Monday, October 01, 2007

Green clean

When I moved out on my own, I had a few cleaning products that were stand-bys: Fantastic, Windex, Ajax, and Swiffer dusters.

It was Maïa's arrival into my life that made me conscious of the intense odours that came from these products (yes, even Swiffer smells!). We began to purge our home of these cleaning products, slowly. We kept the Fantastic and the others until we finished them up; we used them for the big spring cleaning jobs. For the rest, we found alternatives.

We tried, for a while, to use those supposedly "green" alternative cleansers. One claimed that it was used to clean the feathers of birds who had been victims of oil spills. The smell was just as intense as any other cleaner. We tried different products available in our local health food store, but they all left us a little disappointed.

My basic rule is this: if I have to call poison control because my child has ingested something, I will do my best not to use it in my home (some things I can't avoid, but I try to minimise their use).

So what do we use? There are two mainstays in our house: white vinegar and baking soda. I can get most of the jobs done with them. And every once in a while, I'll offer cleaning tips on how to use them.

This week's tip: cleaning a wet mattress or carpet or upholstery.

Most parents have been faced with this task numerous times: cleaning spit-up, pee, and other spills from various porous surfaces, like mattresses, couches, and carpets. I used to use a paper towel to mop up the mess, a stain-remover to catch the colour, and a deodoriser to make everything smell just a little less pungent.

Green approach: after picking up whatever chunks that may be present, liberally sprinkle baking soda on the spot. Let dry (it will become crusty). Vacuum it up. And voilà! You have a clean, stain-free and odour-free surface again.

Bonus: it's much cheaper, and it takes less effort and less time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

at first we didn't get any chemical cleaning supplies when we moved to victoria, save for what my mother bought. then we had the problem with the sewage backing up in the bath tub - and not going back down for awhile... can you really trust vinegar to kill all those germs? i wanted to, but when push came to shove, I didn't.

Cristina said...

When it comes to raw sewage, I must admit that I would buy a bottle of bleach to take care of the problem. But vinegar does kill the mold & mildew that grows in the shower, and there's no scrubbing. You gotta pick your battles.