Detox Your Home

Did you know your indoor air can be up to five times worse than the outdoor air pollution? Formaldehyde, lead, and asbestos that are found in many homes can cause allergies and asthma. You can reclaim your home with a few tips to follow.

Start going through the cleaning supplies you use throughout your house. Are there chemicals used in these that will enter the air to be inhaled or a surface that will be in contact with your skin? Consider switching to all natural products or making your own with vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, and lemons. Then by adding some houseplants that will help clear out other air pollutants. Also, check to see if your house was built before 1978, as 80% of homes in that time period contain lead based paint. The paint chips and dust can be inhaled or ingested. You can get brocures from your county on ways to get rid of lead paint in your home.

You should keep rooms properly ventilated and open windows regularly. Replace air-conditioning and furnace filters and keep air ducts clean. This removes bacteria, mold, viruses and pollen. Also, remove shoes at the door as this will keep fewer toxins from being tracked through the house.

Most people use air fresheners not realizing the artificial fragrances can cause problems with allergies. Choose to freshen your home naturally with hypoallergenic products in non-aerosol containers. You can make your own fragrant spray by filling a mister bottle with filtered water then add a few drops of your favorite essential oils.

Greener Laundry Day!

I have continued to be amazed by these products that we already have in our homes. The top three items that I keep talking about are lemons or lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda. Its unbelievable what these items can do and keeps me wondering why don't we just use these instead of going out and buying more expensive products when they can do the same thing. Here are a few ideas I have ran across while looking into making my laundry room a little greener.

Lemon juice which of course smells good and fresh can whiten clothes when you add a cup to the wash cycle. It also removes stains and can be used as a bleach. All you have to do is pour lemon juice over the stain, rub the area with salt, place your garment in the sun for several hours then wash as you would normally. I'm extremely excited to try it out as a bleach as my daughter seems to end up with stains on her shirt everyday and I have no clue where they come from.

Baking soda of course freshens up the air as most of us already use it in our fridge and now we can add laundry to the list for this amazing product. Add 1/2 cup to a load of laundry as it will help boost your detergent. Certain types of water have minerals that need to be broken down so that your detergent can do a better job which in turn can mean that you won't have to use as much detergent as suggested saving you money! Baking soda is also great for people with sensitive skin.

Vinegar continues to impress me everyday! If you perspire a lot this is something you should keep in a spray bottle in your laundry room! Spray the vinegar on the underarm and collar area of clothing. This cuts through deodorant residue and prevents the yellowing effect you get on the underarms of shirts. Brighten fabrics by adding 1/2 cup in the rinse cycle which can also be used as a fabric softener. Now I don't know how your family is but my husband seems to always put a wet towel in the hamper only for me to find it a day later and it smells nasty! Well, I am so excited about finding that vinegar can help remove the mildew by adding 2 cups of vinegar in hot water to wash cycle. After you have run that then wash as you normally would. Most of us take our washing machine for granted but it does need to be taken care of! To remove soap scum and mineral deposits that can build up in your washer add 1 cup vinegar to hot water and run through the wash cycle. You should do this four times a year.

Now if your just looking into finding ways to save money and not necessarily the greener way these are a few ideas for you to try. The new cold water detergent does actually save you around 30 cents a load. You can switch to generic detergent and adding baking soda as stated above as the baking soda helps enhance the detergents cleaning abilities. You can use an aluminum foil ball to stop static cling in your dryer and can be left in for several loads. I haven't ever been a fan of line drying my clothing but as the economy gets worse the more I'm willing to try it out. You can save around $100/year on your utility bill and your clothes can last longer! The suns rays can help bleach and disinfect which of course can be bad for dark clothes but great for your whites! Your dark clothes can be laid on racks indoors if your worried about the sun bleaching them out which can also double as a humidifier in your home!

I think I am sold on line drying clothing! Especially with childrens clothing where I always find stains on white shirts! I am extremely excited to do laundry right now as crazy as it might seem!


{picture via armhammer.com}

DIY Spa Day!!

I don't know about you but I love the spa especially a whole day where you get the bath, facial and the whole deal. Well, maybe you can but I can't afford all that due to the economy right now so I thought why not bring the spa to me! There are so many different options for what you can use for a natural cleansing. The one thing you must do is stock up on honey!! Here are a few recipes that if I haven't used yet I will be soon.

Honey Cleansing Scrub-

• 1 Tblsp of Honey
• 2 Tblsp finely ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Rub the mixture gently on your face and rinse with warm water.

Firming Face Wash

• 1 Tblsp honey
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp glycerin (which can be found at health stores)
• enough flour to make a paste around 1/4 cup

Smooth over face let sit for ten minutes and rinse with warm water.

Facial Toner

• 1 Tblsp honey
• peeled and cored apple

Puree ingredients in blender. Smooth over face, leave for 15 minutes and rinse with cool water.

Moisture Mask

• 2 Tblsps honey
• 2 tsp milk

Smooth mixture over face and throat and rinse with warm water.

Courtyard Milk Bath

• 2 cups dry powder milk
• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 6 drops rose scented oil
• 5 drops vanilla scented oil
• 4 drops lavender scented oil
• 4 drops lemongrass scented oil

This mixture can be premade and kept in a nice container for yourself or put it in multiple containers to use as gifts. Add a cup of the mixture to your bath and enjoy! The scented oils can be mixed to what your preference is.

For a simple skin softening bath add just 1/4 cup honey to your bath.

I'm looking forward to my next DIY day at the spa!

Budget Friendly Green Cleaning Products

I don't know about you, but I don't like the smell of chemicals in my house after a day of cleaning. Of course, I do want it to smell clean but now that I am 7 months pregnant smells already bother me and then for them to be harsh just makes it worse. There are three items in your house that you probably didn't even realize can be used instead of these horrible smelling cleaners. These items are baking soda, vinegar, and lemons.

The first of these, baking soda, is one of the most amazing product you will find. You can use it for to freshen up your carpet, sprinkle the powder over your carpet, let it sit for about 15 minutes and vacuum up. Also unclogging a drain, take 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup salt, pour down the drain followed by boiling water. Let it sit over night then flush it out with regular tap water. I'm sure baking soda will definitely come up again in some of my other blogs since it just seems like endless possibilities with that little box.

Vinegar is a great disinfectant and deodorizer! Mix 1 part vinegar and 1 part water in a cheap spray bottle for an all purpose cleaner that can be used at anytime. You should make sure it is diluted as vinegar can be acidic and should not be used on marble! You can use undiluted vinegar in the bathtub, toilet, sink, stove top, and also as a fabric softener (which is great for families that have skin problems). To use as a fabric softener put 1/2 cup in during the rinse cycle it is very effective on breaking down laundry detergent.

Lemon juice can dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits, it can shine brass, and copper. It can also be mixed with vinegar or baking soda to make a cleaning paste. My favorite in reading about this great product that normally just sits in my fridge is you can mix 1/2 cup lemon juice with 1 cup olive oil for a furniture polish! I was paying so much for furniture polish that seemed to be gone in weeks since all the furniture we have is wood!

I personally have used many of these for the bathroom and kitchen but I can't wait to get to my cleaning this week just to try out the furniture polish and to find even more ways these products can be used!