One topic I teach about in my Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Classes are avoiding toxic substances while pregnant (and with new babies). Household cleaners are often very toxic and we don’t even think about when we use them!
Here are 10 tips to help you be cleaner and greener!
Use real towels instead of paper towels: This isn’t for everything (like wiping up raw chicken drips, I would use paper towels). But for so many spills and wiping, real towels work great! I buy them in bulk in the car cleaning section. I have a pile in a cupboard and throw the dirty ones in a bucket under my sink and wash them every few days. Great for the environment!
Water can clean a lot: using just plain water with my real towels can do a lot of cleaning. Especially hot water. For instance to clean my microwave, I heat up a bowl of water for 2 minutes and then let it sit without opening the door for about 3 more minutes. Open up, use a towel and wipe it clean!
Vinegar is a secret weapon: Vinegar is so amazing. There are whole websites about how to use vinegar for cleaning!
Baking Soda is another secret weapon: Cleans great and is cheap too! For a stinky drain, pour some baking soda down the drain, add a little vinegar and you get a fun show and a clean smelling drain!
Take shoes off outside: With 3 boys I have sand galore in my home. I try to get the boys to take their shoes off outside and shake them in the grass and wipe off their feet. I feel lucky if they at least take their shoes off. I have a box on the front porch where they throw their shoes they wear every day. (church shoes and sports shoes are kept inside)
Your Dishwasher is powerful – let it do it’s job: If you have a newer dishwasher, you don’t need to rinse your dishes before loading it! This saves water and makes less work for you!
Swish and Swipe Every Day: I learned this from FlyLady. Keep a toilet bowl brush in every bathroom and do a quick potty swish every day. This means my toilets look clean all the time. Also with boys, I have to do a quick swipe too of any rogue pee. I will sometimes use a bit of toilet paper to do this, but if it is bigger, I have paper towels in each bathroom too. A bit of water and paper towel and voila!
Use SAFE cleaning products: I like Bon Ami for cleaning my sinks. (Like Comet, but non-toxic) Mrs. Meyers is another good choice for safe cleaning products, I haven’t heard of it before, but I am excited to try it.
Use Cloth Diapers: Definitely Greener and surprisingly cleaner. I used cloth diapers with 1.5 of my boys. They are fun and they were not really any harder then disposable (once you have a system down)
Simplify and Declutter: The less we have the less we have to clean. Also I have found that we buy or get so much JUNK (think McDonald’s toys) that hurts the environment. Get less to be greener and have less clutter to clean.
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Mrs. Meyer’s blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here”