Traditionally, spring gives homeowners a chance to welcome spring with a clean home. After being cooped up inside all winter, you’re ready to open the windows, wipe off all your home’s surfaces and vacuum under the carpet.
The cleaning products under your kitchen sink might be bad for the environment, though. It also probably includes harmful fumes and toxins that could hurt your family. This spring, clean and organize your home with eco-friendly tips.
Choose Eco-Friendly Products
You can give your home a seasonal sparkle with common kitchen ingredients. That’s right. Baking soda, white distilled vinegar and lemon juice scrub all the surfaces in your home.
1. Use baking soda as a deodorizer. Sprinkle it on the carpets before vacuuming or on your tubs before you scrub them. A natural product, it gives your home a fresh smell and clean sparkle.
2. Vinegar cleans floors, counters and windows. Mix it with water, and spray it wherever you would normally spray an all-purpose cleaner. The smell from vinegar’s non-toxic fumes evaporates almost immediately and doesn’t linger in the air like the fumes from bleach and other cleaners.
3. Lemon juice disinfects your home and serves as natural bleach. Spray it on counter stains, and watch them disappear. You can also run lemon peels through the garbage disposal to improve freshness.
Organize Storage Spaces
With clean surfaces, you’re ready to clean out your closets, cupboards and garage. Tackle one room at a time so you’re not overwhelmed with the chore, and get busy reducing unwanted and unused clutter.
Start in the kitchen. Toss outdated spices and the stale cereal hiding in the back of the cupboard. Match the lids to food storage containers. Evaluate whether you need five roasting pans or 10 spatulas. As you empty each cabinet and organize your kitchen, wipe down the cabinets. In your sorted kitchen, cooking is easier and more enjoyable.
Next, turn your attention to the closets in your home. Can you readily access your clothes? If not, it’s time to clean out the closets. Donate clothes that no longer fit or that you haven’t worn in six months. Sort shoes in a bin or hanging shoe organizer. You might even want to install shelving. With neat closets, getting dressed takes less time and is easier for you and your family members.
You’ll want to spring clean and organize in the basement, attic and garage as well. Here, you probably sort holiday décor, tools and sporting good equipment. Make sure the lights on your artificial Christmas trees work, then store it in a labeled box. Sort tools according to their type. Donate outgrown bicycles and roller blades. When your basement, attic and garage are neat and organized, you can easily see what you own and find everything quickly.
When you start to feel the warmer weather of spring, it’s time to pull out your spring-cleaning supplies and get to work. Use eco-friendly cleaning products as you sort and organize your home. They help you and your family breathe better as they give your home a sparkling shine. What are your favorite spring-cleaning tips?
Lindsey is a professional writer living in the Indianapolis area and she writes on behalf of Sears and other deserving brands. She specializes in writing guest posts on social media and education. Currently, Lindsey is completing work on her master’s degree.