I am excited to present, the Healthy Cleaning Pantry! Confession, I am not very good at cleaning and don’t enjoy doing it either…anyone else? As much as I dislike cleaning and don’t feel I do it particularly well, I do understand that it is an essential part of homemaking. It must be done in order to keep my family healthy and also to be good stewards of the belongings that God has seen fit to provide us with.
Did you know that Inflammation is the root of all illnesses? Eliminating things and products within your home that increase your toxic load and increase inflammation in your body is critical to good health.
The unselfish effort
to bring cheer to others
will be the beginning
of a happier life for ourselves.
– Helen Keller
I think the quote applies to housework. We all feel better in a clean home! I keep a very simple stock of cleaning supplies made of natural ingredients. (Well, except for the bleach. I just can’t give it up!) Like it or lump it, cleaning is necessary for every home.
The Healthy Cleaning Pantry
- Toothbrush: I don’t use these new, but after we are done brushing our teeth I recycle the toothbrushes and use them to scrub grout and to get in around the toilet seat.
- Lemon oil dust cloths: They do the job of leaving your wood furniture shiny and not greasy, and they nourish the wood in your home.
- Feather duster: Great for all the cobwebs that gather in my farmhouse’s corners. I also use it to dust quickly things like tables and books.
- Amish-made broom: I sweep everything with this handmade broom. It gets into corners wonderfully!
- REDECKER Natural Fiber Bristle Pot Brush: I scrub my pots and pans with this beauty and then when its time to retire it, I clean the bathtub with this to get off the soap scum which accumulates by leaps and bounds in our tub that is used daily by 7 people.
- dustpan and dust broom: Great for the wood stairs.
- Swiffer with handmade Swiffer cloths: We use this to wet mop our kitchen or to dust mop our wood floors.
- Men’s white cotton t-shirts cut into rectangles: I use these to clean everything from the windows to the floors and for everything in between, I could not do without these!
- Old dish towels: Mops up spills with much better absorbance than a paper towel.
- Baking soda: I clean the oven glass top and the inside of the oven with just baking soda and water. It works like a charm! I also find that straight baking soda and water or lemon juice helps remove soap scum too.
- White vinegar: Used as an ingredient in my cleaning solutions.
- Beeswax polish: I use white clothes to apply the beeswax to my wood furniture and woodwork throughout our 1903 Farmhouse.
- Pre-made natural cleaning solutions in spray bottles for cleaning windows, and glass, and killing germs.
- Galvanized metal bucket: Fill with hot water and soap and have fun washing the floor or walls.
- Scrub brush: I use this to wash the walls and floor too. With 8 people in a family and a dog and 4 cats. You would not believe what can get stuck on your walls and floors!
- Dyson DC65 Animal Upright Vacuum Cleaner
: Quite frankly, no other vacuum can handle the amount of dirt and debris my family makes. - Soap: I prefer to use products that are non-toxic and healthy and use this amazing non-toxic cleaning concentrate!
Thought for the day, Frugality and Green often go hand in hand.
YOUR TURN…
What is in your Cleaning Pantry?
Blessings,
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This is a really helpful post Janelle. I know that I’m certainly old enough to have great housekeeping systems in place, but I somehow have missed it. Let’s just say…….don’t show up at my house unannounced. I’m currently on a mission to change that.
Thanks for your encouraging comment Christina! For the record I am still working on it too…
Cheers, great stuff!
Thank you, Keri!
It’s difficult to find well-informed people on this subject, yet you sound like you really know what you’re speaking about! Thanks!
I am passionate about healthy living! Thanks for stopping by Marleen!