Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tips

Planning on attacking your house with some deep cleaning? Here are a few eco-friendly tips we’ve discovered that you might find useful:

•    make your own cleaning kit with everything you need to clean your house from top to bottom. Try to include the following: rubber gloves, bottle of white vinegar, pot scraper, scrubbing brush, tooth brush, j cloths, cotton rags/cloths, polish, feather duster.

•    use vinegar to clear away heavy grease and soap scum

•    place half a lemon in your dishwasher and it will make your dishes and glasses sparkle, its acidity will help remove any lime or residue from dishwashing powder

•    use baking soda for tough tile grout stains or other heavy staining in the shower

•    to remove messy melted tea lights from glass votives without the hassle of scraping with a knife, pop them in the freezer for an hour and they’ll slip right out

•    to pick up small fragments of broken glass, press a slice of bread onto the area and it will gather up every single piece (myself & my friend Aine learned this one from Anthea Turner and it really works!)

•    place a few drops of lavender or your favourite essential oil near the vent of your hoover to release a fresh scent into your room

•    to mask unpleasant kitchen smells, place some coffee beans in a saucepan and burn them. The strong smell of coffee will overpower the other smells

•    to clean the microwave, add four tablespoons of lemon juice to a cup of water in a bowl and boil in the microwave for five minutes. The steam will loosen the residue and grease on the inside walls of the microwave. Then just wipe away with a damp cloth

•    to remove fingerprints from stainless steel appliances, add a small drop of baby oil onto a cotton cloth and wipe away

•    to get rid of the smell of garlic from your hands, rub them against stainless steel (your sink) and then wash your hands with soap

•    to remove furniture indentations from pure wool carpet, place a tea towel over the area and press with a warm iron. The heat will lift the fibres. (don’t use on wool/synthetic mix or synthetic carpets)

•    always keep a pair of rubber gloves in the bathroom for cleaning the toilet only-never use the same gloves for cleaning the toilet to clean anywhere else!

Happy Cleaning!