If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to help with cleaning or improving the way you clean, right? I know that as a mom, I sometimes run across messes that are new to me and generally have to go to Google to find help. I decided to ask some of my fellow blogging friends for their awesome cleaning tips and put them here to help you and I out. Because they had so many great tips, I'll be breaking them up into two different posts So, think of these posts as a cleaning reference guide. Here we go!
Getting in a Routine
One of my downsides is that I have not created a routine when it comes to cleaning. Let's face it, a majority of people work better with a routine. I believe that I am one of those, but have not found one that works well for me. I'm still a work in progress when it comes to a cleaning routine. Here are some ideas that I can really see myself using.
Jeannie over at
For what it's worth, has a great chart that will help get you into a routine of always keeping your house clean. Check out her post
How to Clean Your House With Chart. I would suggest either laminating the chart after printing it out or putting it in a photo frame. This way you can check off what you've done with a dry erase marker and use it over and over.
Jen over at
The Nifty Thrifty Lady came up with a routine that worked for her busy schedule of being a working mom. Her routine was to do at least 30 minutes of cleaning a day. I think I can handle that kind of routine. Check out her post
The Search for a better routine... . She also has a pdf available of the routine she uses.
For those who use a binder/planner to help with you daily routine of life, Ally over at
The Speckled Goat talks about how she keeps herself checked with her cleaning. It's a great way to see what you've done throughout the month and to see what you've been neglecting. Check it her post
The Binder: My Cleaning Record and don't forget to download the FREE printable!
Homemade Cleaning Solutions
Now that we've decided on a cleaning routine, let's talk about making your own cleaning solutions. I know that the big thing nowadays is to try and clean the most non-toxic, non-chemical way. Many of the items you need to make your own cleaning solutions can be found in your house already.
I'll first start with one of my posts about making an
All Purpose Cleaner. This actually did a great job when cleaning my fridge. The grit of the baking soda helps get all the different messes off. You'll want to wipe down the fridge with a damp sponge/cloth to remove all the baking soda. I have since made this without the baking soda and it works amazingly.
If you don't want to use the baking soda all purpose cleaner that I just mentioned, you might like the one that Ally over at
The Speckled Goat uses. I actually do this now, but instead of oranges, I use lemons. Check out her post
My All Natural, All Purpose Daily Cleaner.
Annette over at
This Simple Home was like me, wanting a simple and easy way of cleaning the tub after not cleaning it for a fairly long time. She started out just like me (here's my post about making a
DIY Soap Scum Remover) making the soap scum remover and ended up finding a better way to use the solution. Check out what she found out worked best in her post
Bathtub Cleaner.
Deal with sticky floors and nothing seems to work? Christen over at
DIY Swank found a chemical free solution that worked much better than what she had been using before. Check out her post
Conquer Sticky Floors - DIY Chemical Free Floor Cleaner to learn more. Might have to make some of this for our house.
As moms we all deal with our kids getting sick and not in the toilet as we would like. I found an amazing
DIY Vomit Cleaner after Michael getting a stomach bug several years ago. It did an amazing job and thankfully I haven't had to use it since then.
All the solutions above all use vinegar. Cheryl over at
Tidy Mom came up with a list of all the different ways you could use vinegar to clean your house. It's amazing what all this fairly inexpensive item that most people think of using for cooking or dyeing Easter eggs can do. Check out Cheryl's list on her post
How to clean with vinegar.
I had no idea of all the things you could clean with just rubbing alcohol. I remember using it back in elementary school to clean our recorders that we shared in music class. Several years ago I learned about using it to
Clean Microfiber Furniture, but had no idea about anything else. Angie over at
The Country Chic Cottage has a list of all the other amazing uses of rubbing alcohol. Check out her post
25 Ways to Clean with Alcohol to learn more.
I've always thought of hydrogen peroxide as something to use when it came to medical things such as cuts. Now that I think about it, it shouldn't be too surprising since the reason for using it on cuts is the cleaning, disinfecting aspect of hydrogen peroxide. Angie from
The Country Chic Cottage has another amazing list of what you can clean with it. Check out her post
25 Ways to Clean Naturally with Peroxide to learn more.
I was a little surprised when I ran across this. The only thing that I've used this for is in baking and that's not very often. Well, Angie from
The Country Chic Cottage has an amazing list of things you can clean with cream of tartar. Check out her post
Cleaning with Cream of Tartar to learn more.
I've never worked with corn starch and don't even have it in the house. After reading Angie's post
25 Ways to Clean Naturally with Corn Starch, I might have to buy some to have on hand.
Hope you found this to be helpful when it comes to cleaning your house or tackling stains and messes of everyday life. I know that I'm glad I wrote this post because now I have a resource to come back to when I have grease on clothes to get out, cleaning stained pots and pans, cleaning grout, and the list goes on. Stay tuned to part two and some more amazing cleaning tips!
4 comments
Awesome cleaning round up! I found zone cleaning to really work for me and not feel overwhelmed. I am terrible with stains and natural cleaning though so this will be a great reference!
ReplyDeleteI really love the style of this printable. Pretty things get me motivated, off to download!
ReplyDeleteGreat list Lucy. Like you I need routine to keep up with the cleaning. The funny thing is that by setting a fixed time to do the chores, it doesn't eat into family time. PS I'm about to try out your multipurpose cleaner recipe for my fridge :-)
ReplyDeleteWe recently started a house cleaning business, and came across this article.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate you taking the time to write this. there are a lot of handy tips and tricks.
This information definitely helps to expedite the process of tidying up a houseWe recently started a house cleaning business, and came across this article.
Really appreciate you taking the time to write this. there are a lot of handy tips and tricks.
This information definitely helps to expedite the process of tidying up a house