Archive for the 'Dusting' Category

October 3, 2008 | Floors, Dusting, Bathroom, Kitchen, Vinegar, Cleaning tips

In today’s economy everyone’s looking for ways to save a buck (or two, or two hundred or more…) So we’re starting a 3 part series here at Broom Huggers to help you save on your house keeping budget. Today’s edition will talk about using things around your home to clean with. Part 2 will cover saving money with commercially-available cleaning products, and part 3 will help those of you who hire a maid or a cleaning service to know how to lower your bill.

So, for today let’s talk about what you already have at home that you can use to clean with. A bottle of Windex will cost you $3.99 or so, and if you want to go with the greener option of Seventh Generation or Ecover, that’ll run you about $4.99 a bottle. And then you’d need some all-purpose cleaner, degreaser for tough grease, toilet bowl cleaner, oven cleaner, carpet cleaner, tub & tile spray, hard surface cleaner and something special for your granite or marble, not to mention hardwood floor cleaner, tile floor cleaner… Or that’s what the efforts of the marketing gurus want you to believe.

In fact you can clean most surfaces in your home without any of those. Here’s a rundown of how to clean your home for cheap with what you’ve already got - and what doesn’t have harsh chemicals.

Dusting wood furniture: Mix together 1/2 c. lemon juice, 1 tsp olive oil (you don’t need the high quality EVOO for this). Dampen a cloth with it and refrigerate what’s leftover since lemon juice will go rancid at room temp.

Window, glass, & light duty cleaner:  1/4 cup vinegar with 2 cups water will do the trick. If you’ve been using commercial window cleaner for some time you’ll want to add 2-3 drops of detergent to the mix. Commercial window cleaners leave a fine, waxy residue and the vinegar alone won’t fully hack it.

Scouring cleanser:  Make a paste with baking soda and water, add a couple drops of lemon juice. Scrub away!

Whitening agent: Hydrogen peroxide.  You can use it on your white laminate countertops, tile grout, laundry.

Disinfectant: Arm yourself with 2 spray bottles. One with undiluted vinegar and the other with hydrogen peroxide. Spray one and then the other on any surface you consider contaminated, and that will take care of most germs and microbes.

Toilet bowl cleaner: You need something acidic, so vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice will do the trick. You do not need one of those funky-shaped bottles to get under the rim. A spray bottle and your toilet brush will work fine.

Fabric softener: Add some vinegar to your rinse and you don’t need fabric softener. And replace dryer sheets with a reusable cloth. Dab some fabric softener or vinegar on it and throw it in the dryer.

That’ll take care of most of your product needs around the house.  Our next installment will tell you how to navigate the world of consumer cleaners.

July 26, 2008 | Dusting, Cleaning tips, Cleaning products

As much as I love making a nice dusting solution out of lemon juice and olive oil, I’ve found something easier - and cheaper too. Find a trusty spray bottle and add 2-3 teaspoons liquid fabric softener (we like this one), then fill with water (we used a 16-oz bottle).

If you’re a rag-duster, use a cotton rag or microfiber cloth, spray the cloth to dampen, and dust away. If you prefer a feather duster, spray directly on your feather duster. You can also spray it directly onto a Swiffer duster (we like the hardware so to speak, but not the sprays and liquids they use).

The good news? The liquid grabs and holds the dust so it isn’t being kicked up into the air. The fabric softener keeps dust from coming back too soon because a) it isn’t a chemical base like most furniture polishes (and chemicals trap and hold dust), and b) it neutralizes static so that the furniture doesn’t attract dust.

And you can also use the very same spray bottle with diluted fabric softener, spray it inside your dryer 3-4 times just before you put in a load of wet laundry. It’ll eliminate the need for a dryer sheet.  We love that.

October 15, 2007 | Dusting, asthma, Health, Cleaning products, News

A new study links household spray cleaners - especially glass cleaners, furniture polish, and air fresheners - to up to 1 in 7 cases of adult asthma cases. They found that using such sprays, even just once a week, increased incidents by 30 to 50 percent.

Cleaning sprays and air fresheners contain chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine-releasing agents and sodium hydroxide. Researchers suggested that the chemicals being released into the air in spray form significantly increased their exposure to people.

We here at Broom Huggers know that, and it’s why we use exclusively natural products. Chemical free translates to asthma free.  There are lots of natural products at your supermarket - try Method, Seventh Generation, Ecover, or plain old vinegar and water.

August 29, 2007 | Dusting, Reviews, Broom Hugged, Cleaning tips, Cleaning products

Some dusters create static energy. They take away the dust for a moment, but the static attracts it back even quicker than before. Other dusters just kick it up into the air. Sure, your furniture looks nice afterwards, but ::achoo:: your air quality suffers. Those microfiber cloths are nice, but more appropriate for flat surfaces. When you’ve got picture frames and decorative items around, a lambs wool duster will save ages of time for you! They trap the dust, they’re gentle enough for your most precious heirlooms, and a lambswool duster on a nicely contoured wooden handle just makes you want to clean. It’s true.
That’s what works for me. For more tips, head over to Shannon’s place.

May 29, 2007 | Dusting, Essential oils, Cleaning tips, Cleaning products

The Green Guide’s tip last week was most helpful! They suggest making a furniture polish with a vinegar or lemon juice base, so that it doesn’t make your furniture ‘gunky’ like an oil-base would. Check it out here! I just tried it - and I love the results!

Edited 7/5/07: The first time I tried it with vinegar, olive oil and eucalyptus essential oil. But I just did it again with 1/4 c. lemon juice and about a tablespoon of safflower oil (I’m out of olive oil) and I didn’t need the essential oils. I love it!!! It leaves a beautiful sheen on the furniture, with no buildup. And the lemon juice leaves a nice scent in the house. Please note: Lemon juice will go rancid if left out, so please refrigerate. It’s fine on the furniture, but if you have leftover solution, keep it in the fridge.