in other words, find friends who share the same value system as you do.
5. Grow your own food or buy as much as possible from local growers.
6. Use non-toxic products such as borax, vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and salt in your home, yard, and garden.
7. Before you buy something, write the item down on a note and if you still want it after a month, purchase it then.
8. Decide what is really working in your life and let go of that which no longer serves you.
9. Surround yourself with what you really need and love.
10. Go Organic. Organic gardening is not only about the avoidance of chemicals, but in the larger picture, it is organic living using Nature’s laws.
Gwen Nyhus Stewart, B.S.W., M.G., H.T., is an educator, freelance writer, garden consultant, and author of the book The Healing Garden: A Place Of Peace – Gardening For The Soil, Gardening For The Soul. She owns the website Gwen’s Healing Garden where you will find lots of free information about gardening for the soil and gardening for the soul. To find out more about the book and subscribe to her free Newsletter visit http://www.gwenshealinggarden.ca
Gwen Nyhus Stewart © 2004 – 2007. All rights reserved.
Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles
1) Make a paste of baking soda and water and rub on insect bites to relieve itching.
2) Remove coffee and tea stains by scrubbing pots or cups with baking soda and a plastic scouring pad.
3) Add 1/3 cup baking soda to a wash cycle as a bleach booster or to the rinse cycle for cleaner smelling laundry.
4) To remove black scuff marks from floor, rub them with a paste of baking soda and water.
5) Clean fiberglass showers and tubs with baking soda sprinkled on a sponge. Sponge clean and wipe dry.
6) Soak sour smelling dishcloths and sponges in water and baking soda solution.
7) Use a solution of water and baking soda to clean and deodorize the inside of your microwave.
Put a few spoonfuls in a cup of water in the microwave, boil for two minutes, then wipe down the inside with a sponge.
9) Sprinkle a little baking soda into the laundry hamper to minimize odors.
10) Remove crayon marks from walls by scrubbing gently with an old toothbrush and a paste of baking soda and water.
Originally published at Suite 101. Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For recipes, tips to organize your home, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Article Source: www.ladypens.com
Your home office can be the central business center of the home, and oftentimes with all of those papers and documents, it may be hard to focus on where to get started, or exactly how to clean.
Dust is public enemy number one when it comes to a home office. It seems to pervade everything, including computer screens, keyboards, bookshelves, and desktops. Of course we all know that the leading killer of dust is pledge and a dustcloth, but here are a few tips you may not have known.
To keep your computer and keyboards from getting dusty, purchase plastic covers for them. You can also make your own out of trash sacks, or, if you have a creative streak, by sewing custom covers from fabric or old curtains.
If neither of those options work for you, there are other ways of keeping computers and their equipment dust-free. The keyboard dusters you can purchase are ideal for this. They are an aerosol can that sprays intense bursts of air, and be used for more than just a keyboard!
Did you also know that it is safe to use Windex on your computer screens? Many people are under the mistaken assumption that using Windex on a computer screen (or rough paper towels) will damage the screen. Not so unless perhaps you own a computer monitor from before 1990 (if you do, please consult the owners manual that came with the monitor before cleaning). Also, a good way to rid computer screens from dust longer, is after cleaning, to give them one good final wipe down with a fabric softener sheet (the kind that you thrown in the dryer). It takes away most of the static from the screen that draws dust.
Also, you can easily clean a mousepad with regular dish detergent and warm water. Just scrub the pad with dish soap, rinse well with water, and pat dry with a paper towel!
A mouse is easily cleaned by removing the cover from in front of the ball, taking out the ball, and cleaning out any dirt inside with cotton swabs dipped in alcohol.
You can also save time and money in a home office in high traffic carpet areas, and places where sliding chairs sit by purchasing heavy plastic floor mats made for this purpose (just like you see in office building) at your local office supply superstore, such as Staples. This will make your floor cleaning so much easier, and will extend the life of your carpet.
To give your office a quick lift if you have artificial flowers or plants is to spray the pants directly with an aerosol air freshener. Not only does it make the leaves instantly shiny, it also leaves a pleasant scent that will last.
If you own a pet, like I do, and you are constantly trying to remove pet hairs from chairs in your home office, a simple way to remove them is to wrap clear shipping tape backwards around your hand, sticky side out, and pat away at the chairs. An even simpler and faster way is to use an old paint roller, wrapping the tape backwards around it, and rolling it quickly across the furniture to remove hair. The tape can be reused until it has lost its stickiness.
Remember, motivation and perseverance are the keys to a clean home! Stay focused, and best of luck!
Stephanie Davies is a 28 year old work at home mom to a 9 year old boy in Mid-Missouri. Her hosting company, Hosting WAHMs at http://www.hostingwahms.com offers premium webhosting from $2 per month and up, with an easy to use sitebuilder! She also loves to knit, build websites, and talk to people.
Article Source: www.ladypens.com
Note from Michelle: This article includes some great, inexpensive ideas for organizing your kitchen cabinets, which is a great way to save time!
Cleaning out and finding space in your kitchen cabinets can be a hard, trying experience. There seems to be so many items, and just no where left to put them!
There are several methods you can incorporate into your kitchen to save shelf space, store items easier, and save time searching for the right thing. And there are also a few basic pointers I will give you along the way.
The first thing is to group like mined items together. Be sure all your spices and herbs are in the same location, and also that your pans are together, ect. Unfortunately, the kitchen is the one area of the household where the use it or lose it rule doesn’t always apply. Meaning, in most other areas of the house, if you don’t use something frequently, or have a purpose for it even if that purpose is aesthetic, you need to throw it away or donate it. However, in the kitchen there are a whole lot of things you may not use frequently but will need to save, such as herbs, spices, specialty pans, canned items, and more.
So now that you have clustered items together, now what? Well, you figure out which “groups” will need the most space. Start by placing the largest groups in the largest available spaces, and working your way down. At this time you may need to incorporate several space saving techniques.
The first technique is what I call the Martha Stewart technique. This is where if you have the money and resources, you go out at this time and buy all those specialty gadgets for saving space, such as lazy suzans, expandable drawer inserts and shelf racks, wall hooks, and such. This can be a very attractive and simple way to achieve organization…but I am assuming you are reading this because you know how to buy space, you just don’t know how to do it with what you have, right?
So the next technique is what I call the easy-find box method. This method works particularly well with spices, herbs, flavorings, and small jars. Find a box that will hold the group of items you need to store. Shoeboxes and gift boxes work well for this purpose. Take all the items in a group, and label each one on the lid using small yard sale type sticker labels stating what they are. Place all the items in the group in the box selected in alphabetical order. Then store the box, and the next time you need to get something from it you will be able to just take the lid off and quickly locate an item. If you have more than a few of these boxes, I recommend labeling them with magic marker on the side or top to be able to locate certain groups quickly. You can expand upon this idea by decorating the boxes by gluing fabric to them, wrapping them in countertop sticky paper, or whatever else suits your fancy. This method works well for storing any number of things including canned goods and pastas.
The other method we will list is the painting method. This is a great method to use if you are a creative type, and also if you have children who have difficulty putting things where they should. Simply acquire several different colors of paint ( the surface depends upon what type paint. Please use your best judgment), and a paintbrush. After grouping your items, look at and evaluate your space available. Make out a map of sorts, and be sure to leave room for future accommodations. Once you have decided in your mind or on a sheet of paper where everything will go you can do one of the two following things. First you can simply paint lines around the areas where certain groups will sit. For instance, draw a square line in the corner of the cabinet exactly where your spices will be. You can ,make the lines straight, wavy, dotted, curly…whatever your imagination desires! Then after letting the paint dry, place the items in their designated areas. The other way of doing this is to paint the entire area in instead of just drawing lines. This can be a lot more challenging, but also a lot prettier. Imagine for a moment, opening a pretty white cabinet with brass handles, and finding the inside painted with four different pastel colors, each having its own group of like minded items. Very pretty indeed! In fact, if you are an artist, you can paint any type of motif or design for a specific category.
Now, while you are doing this there are several things to keep in mind. First, remember to clean out the shelves while you have everything out. Secondly, there will be several things you find that you know won’t be used…get rid of them. Thirdly, you probably will find several items that just won’t have a category of their own. For this you can make a “misc” box or section, or else place it in a different room or area.
I hope these ideas will help you to create the kitchen of your dreams, and to find things easier in the meantime.
Stephanie Davies is a 28 year old work at home mom to a 9 year old boy in Mid-Missouri. Her hosting company, Hosting WAHMs at http://www.hostingwahms.com offers premium webhosting from $2 per month and up, with an easy to use sitebuilder! She also loves to knit, build websites, and talk to people.
Article Source: www.ladypens.com
A Note from Michelle: For this tip, I would recommend using a natural, safe cleaner like vinegar for the solution instead of Lysol.
Do you love those disposable disinfecting wipes as much as I do? I use them on my kitchen counters, everywhere in the bathrooms and they’re great in the garage or basement when you need to get a dusty item out of storage.
But as much as I love these products, I do not love the price! The cheapest wipes I’ve found in my area are a store-brand and cost about $2 for 75 wipes. Not bad, compared to the name-brand versions, but still I to buy “disposable” things that I use so often and use so many of each time.
Here’s my solution for this convenience vs. cost dilemma: I’ve made my own disinfecting wipes! It was so easy & took less than 5 minutes to do.
Supplies & Directions:
• Plastic storage container, water-tight and air-tight preferably
• 5-10 Cotton cloths, sized to fit your container (cheap washcloths bought in bulk work great)
• Bottle of your favorite Full-strength Cleaner (i.e. Lysol or a natural version thereof)
• Liquid measuring cup
1. Fold your cloths into a stack that will fit on your storage container & place them inside.
2. Read the package on your cleaner & determine a proper strength for diluting your cleaner into a solution, estimating the amount of liquid needed to soak the cloths (I used 2c. water + 1oz Lysol for six large cloths)
3. Pour the cleaning solution over your cloths. Add only enough to make the cloths wet; there should be no liquid in the bottom of the container, but you should be able to press down on them & create a small puddle in your container, which is then reabsorbed immediately.
4. Seal your container until it’s time to clean
5. After you’ve used a cloth, simply give it a rinse to release some of the cleaner’s scent & let it air-dry on your sink or in your laundry room. Wash with your towels and return it to the container, adding more solution as needed.
Katie Kolodzy is a wife & mother of a growing family and co-owner of http://www.nurturedhome.com - Traditional Homes with Traditional Values. Nurtured Home features homemaking and gentle mothering articles and tips - check us out!
For our latest information on creating a nurtured home for your entire family, sign up for our newsletter, “Nurtured News” at http://www.nurturedhome.com/NurturedNews.html
Article Source: www.ladypens.com
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