Well, it’s time to start our one year transformation journey to a healthy and holistic lifestyle. There’s not exactly a specific order that this needs to go, but know that I will be choosing my posts according to three basic ideas: season, keeping the variety fresh and spacing out the bigger weeks so that it’s not overwhelming. Since it’s the beginning of spring I thought I would address what we’re all getting ready to do or let’s be honest, what we’re avoiding doing: Spring Cleaning.
I am definitely not one who finds cleaning to be therapeutic but there is something very cathartic about a fresh environment. In the garden, the old and unused parts of the plant die in winter to make room for the new growth of spring. It also does this so that it doesn't waste it’s nutrients on the parts that are no longer lifegiving. Our lives are similar to that. Purge what is not life-giving and is using up wasted energy. Cleaning out the dust and giving your lungs something fresh to breath makes way for new, healthy growth in your body.
What I am going to focus on in this post is more specifically our cleaning products. Mainstream cleaners are full of chemicals that are cancer causing, hormone disrupting, fertility disrupting and ignites allergies and athsma. Oddly enough, as we’re are trying to keep a clean and healthy home, we don’t realize we’re bringing in chemicals that are causing illness anyway. For the sake of keeping this post short and to the point, please see Dr.Axe’s post https://draxe.com/eco-cleaners/ The Dirty Side of Cleaning Products to read further into the actual chemicals in these products and what illnesses they are linked to.
There are three ways that you can address the toxic load in your cleaning supply closet. Remember, I always say “Do what you can”. So, see which one of these methods is going to work for you and stick with it.
For those of you who are busy and just want a recommendation of brands to buy. Here are some brands that I recommend. Greenshield Organic, Better Life, or Homesolv.
Throwing out all of your cleaning supplies and buying new, may be to aggressive on your budget. With my “do what you can” method, try and commit to purchasing or making new cleaners as you run out of the ones you are currently using. In the meantime, make sure to safeguard yourself by wearing gloves to protect any skin absorption. You may even opt for a mask so that you don’t breath the chemicals in. This is especially important if you already battle allergies or other respiratory issues. I would like to encourage you to continue to read on to the next section which are some DIY recipes. Even if you do not consider yourself a DIY type of person, you will be surprised at how simple and inexpensive these recipes are.
My final recommendation is to make your own. I know, you may be thinking that this will take up a whole afternoon of laboring but fear not! One thing you will find as this holistic journey goes on is that natural options really are more simple. You don’t need a lot of ingredients and lab created chemicals just to be clean. It’s true! I have made it easy for you once again. Below you will see a small list of ingredients that will create all the cleaners you need. I bet most of these ingredients you probably already have.
6 Ingredients For Your Cleaning Supplies
All these recipes contain vinegar. Most of them are orange oil infused and I'll explain that next. If castile soap is new to you, let me explain why that is the soap of choice. Castile Soap is a vegetable based soap that is free of harsh chemicals and gentle for sensitive skin. It is quite concentrated so no matter if you're using it to wash your counters or your body, it should always be diluted. I prefer Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap. You will notice that it comes in many different natural scents. For the sake of cleaning supplies, it really doesn't matter which scent you choose. I enjoy the combination of the peppermint castile soap with the orange oil. Epsom salt is a wonderful healing agent for your body and you will hear more about it in future posts but for cleaning sake, it makes a great abrasive when scrubbing stubborn gunk. Baking soda is a great addition to some cleaners as a detoxifying micro-scrubber. All of the following cleaners are great as they are but I will also put suggested essential oils that you can add, should you already be an essential oil user or are interested in becoming one. These are optional to boost their effectiveness to kill germs but your cleaners will serve the purpose just as they are without them. If you do not use essential oils but would like to know more, click here to shop oils and connect with me. I'd be happy to introduce you to the power of essential oils.
Vinegar is a fantastic cleaning agent. Germs cannot survive when they come in contact with it. While many people use just white vinegar, which you can absolutely do, I like to give mine an extra boost. By soaking my discarded orange peels in the white vinegar, I am extracting the antibacterial and antimicrobial oils from the peel and infusing them into my cleaning vinegar. It also give a nice scent to the stinky vinegar. Pretty cool right? Simply grab a cute jar (if you want it to sit out on the counter). Fill it 3/4 of the way with white vinegar and start consuming some vitamin C. Let it sit for two weeks and then use it in the recipes below.
Your Cleaning Line Up
Here is a great All Purpose Cleaner. Combine your ingredients in an empty spray bottle for all surfaces including toilets. I have given you a basic mixture but feel free play with the dilution. If you want something that gives more suds, add an other tablespoon of Castile Soap. Remember, this cleaner is fine on it's own but if you want to give it an extra germ killing kick, you can add one of my recommended essential oils, Onguard or Purify by Doterra.
If any place needs some extra power and exfoliation it's the toilet bowl. No need for a spray bottle here. Just pour in the orange oil vinegar (white vinegar is fine too), castile soap, baking soda and epsom salt and start scrubbing. The orange vinegar and baking soda will disinfect, the castile soap will lubricate and break down grime and the epsom salt will scrub. Germ killing essential oils like Onguard and Purify essential oils are great to drip straight into the toilet with the other ingredients as well. This is a recipe for sparkly, clean porcelain.
This is a simple glass cleaner but let me tell you why I especially like this mixture. I have kids and I have dogs. If it's not the sticky finger prints, it's my dog's nose prints dried on my sliding, glass doors. The vinegar has a great astringent quality that strips away all that gunk. You will notice that I use regular white vinegar without the orange. I find that event though there are minimal amounts of oil from the orange that it can leave a bit of a streak, especially if I have soaked a lot of orange peels for a long time. I like to add lemon essential oil to my mixture for a fresh lemon scent but this is optional as well.
There are many methods to cleaning floors. If you don't have any pets or kids then you may just spray the floor and use a damp mop. Some people really need to lubricate some grime and you may use a bucket of solution. Either way this mixture is for you. If you need more than a spray bottle worth, just double or triple the recipe. For really stubborn, stuck bits, put one drop of your castile soap on the area and let is sit there for a few minutes. Then try and work at it. The castile soap is a great lubricant. Vinegar is fine on hardwood floors as long as it is diluted by at least 50% and is not left on for a long period of time.
I hope all these ideas and recipes have inspired you. There really are options for any type of lifestyle. I'd love to hear how these diy cleaners have worked for you or if any of the recommended products ended up being a favorite. Thank you again for reading and stay tuned for the next step to healthy, toxic free, holistic living.