Your home serves as a haven. But it’s hard to unwind when your home is infested with dust mites, allergens, and various remnants of whatever you and your pet unintentionally brought into the house that day. So, if you’re planning a spring-cleaning this year, try these 7 effective eco-friendly cleaning tips and tricks for your home.
1. Use Hot Water to Wash Pillows
Dust mites and dead skin cells are being impolite by taking up a lot of bed space and refusing to pay rent. Get rid of these slackers by washing their favorite hangout—your pillows—on a regular basis.
Using hot water is actually the ultimate cheat sheet for an eco-friendly laundry. Fill a sink or a washing machine halfway full of hot water. The hotter the water, the more likely dust mites will be killed without the use of harsh chemicals like bleach.
After that, add a mild detergent and the pillows (minus any pillow protectors). Then agitate manually for a few minutes or leave it to your washing machine.
Rinse the pillow thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water. Just be careful not to wring or twist the pillow (especially if it’s filled with feathers), as this will ruin its comfortable shape.
2. Use Lemon
Another cleaning tip we want to give you is using lemon as a detergent. They are nature’s savior when it comes to cleaning. Because of their high acidic content, they have powerful antiseptic and antibacterial properties, as well as being a natural deodorizer. Here are some ideas for how to use lemon around the house:
To restore your tarnished pans and pots, mix lemon juice and baking soda until thoroughly combined. Apply to the surface and buff with a soft, clean cloth in a circular motion, then rinse and dry. You can apply the same methods when removing stains from plastic containers.
Other uses of lemon include:
- Removing odors
- Disinfecting chopping boards
- Eliminating stains
- Freshening garbage disposals
3. Use White Vinegar
White vinegar is a weak acetic acid with high antibacterial properties that can be used in almost all aspects of home cleaning. It is quite versatile when used as a cleaning detergent, much like lemons.
Vinegar diluted in water is a good stain remover for a variety of fabrics. It’s also a great natural deodorizer, and it can be combined with other natural products to absorb odors, such as lemon juice. If you simmer vinegar with water on the stovetop while cooking, it can also help to prevent cooking odors. Vinegar can also be used to get rid of lingering fish, onion, and garlic odors.
4. Naturally Clean and Shine Floors
In high-traffic areas like the living room, hardwood floors can get beat up and grimy, but by following our cleaning tip, restoring their luster is simple with a few ingredients you probably already have on hand:
Combine equal parts hot water and vinegar, along with a few drops of olive or lemon oil for shine. Mop as usual, and take advantage of the clean period before someone tracks dirty boots across the room.
5. Freshen the Air With Real Scents
To let you know what makes up the scent you’re enjoying, many commercial air fresheners simply list “fragrance” in their ingredients list.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know what scent is making the room smell like heaven? My thoughts exactly!
Follow the recipe below to get a natural sweet lavender scent for your home:
- a quarter cup of water
- 2 tbsp. pure vanilla extract, rubbing alcohol, or vodka
- a tenth of a drop of lavender essential oil
- chamomile essential oil, 5 drops
- combine all of the ingredients in an 8-ounce spray bottle, give it a good shake, and spray as needed.
6. Scare Spiders and Mice With Natural Solutions
Fill your air filters with a few drops of citronella essential oil. Citronella is repulsive to spiders, and they will avoid areas where it is present. Take advantage of our Edens Garden coupon codes and get yourself a bottle of citronella essential oil to get rid of all spiders!
Mice, unlike your grandparents, find peppermint to be overwhelming and offensive. So, soak a few cotton balls in 20-30 drops of peppermint essential oil and place them strategically around your home’s rodent-prone areas, especially around your garage.
Refresh once a week or whenever your grandparents come to visit. With this cleaning tip, your home is now completely spider and mice-free.
7. Use Garlic Oil to Get Rid of Aphids
Aphids can be a real trouble-maker to your precious garden. Keeping your garden clean and healthy can become a difficult task when they’re around. They have long, slender mouth parts for puncturing leaves and stems and sucking out sap and other fluids.
This causes the leaves to dry, curl, and eventually fall off, stunting the plant’s growth and leaving a dark fungus behind. Squash, pumpkin, melon, cucumber, lettuce, and beets are among the vegetables susceptible to aphid transmission.
To get rid of these pesky weeds, start by pruning any stems or branches that you’ve noticed. Then try My Little Garden in Japan’s homemade garlic oil spray, which includes water, garlic, liquid dish soap, onion, and mineral oil.
Spray your garden every few days until you see them start to fade away. Aphids dislike plants with strong scents, so if they’re in the vicinity of one, they’ll flee immediately.
Conclusion
Chemical-based cleaning products have a number of disadvantages: They’re expensive and harmful to the environment. They can cause health problems. This is why many are leaning toward all-natural methods when cleaning their home. Just follow our eco-friendly cleaning tips for your home above, and you’ll get a squeaky and spotless living space, minus the toxic chemicals.
