Happy Sunday Everyone! Welcome to Daylight Savings and more light in our day! Thank you for being here for another installment of Spring Cleaning Makeover. Tonight we are going to focus on the playroom, kids’ areas, toys and more! To me, there is no better area to clean and purify the all natural way than where our most precious people, our children, play and learn – the playroom. We all know small children love to put things in their mouths and hang out on rugs and carpets. I will have some recipes at the end for removing toxic cleaners and replacing them with healthy non-toxic alternatives!

Playroom Checklist:

Sanitize plastic toys (Toy Cleaner Soak Recipe will be at the end of this post)

Wash stuffed animals and soft toys (if they are not washable, visit my DIY cleaning product page on this blog for an all natural disinfectant spray that you can spray on non washable stuffed animals)

Donate unused toys that are not broken or have stains or rips or tears

Organize toys and play areas

Mop or vacuum floors

Shampoo rugs or carpets (an all natural carpet cleaner recipe will be at the end of this post)

TOY CLEANER SOAK: Take 1 tablespoon of liquid castile soap (citrus or unscented) and a sink filled with warm water. FIll the sink with the warm water and the castile soap. Have a clean, dry towel ready to set toys on to air dry. To use wash and rinse and dry toys. Let them air dry on the counter or set out in the sun to get a little free sun sanitizing. TIP: Have your kids help! Put on some kid-friendly tunes and let older ones stand on a chair by the sink and help give their toys a “bath.” Fill the sink and let them help scrub and rinse.

ALL NATURAL TOY CLEANSER: This yields 1 cup. Take 1/2 cup of white vinegar and 1/2 cup of distilled water, and 20 drops of tea tree essential oil and 20 drops of lemon essential oil. Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray plastic toys occasionally to disinfect. Wipe off with a clean cloth. Allow to dry. No need to rinse. This can be stored indefinitely in a spray bottle.

NATURAL KID-FRIENDLY CARPET CLEANER: This yields one gallon. Take 1/2 gallon of distilled water, and 1/2 gallon of white vinegar, and 1/4 cup of borax (available in the laundry section), and 25 drops of tea tree essential oi. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bucket or gallon jug and shake well. You can add as much of this solution to your carpet cleaning machine. Use your machine as directed. You can store this indefinitely in a gallon jug.

KID-FRIENDLY CLEANSING WIPES: Get your kids involved in staying sanitized and cleaning their hands and face with these all-natural cleaning wipes! This yields one roll of wipes. Tear off several sheets of paper towels and stack them one on top of each other then cut the stack in half. Store one half of the cut paper towels for a later use. Roll up the other stack tightly and place inside a large glass mason jar. Next, combine 2 cups of distilled water, 1 tablespoon of liquid castile soap, 1 tablespoon of fractionated liquid coconut oil, and 20 drops of lemon essential oil or 20 drops of lavender essential oil. Mix well and pour this mixture in this glass jar over the paper towels. Let sit for an hour. To use, pull towels from the jar and use to clean hands and faces.

Have a beautiful and healthy start to your week. I look forward to being with you all again later this week when we tackle the living room/family room.

TIPS AND RECIPES FOR ALL NATURAL DISINFECTING

I am sure you all have been bombarded with news alerts, newspaper headlines, 24-hour coverage and the social media onslaught in regards to the Coronavirus. It can be fearful, overwhelming, and tiring. Am I right? After answering some emails and sharing some tips with family and friends, I wanted to do a special Friday post to help share some of my tips and products we are using in our home to stay clean and protected the natural way and hopefully bring some calm and help your way. Our home’s motto that I posted: “Keep consistently clean. Disinfect lightly daily.”

You do not need to do an upside down, top to bottom hazmat-type cleaning. 🙂 Focus on the areas that really matter: shared spaces and frequently touched surfaces.

In doing the disinfecting of our home, I did not use sponges as I did not want to risk having any bacteria simply pushed around. I used paper towels for the toilets that were disposable and cloths that I could wash on a very hot cycle. I have recipes below for the products I made and used.

LIST OF THINGS TO DISINFECT:

Phone. This includes cell phones and land line phones. Cold and viruses can survive on them for quite a while.

Remote Control. I did not realize until recently that it is one of the most touched, but least cleaned items in the house. If someone sneezes and then touches the remote, BOOM, germs!

Bathroom. The key here is to use a separate cloth or paper towel for the sink and then the toilet.

Tables. Spray and then wipe clean. They are touched often and need to be disinfected often.

Computers. Never spray the computer keyboard or screen directly. I lightly spray a microfiber cloth with my DIY disinfectant and wipe both areas.

Stuffed Animals. If possible, toss them in the washer and give them a good wash. If they are not machine washable, what I do is spray with the DIY disinfectant spray and then set them out on our deck in the sun and let nature do its work!

Sheets, blankets, and towels. I washed all of ours on a hot water cycle with the bleach alternative by colors.

RECIPES:

DIY Natural Disinfectant Spray Recipe. Take 3/4 cup of distilled water and 1/4 cup of witch hazel, 10 drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil, 5 drops of lemon essential oil. Combine all of these in a spray bottle and shake well. (I doubled the recipe and put in a 32 ounce spray bottle to make sure I had enough for my whole house).

DIY Hand Sanitizer. 1/4 cup of Aloe Vera Gel (sold in most nature grocery stores) and 20 drops of either lemon essential oil or tea tree essential oil. Combine in a small plastic bottle and shake well, Use as necessary. The craft section at Walmart has small plastic containers that I use so our family can carry one with us in to work and school.

All Natural Bleach Alternative. This yields 16 cups. Take 1 3/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of citric acid, 20 drops of lemon essential oil, and 1 gallon of distilled water. Take the first 4 ingredients and add them to an empty gallon jug. Mix well by shaking the jug gently. Fill the rest of the gallon jug up with water and shake to combine. Add 1 cup of the alternative to your laundry as usual. This can be stored up to 1 month in the container in a cool, dark place.

Stay safe and healthy everyone! I will be back on Sunday for the next installment.

Credits: WebMD; Essential Oils for a Clean and Healthy Home

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Thanks for joining me for this middle of the week post! I hope your week has gone well. Some of you may have been a part of Super Tuesday! Some of you may have kids getting excited for Spring break. I hope all of us are thinking and praying for those affected by the devastating tornadoes in Nashville.

Tonight’s post will start with tips and a checklist for spring cleaning your kitchen! If the kitchen in your home is like mine, it is the “hub” for our family. It is the place for dinner prep, the room where our family passes each other going out the door in the morning and shares our “have a great day at school or work”, the place where we reconnect at the end of the day, sharing the day’s successes or frustrations and struggles. It can also be the hardest to keep clean and disinfected. The kitchen is also the place I first learned to give an all natural makeover as I did not want harsh chemical cleaners near our pantry and food supply and run the risk of ingesting something that could be toxic. By removing the chemical cleaners and replacing them with DIY solutions made with baking soda, vinegar, castile soap, lemon juice, salt and tea tree oil and lemon oil, I found that I can clean just about anything in my kitchen safely!

KITCHEN CHECKLIST:

-Clean stove top

-Clean oven

-Clean microwave

-Clean dishwasher

-Clean refrigerator/wipe drawers and shelves in refrigerator and freezer

-Discard old or expired food in the pantry, fridge, and freezer

-Clean countertops

-Degrease cabinet doors and backsplash

-Remove items from cabinets and thoroughly clean inside

-Deodorize sink drains

-Wipe walls

-Wipe baseboards

-Mop floors

-Shake the dust or dirt from floor mats

DIY CLEANING SOLUTIONS FOR THE KITCHEN:

Refrigerator Cleaner: This yields one cup or one application of Refrigerator Cleaner. Take 1/2 cup of white vinegar and 1/2 cup of hot water and 10 drops of lemon essential oil. Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle or bucket. While the water is still hot, wet a cloth with the solution and wipe down the inside of the refrigerator thoroughly. No need to rinse!

Stovetop Cleaner Paste: This cleaner paste is for removing grime and grease easily that has an extra kick with the orange essential oil. This yields one application of cleaner paste. In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup of baking soda, 3 tablespoons of water, and 10 drops of orange essential oil. Mix well to make a paste. You can add a little bit of water to make the paste the consistency you want. Using a cloth, wipe the paste all over the stovetop and let it sit for 5 minutes. Come back and scrub clean with a soft cloth, rinsing your cloth in clean water as you go.

One of my favorite products is Thieves Essential Oil Household Cleaner. You can mix it with different ratios for various cleaning uses. I dilute it with water in a spray bottle and keep it for on the spot cleaning throughout the week. It is safe for countertops, sinks, the front of my refrigerator, cabinet doors and more. The link to purchase is below.

Have a great rest of your week. Join me on Sunday as we tackle two more areas: the Entryway and the Kids’ Playroom.

Happy new month everyone! Thank you for joining me this weekend as we “leap” into a new week, a new month, and closer to the start of a new season – Spring! YEAH! Tonight’s blog post will be jam-packed and I hope you come away with some great tips, recipes and useful information to get you started planning for your Spring cleaning.

To do a job well, you need the proper tools! This is true for Spring cleaning. You need good tools to get the work done. When I plan for my annual Spring cleaning, I do inventory of my “tool kit”. MICROFIBER CLOTHS. These are great because they are lint free, do not leave streaks and can be washed many times. They are better for the environment because you are not throwing away piles of paper towels. I get mine in the automotive section at Walmart in different sizes. SCRUB BRUSHES. I have three scrub brushes that are labeled on the handles with a label written on in black Sharpie and covered in clear packaging tape what the brush is used for. This is to prevent cross-contamination. I have one for tubs, one for shower grout, and one for sinks. SPRAY BOTTLES. I buy the 16 ounce clear ones from the lawn and garden center at Walmart. They are labeled with black permanent marker with which DIY cleaning solution is in each one. SQUEEGEE. I have two squeegees. One has the sponge end for applying the cleaning solution to our large glass doors and porch windows. The second has the black nylon type end for clearing the solution from the glass. SPONGES. I buy the Magic Eraser type for tough stains along baseboards and on doors. The kind I get are washable as well! FUNNELS. These are great because I use them to insert into the tops of my spray bottles for pouring in cleaning solutions and they can be cleaned in the dishwasher. BUCKETS. I keep three. One for microfiber cloths, one for the scrub brushes and the third for the spray bottles.

Basic Ingredients. In addition to being much healthier for our home, I have been amazed at how economical it is now to make my own cleaning products. Keeping the following ingredients on hand will help you have what you need for Spring cleaning and for quick cleaning to keep things fresh and tidy! WHITE VINEGAR. This is my go to ingredient for many cleaning uses. It is germ killing and stain fighting! DISTILLED WATER. I buy the gallon jug at Walmart. I love using distilled water because it has gone through a special process to remove contaminates and helps make cleaning solutions even more effective. BAKING SODA. This is just a great item for absorbing odors, and for making many mild DIY abrasive cleaners. BORAX. I get this in the laundry aisle at the grocery store. This is the base for my toilet cleaner. ESSENTIAL OILS. Lemon and Tea Tree and Orange and Pine oils my fave four. They are antibacterial, odor busters and great degreasers. LEMON JUICE. This is in a lot of my cleaning solutions particularly for its antibacterial properties.

Tonight’s Cleaner Recipe. DISHWASHER CLEANER. This simple recipe will get your dishwasher odor free, purified and sparkling clean. I do this to my dishwasher every two weeks. Combine 1 cup of white vinegar and either 10 drops of lemon, lime or orange essential oil in a dishwasher-safe container (that is labeled for this use) and place the cup of mixture on the top rack of your empty dishwasher. Turn on dishwasher and allow vinegar mixture to do its work!

Thank you for being here tonight! Have an awesome start to your week! To get you jumpstarted on Spring cleaning, I am doing a drawing for a FREE 1 ounce packet of Young Living Thieves essential oil Household Cleaner. I love this cleaner. It can be diluted to make about 10 different cleaning solutions. Like tonight’s post and please email me your name to be entered into a drawing for one of 10 packets to be given away FREE. I will be back Wednesday with more recipes and we will tackle Spring Cleaning Makeover – The Kitchen.

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter and were able to set aside time to be with family and friends. It is so wonderful to be officially into the spring season. Even though winter keeps showing itself, it doesn’t last long.

As I get ready to kick off this new series all about spring cleaning, and you join in, start jotting down notes about what you want to accomplish during a spring cleaning event. Everyone cleans differently. We all have organizing projects that need to be done, room overhauls we want to achieve. Don’t get overwhelmed and bogged down by PDF checklists that have cleaning lists 15 items long per room. Life is busy. You don’t want to be defeated before you begin! My spring cleaning has the same general tasks each spring: thoroughly cleaning baseboards after a winter of tracking in ice melt and snow. Donating items that haven’t been touched in 6 months. Removing all items from all my cupboards and pantries and disinfecting shelves. Then I pick two major cleaning overhauls. This year one will be removing everything from our laundry room and cleaning all the shelves and shredding documents that are no longer needed, etc.

Think about picking just two big cleaning projects to start to keep “Spring Cleaning” manageable while keeping up with everyday life and its demands. This will give you an easy goal to set your sights on.

Tonight’s post will give you two DIY cleaning recipes as we continue our “swap” with all natural cleaning products for chemical-based ones that can pose health risks.

ALL-PURPOSE COUNTER CLEANER. This will yield 1 cup. Take 3/4 cup of distilled water, 1/4 cup of white vinegar, and 20-30 drops of tea tree essential oil. Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Then spray counters with the mixture. I wipe clean with a damp microfiber cloth that is washable. This can be stored indefinitely in a spray bottle. (Tea tree is an excellent cleanser and purifier!)

ALL-PURPOSE CITRUS KITCHEN CLEANER. This will yield 1 cup. Take 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of distilled water, 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, 5 drops lemon essential oil, 5 drops orange essential oil, 5 drops of lime essential oil. Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on kitchen surfaces and wipe clean with a damp cloth. This can be stored indefinitely in a spray bottle in a cool, dark place. (I love using citrus oils especially lemon because they are great purifiers and are effective cutting through grease and removing odors. I love their scents!)

Enjoy the rest of your week! Please join me this weekend as the next installment will give you tips on assembling your Spring Cleaning supply bucket, additional recipes, and another free product giveaway!

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope you have had a safe, healthy and happy week. We are starting the final week of February, which gets us closer to the start of Spring and pairs well with Part 2 of our Healthy Home series and keeping away the “Creepy Crawlies.”

Flea Killer. With two cats and a dog in our home, fleas can be a nuisance and one that I keep a vigilant eye on. Borax has become my best friend in this area. If I suspect fleas, I sprinkle Borax on the area and let it sit overnight. Then I vacuum it up the next day. Key areas are under beds, under couches and chairs in the living room and under furniture in the basement.

If you want a good flea repellant for your dog (do NOT use this on cats) before he goes outside in the summer, slice a lemon and put the slices in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the slices and let the solution sit overnight. Then on the next day take a sponge and sponge the liquid onto your dog’s coat to repel fleas.

Bonus Recipe: Essential oils make fabulous and non toxic sprays for repelling insects especially when you are outdoors! Here is a recipe you can make at home. Tea tree is one of my preferred oils for insect repellants! YIELD – 1 cup

Take 3/4 cup of distilled water. 1/4 cup of witch hazel. 10 drops of tea tree essential oil. 10 drops of lavender essential oil. 10 drops of rosemary essential oil. Combine all ingredients in a small spray bottle (that holds at least 8 ounces). Spray clothes with mixture before heading outdoors. Reapply every 15-30 minutes as necessary. You can store this mixture in a cool, dry place indefinitely. (CREDIT: Essential Oils for a Clean and Healthy Home, Kasey Schwartz)

Enjoy your weekend! I will be back on Sunday to start a new series “Spring Cleaning Makeover”. Each blog post will have cleaning tips, organizational ideas, and recipes for removing toxic cleaning products and giving them an all natural makeover! If you have a specific project you want help with or a cleaning product you would like to do a switch with, comment here and I will include that in the series!

They are almost impossible to completely avoid, even for the cleanest home and tidiest, trimmest lawns: insects, mice, and other not so welcome critters. I will admit that I would be the one to run for the chemical sprays and repellants and insecticides. Then as I began to convert things in my home to natural alternatives, my research showed me that there were natural deterrents to get the job done that would not harm or endanger my kids and my pets.

Lemon for ants! The smell of lemons can help repel ants. It is believed that the smell of lemons covers the scent tracks of ants that they use to communicate where to go. At the beginning of spring and warmer weather, I take a cloth and soak it in lemon juice and wipe down where I think ants can enter my house. This includes door thresholds, windowsills. I also wipe the wooden floor under my stove and under my fridge and along the floor under my kitchen sink.

I will leave lemon rinds outside our back door that goes to the deck to repel them there.

Also take cotton balls and soak them with lemon essential oil and put them on the back of the shelves in my pantry where our food is kept to keep ants away.

I hope these tips are helpful and give you some alternatives to keeping away pesky ants!

Part 2 for this series will follow tomorrow!

Happy Sunday folks! I hope the weekend has been kind to you! Tonight’s post will be the second part of a series for health, wellness and cleaning tips using an often overlooked item: SALT!

Blood stains. Salt and water can make an efficient and budget-friendly way to remove blood stains from fabrics. You can either take dry salt and rub it onto the stain first and then soak the clothing in cold water. Or you can soak the whole garment in a saltwater bath. Then follow this with a soap and water wash and then rinse with warm but not hot water. Extra tip: To make cleaning blood stains out of clothing more effective, substitute the water with seltzer!

One of my favorite salt tips has to do with cleaning the refrigerator, a common gathering spot for many stains: spilled drinks, butter, jam, to name a few. To clean the fridge shelves and drawers after emptying it out or cleaning up a quick spill, you can use a mixture of salt and seltzer water. Mix together in a small bucket and dip a rag into the solution and scrub the spill or stain with the solution. Then wipe dry. The salt helps scrub off stubborn stains and deodorize at the same time!

Another way I use salt is for cleaning spills and stains from my stovetop. I have a flat stovetop that has no conventional burners. For food that has spilled over during cooking, I use the following cleaning tip. After the stovetop has cooled down, I wipe the top with a very damp cloth. Then I pour a generous amount of salt onto the spill or stain. I leave it there for about 15 minutes to allow it the clump on the stain. Then I wipe the stovetop down with a different damp cloth. This leaves not harmful fumes!

Relieve muscle and joint pain. A saltwater bath is a great way to help relive the pain and stiffness in aching joints and muscles. This can help soothe physical injuries, chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, or even simply sore feet after a long day of work. To get the best results in terms of pain relief in muscles and joints, use Epsom salt or a mix of Epsom salt with another coarse salt (such as Dead Sea salt or Himalayan Pink salt – my favorite). Add two cups Epsom salt or another coarse salt to a full bathtub and soak for 15-45 minutes. If using a smaller or less full tub for just your feet and ankles, use 1/2 cup salt. ***Tip: when I soak my feet in saltwater, I love to add a few drops of peppermint essential oil for added relief.

Treat dehydration. Your body loses a lot of salt and water when you are sick or when you physically exert yourself. Whether you are recovering from a bout of food poisoning or you’re an athlete coming to the end of some intense training, salt is vital to recovering a healthy balance of electrolytes in your body. A recipe I found that I use a lot when I have been out doing yardwork is to dissolve 6 teaspoons of sugar of your choice and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt in 4 cups of water.

Treat insect bites. If you have been stung or bitten by an insect, salt can help provide immediate relief. Soaking the infected area in salt water (Epsom salts work great) will help reduce pain, swelling, and itchiness caused by anything from a mosquito bite to a bee sting.

Here’s to a great week for everyone joining in tonight! I hope you have gleaned some new and useful ideas.

My next post will share some great household uses for baking soda!!! One of my favorite all-purpose items!!

Motivational Post for Monday:

“A SHIP IS ALWAYS SAFE AT SHORE, BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT IT’S BUILT FOR.” Albert Einstein

Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope this post finds you well. Tonight I am focusing on some creative uses for salt, a commodity with a greater purpose that just a table condiment. It can be used in so many contexts: cleaning, cooking, soothing muscles, treating insect bites and more.

To clean greasy or food-crusted pans, use a mixture of salt and vinegar to scour away an unwanted material. Pour salt and white vinegar into the pan and stir it around until the food and grease come loose. Rinse the pan and then clean as normal. Tip: You can use a rough sponge to help scrub away any hard-to-clean food residue.

If your kitchen sink is clogged with food residue, pour 1/4 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup salt into a clogged drain, followed by 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes, then follow with a pot of boiling water. If the drain isn’t completely cleared after this, repeating the process should the produce the desired results.

If you spill a raw egg on the floor or kitchen counter while cooking, you can use salt to make the cleanup a little easier. Pouring salt on the egg before you wipe it up should make the egg coagulate, making the job easier and less messy.

Wash a dirty sponge: You can natural extend the life of a worn or dirty sponge by cleaning it with saltwater. Mix 1/4 cup salt in 2 cups of warm water and soak your sponge in it for several hours. Once you remove it from the water and wring it dry, it should be perfectly clean again and ready for use.

Sweat stains. To wash sweat stains or yellowing out of clothes, soak the fabric for several minutes in a solution of 4 tablespoons salt for every 1 quart of hot water. Let soak for several minutes and then wash as you otherwise would and all the discoloration should vanish.

Freshen up the coffepot. Add a cup of crushed ice, a tablespoon of water and a few teaspoons of coarse salt to a room-temperature glass coffee pot. Swirl and rinse. The salt scours the bottom of the pot while the ice helps to agitate it for a better scrub.

Come back this next week for the second part to my list of tips for using salt for health and wellness. Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Here we are entering the last week of July! Summer is flying by. Thank you for being back for part 3 all about great uses for lemon!

Make a homemade fruit and vegetable wash! Fruits and vegetables that you get from the store are usually sprayed with pesticides and waxes to keep them looking nice and fresh. However, these have the potential to make you sick. Here’s a great DIY fruit and veggie wash. Take 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with tablespoons of baking soda, and 1 cup of water. Stir the mixture until the baking soda is completely dissolved. Put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray your fruits or vegetables thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Rinse all of your produce completely and dry!

As an extra note. I have used this on lettuce and produce that I have grown myself just in case there may be a chance of bacteria or insects from the garden!

It is recommended to regular clean your humidifier, but they can benefit from an extra cleaning to prevent any bacteria, mold or mildew building up in the unit. A great way to naturally clean your humidifier is by adding 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to the water in the humidifier every time you fill it. The lemon juice will kill bacteria that can grow in the water and also add a great smell to the air!

Neutralize onion hands. Chopping onions won’t just make you cry, it can also give your hands an unpleasant odor than can linger well after you’ve washed your hands. An easy way to remove these odors is by rubbing lemon rinds between your hands. The rinds act as a gentle scouring agent, which will remove onions’ oils left on your hands. The lemon will also leave behind a pleasant scent.

Repel insects. The smell of lemons can help repel ants. The lemon scent covers the scent tracks they use to communicate where to go. There are three methods to use lemons to prevent ants from entering your home and pantries. Soak a washcloth in lemon juice and wipe down all areas where you think ants are entering the house. Leave lemon rinds around outside doorways to repel ants. Soak cotton balls with lemon essential oil and place in cabinets where food is kept.

My favorite use: kill weeds! I hate weeds but despise using any chemical based killer. I douse pure lemon juice on weeds. After a day or two, the lemon juice paired with light from the sun will cause the weeds to shrivel and die. For weeds that will not die easily, I mix 1 part white vinegar per 1 part lemon juice and douse the weeds again.

Have a great week. I trust your summer will continue to be healthy, safe and enjoyable. Next week will be a new series about practical uses with salt!

“Strength grows when we dare. Unity grows when we cheer. Affection grows when we share. Relation grows when we care!”