Green Cleaning!

I've caught the green cleaning bug. I heard a couple of speakers recently who talked about all the chemicals in household cleaners and how bad they are for you. Not being one to take someones word with nothing else to go on, I headed to the library and found a couple of books. The one statistic that I kept coming across was that women who work at home have a 54% higher chance of getting cancer due to exposure to household chemicals. Scary stuff! So, armed with my research, I headed to the store for new cleaning supplies.

Into my cart I threw a gallon of white vinegar, baking soda, liquid castile soap and a couple of spray bottles. The vinegar I mix with water (1:4) in the spray bottles and use that to clean everything - windows, counters, our wooden bar stools, mirrors. The smell does take some getting used to (I keep thinking it smells like we're coloring Easter eggs), but I'm amazed at how well it works. Windex never got my mirrors as clean as the vinegar does! I also use it in the laundry instead of fabric softener. The baking soda I use to clean the toilets (mixed with vinegar to make a paste) and I sprinkle it on the carpet before vacuuming to freshen the carpet. The liquid castile soap gets mixed in a bucket of water to mop my floors.

I feel better about cleaning and I have no problem letting the girls help. I'm not worried about vinegar getting on their hands, so they have become my little cleaning crew. Plus, vinegar and baking soda are cheap!