Less Waste AND A Cleaner Floor!

Ditch your Swiffer and get a reusable mop so you don't have to keep buying expensive Swiffer refills, that fill up our landfills!

I prefer the microfiber mop heads because they clean better, and you don't even need any cleaning products so that means less chemicals in your home!

Home Made Floor Cleaner: Mix 4 cups of white distilled vinegar with about a gallon of hot water. If desired, add a few drops of pure peppermint or lemon oil for a pleasant scent. After damp mopping the floors, the smell of vinegar will dissipate quickly, leaving behind only the scent of the oil.

Want to find a new mop? Try this one!

Bona Microfiber Floor Mop

Do You Have Hard Water Or Rust Stains In Your Toilet?

Hard Water Rings:
To remove the “ring” inside your toilet bowl use a Pumice stone, it won’t scratch the surface and is very effective in removing the yellow or red scale in the tank.

Rust Stains:
Apply a rust removing chemical to the bowl of the toilet. An excellent choice is Lime Out, which has a special thickener added to help it cling to vertical surfaces. It will dissolve lime, rust, calcium, soap scum and mineral deposits. It is great for areas with hard water problems. Let the chemical cling to the surface for a few minutes so it can do the work. Then scrub, and rinse the toilet. It is that easy!


It is good to know that Lime Out Extra is specially formulated with a low ph, organic salt, non-abrasive chemicals, and surfactants so it isn’t as dangerous or harsh as an acidic, or abrasive type cleansers.

Shower Doors

   

This is probably the least favorite cleaning task in your home, but it needs to be done more often then you think. When you take a shower you want to get truly clean. If your showers are funky, you are breeding bacteria!

So many of you have asked me "How do I get hard water spots off the shower door?" This one if for you! In future blogs we will tackle soap scum, mold and mildew.

Hard water, that bane of so many existences, contains excess minerals that stick around after the water has washed away. Those minerals can leave a caked-on mess in pipes and on water faucets, streaks in toilet bowls and "hard-water spots" on shower doors that are impossible to hide and seem impossible to remove.

They're not, though. Vinegar will take care of those stains, too, but in this case try a diluted mixture -- half vinegar and half water. Wipe it on just like you would for the soap scum, leave it on for several minutes, and then rinse. For water spots on the metal rim, a citrus oil (like lemon or orange) can work wonders.

And once you've cleared the spots, consider applying car wax to the shower doors. It will seal the surface so it's harder for the minerals to deposit there (and easier to remove if they do). Just make sure you don't wax the shower floor -- you'll slip.

Once you've cleaned your shower doors of water spots, mildew or soap scum, the trick is to keep them that way. If you wipe the doors with a towel or a Shower Squeegee, keep them open for air flow, and spray on a shower cleaner after each shower, you'll find your weekly scrub-down to be a lot less time-consuming.

Do You Have A Question For The Cleaning Fairy? E-Mail me or leave it in the comments!

How To Clean An Oven Vent

I'm sure you have tried to clean an oven vent at one point in your life. I run into these little "goop catchers" as I like to call them, in just about every house I clean. Sometimes, they are REALLY bad, and sometimes they aren't so bad. Either way, if you have them, you need to clean them.

I have found the easiest way to clean these is take them off and lay them in your sink and run hot water over them for a few minutes. I liberally sprinkle baking soda all over the vent making sure to get it into all the little nooks and crannies. I then spray the entire thing with vinegar. This creates a chemical reaction that should fizzle a little. I let that soak in for a little while, then I use a stiff brush to clean it out. If you have an old toothbrush laying around that works well too. I usually spray it one more time with vinegar just to make sure it is grease free. Rinse it with hot water and viola you should have a clean vent.

The more you cook the more often you need to clean this. I suggest cleaning it at least once a month. If you do, that task won't be as difficult the next time!


Do you have a question for The Cleaning Fairy? Let me know in the comments!

Who Needs Mr. Clean?

Did you know that you can make your own Magic Erasers? These little gems can remove scuff marks from floors, hand prints on walls, and recently I removed a large purple "rub" spot from bedding on a wall. I have used them to scrub stoves, tubs, and showers. The problem is they are expensive. So I did a little search on Pinterest to see if I could find something cheaper, and I did! All these are is melamine foam, and water and they become magic!

Click here to buy them on Amazon!

DIY Projects To Help You Clean

Have you ever thought "WOW! I love my swiffer sweeper but I am out of cloths?" Well the crafty gals over at Natural Nesters have just the solution! You can save money, recycle an old towel AND reduce waste.

Do you like handy cleaning wipes? I know I use them around my own house, and even when I am cleaning some of my clients homes. Why not make them yourself and save money and avoid all the chemicals? Visit the folks over at Organized Home to find out how.

Do you have a shower door that just isn't shiny anymore? Maybe a rust stain? Try this DIY Shower Scrub and you will never go back to scrubbing bubbles again! I didn't believe it myself until I tried it on hard water stains on a shower door, and like magic they were gone!

Do you have a DIY cleaning product you would like to share? Leave it in our comments!

More Ways To Use Vinegar...

I promised you more ways to use vinegar in cleaning today so here they are!

• Remove soap buildup and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle. Do monthly.
• Discourage ants by spraying undiluted white distilled vinegar outside doorways and windowsills, around appliances and wherever you find the pests coming in.
• Wipe grease off exhaust fan grids, the inside of your oven, or anywhere grease gathers with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar.
• Renew sponges and dishrags by placing them in just enough water to cover them. Then add 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. Let them soak overnight.
• Clean grout by letting full-strength white distilled vinegar sit on it for a few minutes and scrubbing it with an old toothbrush.
   

I will be back tomorrow with more! What is your favorite use for vinegar!?