Saturday, January 30, 2010

Spring Cleaning..

It's that time of year when many of us are beginning to think about (if not already doing) our annual Spring Housecleaning. (Though personally I wait until July when it is so ghastly hot outside that I am forced to stay indoors in the a/c!)
And so I thought I might post some hints & tips to make that ritual a bit easier. These are MacGyver style cleaning tips (remember MacGyver?? You know...Richard Dean Anderson. What a hunk he was in MacGyver and even hunkier in Stargate! Anyhoo...let me wipe the drool off my chin and get back to the post) that are also very 'green'.

Baking soda & vinegar ~
1. Great for defunking towels or rags. Run your towels through the washer in hot water to which 1 cup of vinegar has been added. Then run them through another wash cycle to which 1/2 cp of baking soda has been added. Do not add bleach or fabric softener or detergent to any of the cycles!
2. Great for clearing out drains. When combined, these two ingredients create a minor volcanic foam which is good for cleaning minor gunk in the pipes.

Lemonade Drink Mix (powder) ~
Great for cleaning a dishwasher! Just empty a packet into the soap dispenser and run the dishwasher (empty of course!).

Cola ~
1. Polish chrome. Apply cola (any brand will do) and take some aluminum foil and polish away!
2. Clean a toilet. Pour one can into bowl & let sit for an hour and then scrub.

Lemon juice & baking soda ~
Great for removing nasty stains from whites! Wet stained area with lemon juice and rub in baking soda. Let sit for an hour or so. Rinse well. Launder as usual. **Drying clothes in the sun is also a great way to whiten your whites! **

Click here for more hints & tips for Spring cleaning. Or just Google Green Cleaning.

7 comments:

Bloomin'Chick Jo said...

I'm odd - I "spring" clean once every season!!! lol Hope 2010 is treating you well so far!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I don't think I'd waste a perfectly good can of cola on the toilet. It will get there soon enough, LOL!

Suzie said...

Thanks for the great tips on cleaning! I've long used vinegar for cleaning glass and mirrors, and dumping the box of baking soda from my fridge down the drain to freshen it, but it is so nice to know there are so many other uses for both basic products!

I'd easily pour a bottle of Coca Cola into the toilet, but I don't know if I would part with a bottle of my Pepsi! lol

Grace said...

I don't know what I'd do without vinegar! It does it all. I did not know that minor drain clogs can be helped with vinegar and baking soda - thanks for that tip.

motheralice said...

Wow, I'm going to have to try the cola thing. Sounds like the only useful thing to do with the stuff! ;)

Mother Moon said...

I love spring cleaning... It has always been sort of a way to usher in spring.... wonderful tips.... will have to try some... yet I can attest the coke in toilet really works....

Bridgett said...

Oh man. Isn't it crazy to think something humans actually DRINK can be used to clean aluminum? Scary.

These are wonderful tips and I appreciate you sharing them with us!

)O(