Spring Cleaning (or Nesting??)

I'm hit with the sudden urge to purge.

I'm ready to clean my house top to bottom, both with cleaning and cleaning out. I am giving away and throwing away and organizing. I'm not sure if it's spring cleaning or nesting or a little of both but I'm antsy and anxious. I've got closets to clean, rooms to organize, toys to toss.

In my quest for clean, there are a few products that I really like and thought I'd share. Now, I'm always looking for a cleaner and healthier way to clean my house so if you have a greener option, please post because I'd love to hear it.

The other day I cleaned out my oven because there was something nasty that had spilled over and was making my oven smoke each time I used it (and hence setting off the smoke alarm). I had avoided doing this because I am pregnant and probably shouldn't be cleaning the oven but this product claimed to be "fume free" (yet Lemon scented, hmmm??) Anyway, I used it and let it sit for a long time (2 hours) and I have to say, it did a pretty good job on my oven. It was FAR from fume free though - my house smelled like lemon the rest of the day. But it did the job.

Aaah...the magic eraser...this works for just about anything! I have been using it lately to scrub baseboards, Olive's table (that often ends up with food or crayon on it), the backs of doors covered in pencil, the mysterious part of our French doors that all have a streak on them, and (you'll never believe this!) for pen on a computer screen?!?!!? That's right, Olive decided at one point to take a pen to the computer screen. I thought it was a lost cause but Dennis did a little research and heard that the Magic Eraser was a great resource and IT WORKED! This thing truly is magic...

Tide To Go - I keep this in my car for "on-the-go" spills but find I rarely use it. Last week, Olive and I were eating strawberries and some juice ended up on my very light khakis. I couldn't find one of these in the house so I just went about my business. Later that afternoon, I remembered that I had it in my car and while I was out, I doctored up my pants, thinking it probably wouldn't work since it had been many hours before that when the stain was created but it did! It ALL came out. The downside: the smell of this stuff made me want to pass out but it did clean my clothes just like in the commercial.

Do you have any great finds??

Tuesday's Tips - a day late

It's time to go a little more green and natural with your cleaning products.

I have been phasing out all of our harsh chemical products and replacing them all with more natural ones. One of my favorites thus far has been a carpet cleaner from Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. It actually works amazingly well, even on those mysterious carpet discolorations and also on our couch. The one we have is Lemon Verbena scent (quite nice but subtle) Carpet Cleaner. I cannot find this on their website so perhaps they have discontinued it, but I did find this other carpet cleaner that I suspect is very similar. I was quite skeptical of these at first but have been really impressed with the results. You can order online or look up a retailer in your area. I think most Whole Foods stores carry them, as well as many others such as Target.

Some other great product lines are:

Method
Seventh Generation
Clorox Green Works
Simple Green

I have used all of these except for the Simple Green. The best part about these products (besides being natural and avoiding exposing yourself and your family to harsh chemicals) is that most of them are pretty cost-effective too. For the most part, they cost the same or just a tiny bit more than the regular cleaners. I will also soon be carrying a new line of natural cleaning products at my online shop - little pink pansy - so check back there soon.

Do your small part to help make our lives a little more natural and a little greener. The more we all do, the cheaper and more mainstream these things will become. If nothing else, it makes you feel good and clean to use them!