As winter clears out and spring inches in, the yearly affair of giving the house a good sprucing up takes place. Traditionally occurring on the first warm day of the year, usually in spring, families get together to clean the house from top to bottom.
However, spring-cleaning isn’t a walk in a park. With the amount of work and time needed to get the house spick-and-span, many would turn to the professionals for help. However, should you decide to engage your family with some family bonding activity and at the same time play your part to preserve the environment, a good amount of thought and creativity are needed when it comes to spring-cleaning.
This post will provide you valuable tips and will also guarantee you spend much less time for whole process.
1. Microwave the Sponge
Starting with one of the most overlooked items in the house – the dish-cleaning sponge. Studies have shown that over 75% of household sponges contain disease-causing bacteria like E. Coli. And using them on a daily basis simply spreads the germs, contaminating everything that you might have painstakingly cleaned.
In order to prevent the unfortunate situation of having anyone in the family falling ill, most would have the habit of changing their dish sponge almost every other day. However, for a more cost savvy option, damp your used sponge and toss it into the microwave for 2 minutes daily. This will eradicate most germs in it and prolong its lifespan.
2. Scum Remover
Instead of spraying the bath tub with scum removing detergent and potentially exposing your family, especially the kids to harmful chemicals, nature has bestowed upon us some great resources to rid us of those disgusting scum that have accumulated over the winter.
Enter white vinegar and lemon juice. Along with some hot water, these ingredients will form your natural scum removal mix and they are certainly a lot cheaper on the wallets!
Simply fill the tub with hot warm and a pint of white vinegar. At the same time, soak your washcloth in lemon juice. Once the water has cooled, grab the cloth and get cleaning. You’ll soon find that the scum will disappear in a jiffy. Best part, no artificial substances involved in the entire process. Go green!
3. Shower head Overhaul
Whilst still in the bathroom, you might want to look up at your showerhead to check if it requires some TLC. Chances are it would have built up some grimy stuff over the past few months. For a highly effective and organic trick, here’s where the vinegar you’ve used earlier on your tub comes in handy again.
Grab a small plastic bag and fill it with vinegar halfway. Then, tie it around the shower head, making sure that it is fully submerged in the liquid. Leave it overnight and return the next day to find your shower head freed from its mucky blockage.
4. Natural Oven Cleaner
The oven is one of the most used appliances in the kitchen, and after months of usage, it is sure to build up some form of gunk. Especially when it is used for preparing food for the family, the last thing you would want is to have chemical residues in the oven after cleaning it.
With a little bit of baking soda and ammonia, both easily and cheaply available at your local supermarket, this is a much safer and frugal way of cleaning your oven.
Once the oven is preheated to 200°, switch it off and place two glass dishes into it. One should contain 1 to 2 cups of ammonia, and the other, the same amount of boiling water. Leave them overnight and wipe the oven down with a damp sponge coated with baking soda the next day.
5. Fresh Mattress
On the topic of baking soda, it’s good to know that this miracle ingredient works wonders even in your bedroom. Did you know that an average of 10,000 to 10,000,000 dust mites live in your mattress?
Spring-cleaning your room can be cost effective with a few ingredients, even for your bulky mattress. With some baking soda and essential oil, you can make your very own cleaning concoction. Not only will you save a fair bit of money, but it also poses almost no health hazards and you can even determine the kind of scent the cleaning progress leaves!
Add in 4 or 5 drops of essential oil to every 1cup of baking soda and mix well. With the powdery blend done, pour it over a sifter and lightly dust your mattress with it. Once done, vacuum away slowly after an hour!
The baking soda will draw out any moisture and dust while the essential oil will deodorise it, leaving you with a clean and fresh mattress!
Conclusion
Spring-cleaning is a time of family bonding where every family member pulls his or her weight. It shouldn’t have to be expensive or too time consuming, especially with tons of natural and eco-friendly recipes available online. But in some cases when help is not accessible, hiring a professional is an option as long as your budget allows for it. Whatever it is, work with what you have and for those with budget constraints or the luxury of time, you’ll be surprised at how resourceful you can be.
About the Author
Tim Sparke is a loving husband and devoted father. He also has a passion for writing and giving back to society and writes the blog at Drymaster Carpet Cleaning.
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