Spring Cleaning and Women's Health

Cleaning is no longer solely a woman’s job, but let’s face it, if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. A woman is the nucleus of every family and her habits are taught and picked up by the whole family, which makes it important to teach the whole household about non-harmful and non-toxic cleaning products to ensure everyone’s health. The same way we teach our children not to eat their crayons we also need to teach them to stay away from harmful chemicals.

Vinegar can be used in substitute for things like bleach and Clorox. A great recipe for an all purpose cleaner used for things like countertops, kitchen floors, windows, mirrors and to clean mold build up. Try mixing together 2 cups of distilled white vinegar, 2 cups of water, and 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oil. Eucalyptus, mint, and lemon oils have an extremely clean scent and are great to put in these cleaning recipes for an aromatic treat. Warming the mixture will also boost the cleaning power but only microwave in a glass container.

If you need something to scrub tiles, toilets and bath tubs then you would want to adopt this recipe. All you need is 2 cups of baking soda, ½ cup of liquid castile soap, 4 teaspoons of veggie glycerin which acts as a preservative, 5 drops of antibacterial oil like tea tree or lavender. Lemon and orange are great oils to add in cleaning products. This will have a creamy consistency and has a shelf life of 2 years if stored correctly in a glass jar. If you really want to get in to the hard cleaning jobs then spray the mess with the vinegar mix and then apply the scrub and dirt be gone! You can also make this mixture dry by just using baking soda and/or salt and mixing it with a few drops of essential oil. If you decide to use the castile soap then make sure that it contains no sodium lauryl sulfate or Diethanolamine which can have harmful side effects.

This furniture polish can replace Pledge. It’s a ¼ cup of olive oil, ¼ cup of white distilled vinegar and about 20 drops of more essential oil. Mix it all up and apply a small amount on a cloth. Pine oil can be an amazing smelling essential oil to use also. It has a super clean smell and will trick anyone in thinking it was a regular cleaning product but without the toxic effects. An asthmatic can now clean their house without having breathing problems. This is also good for anyone with irritated sinuses and allergies. These recipes are fool proof and are a great alternative for those adopting a healthy lifestyle.