Frugal Luxuries & Natural Solutions: Spring Cleaning

It’s that time of year – Spring Cleaning. Yes, that deserves caps. Spring Cleaning doesn’t have to break the bank or add toxins to your house. There are tons of articles out there, but I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips.

My favorite cleaning products are these: Four Homemade Cleaners and Method. They’re inexpensive (especially the DIY ones) and very effective. As a side note, I don’t know about you, but the house doesn’t smell clean until it smells like lemon Pledge. But because I love to use natural, DIY cleaners I get the same effect by putting lemon oil or lemongrass essential oil in all of them to make them smell right. If you also have scent hang-ups, try a few drops of essential oil.

I recently (as in sometime in the last year or two) got a dust mop – and I had no idea what I was missing. It has a removable terrycloth scrubbing pad that you throw in the wash when you're done making it very reusable with very little waste. If for some reason I wear out that pad, an old towel, some elastic, and a little ingenuity would get me a new one. Gone are the days of a mop and bucket – now I spray the floor and mop away. Glorious. It’s super handy (dry or just slightly damp) for dusting up around the ceiling and the walls, especially in the stairwell when there’s no way in heck I’d be able to reach otherwise.. And of course I can use it dry to sweep/dust the floors. I got mine for less than $10.

Speaking of dusting, a professional cleaner recommended tying a rag (think old t-shirt) around your duster and then spraying it with an all-purpose cleaner or dusting solution to make it slightly damp before doing your major dusting. Of course it won’t be up to fine detail work, but it will do great on the tops of ceiling fans, around the doors, the tops of the blinds, etc, and make your duster last longer.

Spring Cleaning isn’t all about cleaning away dirt, btw. It’s also the time to go through your stuff. Declutter, organize, get your groove on, you  know the drill. As I go through the house the yard sale pile is growing ever larger…

How’s your Spring Cleaning going?