Spring Cleaning

With my husband in East Lansing, Michigan calling games for the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals today at the Breslin Center, home of the Michigan State Spartans. I am taking advantage of the weather and the empty house to get a jump start on spring cleaning today.

I don’t know about any of you, but some of my favorite cleaning products are simple, affordable, and complete the tasks which need to be tackled. Tackled, ummm, is that a tackle box for fishing or tackle football? We can ponder the thought later.

Some of my favorite cleaning products: baking soda, vinegar, Simple Green, water, rags, and elbow grease.

I use baking soda practically every day. It’s great for the litter box, the garbage can, sprinkling on the carpet before vacuuming, sprinkle on mattresses before vacuuming, and putting into each laundry load, placing the open boxes inside the freezer, refrigerator, closets, etc. You can make a paste with it to scrub stains out of the counter or the like and it won't scratch the surface. It is a great cleaner for scrubbing the inside of the refrigerator and freezer using the paste first, then going back over with a warm, not hot, water rinse. Your refrigerator and freezer will look and smell great inside.

Vinegar can be used in the fabric softener dispenser as a rinse. It is a great item to have on hand at all times. Sure you might scrub the carafe and basket from you coffeemaker, but how often do you clean the inside of the machine, the build up? I do it at least once a month. You need to refer to your manufacturer’s formula, but it does wonders. The coffee tastes so much better. Vinegar is great for cleaning the inside of the dishwasher. Again, check the manufacturer’s formula, and you will have a clean and great smelling dishwasher. Vinegar is a great floor cleaner and great for cleaning litter boxes. You can take apart your fans and clean the dust off of them with a vinegar and water solution.

Many of you are probably wondering why bleach hasn’t been mentioned. I find bleach useful for many cleaning tasks. It’s great in a diluted formula to use as a sanitizer in the kitchen. It’s great for the bathroom. One of my favorite uses is to run a bleach cycle through the wash machine once a week. It cleans out any bacteria and such left behind from the week’s washing. I do this first thing Monday morning.

I hope you have found some of these tips helpful. I will carry on with my cleaning. Off to vacuum my mattress and clean my fans. Have a great Saturday !!