Green Cleaning Tip List

As a 100% green cleaning Mom, I offer you these tips to help get you started and stay on track.
1. Vinegar and baking soda are your friends- always have some on hand.
2. Get a Hand Held Steam Cleaner. Preferably one with a floor cleaning attachment. The easiest way to green clean is with no cleaning products at all!
3. If you used to clean it with bleach- you can clean it with vinegar.
4. Read product descriptions, make sure you are getting what you want.
5. Don't be afraid to try new things. Green Cleaning is just like anything else. Some things you like, some things you don't.
6. Get the kids involved. They'll probably be glad to not smell bleach or chemicals every time they walk inside, but let them know why you have decided to go green with your cleaning habits.
7. Experiment with fun, green, safe ways to make your home smell good.
8. Experiment with everything- vinegar, baking soda, steam, a new green cleaning product- whatever you have on hand. See what works best and fastest for you.
9. Tell your friends and family what you are doing. At least this way, the first time they come over and smell all the vinegar you've been cleaning with you won't get hit with the "what's that terrible smell?" question.
10. Show your friends and family your home is just as clean as theirs- without all the chemicals. I love showing off my steamer and how well it does! My mom is so jealous.
11. Don't back down if people give you a hard time. And some people will. Take it in stride. You know your doing what's best. That's all that matters.
12. Take pride in knowing that your home is safe for you, your kids and pets and at the same time you are helping the environment.

Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Professional Green Cleaning Companies

There are those of us who want to go green but don't want to have to actually do the green cleaning ourselves. I wish I could be one of those people! I'm not-but, for those of you who do fall into this group of lucky individuals, there are options for you too.
It looks like even the old fashioned cleaning companies are getting on the green bandwagon. And why not? With every want comes a need. More and more people want their home cleaned the green way. More and more people need someone else to clean their home, or office if the case may be.
So how do you choose the right professional green cleaning company and be sure that the products they bring into your home or office are safe and environmentally friendly? Ask lots of questions. I'm sure the professional cleaner is not using vinegar and baking soda as a selling point for their services. They would probably get laughed out of business! I'm sure the products these companies use (I have no personal experience with any professional cleaning company- green or not) are safe, especially if they are marketing a green cleaning business. But still, ask questions.
It's your home or work place about to be cleaned and, most importantly, you are paying for these services. You have every right to ask questions and get all the information you need to help you make an informed decision. If it were me, I would specifically ask for a list of the products they use and research them myself before making a decision about what company to hire. Once you have the names of the products they use you can probably find all the ingredients and everything you ever needed to know- and most likely- more than you ever really wanted to know, right here on the Internet.
Once again, I have no experience with professional cleaning services, but I would think they don't come cheap. I would also think that a company offering entirely green cleaning would be a tad bit more expensive than the alternative. I don't know- those are just my thoughts. So I would think, if I'm gonna (possibly) pay more, I certainly want to make sure it's worth it and I am getting exactly what I pay for.
Good luck in your search for a green cleaning company. I only wish I could pay someone to clean my house........... Maybe one day. We can all dream, right?

Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Green Cleaning Products

There are so many green cleaning products to choose from, I couldn't even begin to list them all. There are lots or products that I've never used and therefore have no experience with or opinion on. I can only offer you a look at some of my favorite products.

For starters, don't forget your vinegar and baking soda. Make sure to read up on all the things you can do with both, but especially vinegar. You'll probably be surprised!



Next, if you can swing it, get a Steam Cleaner. You will save money in the long run and I promise you will LOVE it!

As far as other products, I'm kind of partial to the greenworks line. These are some of my favorites.



Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Green Cleaning with Steam

After I started my green cleaning journey, a friend pointed me in the direction of cleaning with steam. No products needed, just steam. How much greener can you get. I was skeptical at first. I had steamed cleaned my carpets of course, but nothing else. Luckily for me, my friend was nice enough to give me a little present. (She probably figured I was to cheap to buy it myself). What she gave me, Scunci SS1000 Hand Held Steam Cleaner with Attachments has changed the way I clean! I love it! I never thought steam- and only steam could clean so well.
I am totally hooked! It came with all these neat attachments- for ovens, grills, windows. The only thing it didn't have was a floor kit (and you can get it). Not having the floor kit didn't stop me. I had to see if this steam cleaning would really clean my kitchen floor. I used the window cleaning attachment and got down on my hands and knees. I was totally amazed at the results. My white kitchen floor had never looked cleaner- not even with bleach. It's like the steam just liquefied the dirt that was down in the crevices. You know, that part you have to get a toothbrush and scrub to get clean. I have sense gotten the floor attachment. So no more down on my hands and knees. You can start out fully equipped. Buy the whole set: the hand held steamer with the floor attachment.



I was so impressed at how well just steam cleaned my floor- I started trying this little steamer on everything in my house. I use it on my couch, spot cleaning on the carpet, in bath tub- you name it, I've used it there. The cord is really long. I even used it to clean the upholstery in my car.
My only complaint is that the tank isn't big enough. I wish it held more water- but then it may not be truly hand held. You have to unplug and let it cool down before you add more water. But it certainly gets the job done.
Now, I try to see just how much green cleaning I can get done with steam! A few weeks ago, I even used the scunci to clean a slow drain in my kitchen. the vinegar and baking soda wasn't getting the job done. I covered the drain on one side as I held the pointed attachment in the other side. It worked, after doing each side the slow drain was moving normal again.
It sounds strange, but I am actually finding green cleaning with steam fun. I love to see what else I can clean with my new favorite cleaner!
If you really want to start green cleaning and you don't have a steamer (not for carpets) get one! I highly recommend it. You just can't get any greener than no cleaner at all- but truly, not even my former life love- Bleach- didn't clean this well!


Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Green Cleaning Solutions

Since I started green cleaning I've tried a variety of products on every different household disaster you can imagine with 2 kids, 2 cats, a dog and 1 untrainable husband living under the same roof. When our elders say we should listen to them, they are right. The secret, handed down from grandmother to grandmother, the tried and true cleaning duo of vinegar and baking soda ranks pretty high in my book of green cleaners. I wonder if our ancestors knew these were green products. Probably not. They used them because they work. As an added bonus, both vinegar and baking soda are still relatively cheap to purchase. Both go a long way. The only negative thing I have to say about the super duo of green cleaning is this: vinegar stinks! It is definitely a smell you must get used to.
So what kind of green cleaning can we do with vinegar and baking soda- pretty much anything you want. Be warned, mixing the 2 together causes a foamy reaction of some kind- I really don't know what it's called. This foamy reaction- whatever it may be called- can actually be used as a drain opener/cleaner and when your pouring it down your drain should be the only time you mix the two together.
Baking soda has been used for years as a deodorizer- on carpets, in the fridge, in the litter box ect.. Did you know vinegar deodorizes as well? You can put it in a spray bottle and use it like you would any other fabric freshener. Of course, it doesn't smell very well but once the vinegar smell dissipates so does the odor.
My favorite use for vinegar is as a carpet cleaner. I have a room in my house, an addition the original owners added. This room use to be a patio and they closed it in. At some point someone installed a blue-gray indoor/outdoor carpet to this room. The people we bought the house from used this room as a storage area. I don't know what they were storing, but the carpet was really stained. There were dark spots everywhere. Before I started green cleaning I tried everything short of straight bleach to get these stains up. Nothing worked. Even once I started green cleaning, using vinegar on these dark stains was the last thing on my mind. I just figured the stains were there to stay. Then one day I tried it. I chose a fairly large stain that was half covered by the rug I put down back there. I poured straight vinegar on the uncovered part of the stain then rubbed with a rag. I had to wait until it was dry to be able to tell. I pulled back the rug to be able to compare, the part I cleaned was GONE. Yes, completely gone. I was amazed. I have a bissle home steam cleaner I use for carpets, now- no more chemicals. I use vinegar and water to clean the carpet. For tough stains I just pour vinegar straight on and scrub.
Vinegar and baking soda make a powerful pair, but I don't use them alone. They are both great for certain things and when I'm in a hurry. Vinegar will even get the red juice stain off my counter top- not as fast as bleach- but it does remove it.
There are SO many things you can do with vinegar, and so many types of surfaces you can clean with it. Way too many of both to list here.

My new favorite green cleaning solution is steam! That's right Steam. Make sure to check out my post on Green Cleaning with Steam.

Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Green Cleaning Everything

A question non green cleaners often ask me is if you can really use green cleaning for everything. Yes, you can. I think maybe, when they ask this, they are trying to see if I secretly have a stash of bleach somewhere I pull out for those really hard to get clean areas. They would be disappointed if they came and searched my home. No bleach. No chemicals. I clean everything the green way now. Once you get started there is no turning back.
Back on subject, you can most definitely clean you entire house the green way. What most of my nay sayer friends are surprised to learn is that I actually buy less cleaning products now than I did before. I find most of the green cleaning solutions to be very multifunctional, meaning I can use them to clean most anything. While in my former life I was a bleach freak, there were areas and many items in my home that I could not use the bleach to clean. I had different products for different things. I would buy cleaners for carpet and linoleum. Yes, I did use the bleach on the kitchen floor but not everyday. I used something a little milder for everyday. I also had cleaners for the windows and wood. Something different was used for the walls. Even more chemicals for the fabric. You get the point. Every time I went to the store I was buying something else. Since I've started green cleaning, I no longer waste all that money. I don't use near as many products to clean the same amount of stuff. I don't have to worry about mixing chemicals and having some fuming disaster while I'm trying to clean the toilet. And the space I've saved in my laundry room cabinet where all my cleaning supplies were stored, well truthfully, it's just saved space. But it is empty! I kind of like there not really being anything there. Looking at the blank space reminds me of what a good thing I'm doing by green cleaning- not just for our planet and all the little critters on it, but for my kids!
As you start your journey into green cleaning you will find products you like and products you don't like. You'll like the smell of some and dislike others. At first, you may not think your carpet can really be clean if your not using a chemical to clean it. But trust- your carpet can be really clean the green way, as well as the toilet, floors, walls, furniture, anything you can throw in the washer and dryer and every other little knick knack you have in your house. It can all be really really clean without the use of harsh chemicals. You just have to retrain your brain. It can be done, it's true, now believe it!

Green Cleaning © 2009 green--cleaning.blogspot.com

Why Clean Green?

Green Cleaning is just another part of the go green movement. So unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you have to know at least a little bit about the go green movement- saving the planet and all that. Green cleaning products are better for our environment, our planet and life in general. I agree with all of those things. I, as much as anyone else, love the little bunnies and squirrels that live near my home. Our planet, and all the creatures on it, are a gift from God. We should care about our home, everyone and everything that lives on it. All that being true, I decided to start green cleaning because of my kids. I have a 10 year old and a 10 month old. I think back over the last 10 years and shudder at the damage I could have, and probably did do to my poor 10 year old with the bleach I regularly cleaned with. When I became pregnant with our baby, nesting set in early. I had the urge to clean even more than normal. It occurred to me that the bleach fumes would probably not be good for our unborn child. I had to find an alternative. But my thoughts on the subject didn't end there. I didn't want to breath in the chemicals I depended on so much to keep my house clean, for the sake of my UNborn child, what about the child I have here already? Now, granted, she seems just fine even after breathing in cleaning chemicals for most of her short life, AND she never, herself, used any of these chemicals. BUT- the point stuck. It took becoming pregnant again for me to realize what Ive been doing all these years. I needed to find a better way to keep my home clean. Not for the the bunnies or polar bears- but for my kids! They shouldn't be around all these harsh chemicals I bring into my home everyday. When I think about it now I find it to be sort of ironic. We clean with chemicals to help keep our kids safe from bacteria and illness, but the products we use to protect our families from such things can make them just as sick.
So there it is! Why should we Clean Green? I do it for my kids......and my pets..... and the bunnies..... Why will you do it? No matter what your reason- just remember you made the right choice. Green is better!

Green Cleaning © 2009 Green--Cleaning.blogspot.com

Green Cleaning for Beginners

Green Cleaning is the new rave with everyone. If you are still using bleach and other harsh cleaners in your home, especially if you have children, you can get lashed out at at every turn. Your friends are doing it, maybe even your parents, the people you know at church- now it's your turn. It's time for you to jump on the green cleaning bandwagon and see where it takes you.
So how do you get started in the age of green cleaning.? First you have to pick your products. I have lots of friends who have joined me in this brave new green cleaning world- and we all have different opinions on what works best. Long ago, about 2 years to be exact, in my former life, I was a bleach junkie. Yes I admit it- I love bleach. I like the smell and the gratification that comes when it instantly removes that red juice stain from my counter top. When I decided to start green cleaning, I needed something that would provide at least a smidgen of that instant gratification I get while watching the bleach work it's magic. I have yet to find a replacement that works as fast as my long lost bleach- but there are solutions out there that work. You have to find and choose what works best for you.
If your a chemical junkie, like I was, turning your home over to the ways of green cleaning won't be easy. I think to many of us, the chemical smell associated with our cleaning products defined what we determined to be clean for so long, if we don't have it we are unsure of how clean things really are. It took a while, but I have since learned the error of my former ways. Just because something doesn't smell "chemically," doesn't mean it doesn't clean well. In the past, I would take it as a compliment when someone walked into my home- hit with the smell of bleach- they would say, "some one's been cleaning" or "sure smells clean in here." Now, when you walk into my green clean home you smell chocolate chip cookies , cinnamon, orange blossoms, or whatever smell I decide to cook up that day. When your house doesn't smell like a chemical plant it can smell like whatever you want. I've learned, pretty much anything is more welcoming and inviting than the chemical plant smell.
If you've made the decision to trade in the bleach- or whatever your chemical of choice was- for something safer and better smelling, then good for you! Welcome to the world of green cleaning. It's a brave new world- one I'm sure you'll find both fascinating and frustrating at times. But it is worth it!

Green Cleaning © 2009 Green--Cleaning.blogspot.com

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