Do You Make These 3 Natural Cleaning Mistakes?

Are You Making These Common Natural Cleaning Mistakes?

Part of living green and avoiding toxic products is  to use natural cleaning products.

Instead of using commercial products, most things can be cleaned using baking soda / sodium bicarbonate and vinegar.

But –  there are 3 mistakes that we often make. Are you making any of these common natural cleaning mistakes?

Natural Cleaning Mistakes  –  Carpet Stains

When something spills onto a carpet or rug, do you run for a towel (or, worse, a disposable paper towel) to mop it up? It can help, but a better method is to use baking soda / sodium bicarbonate and vinegar. But you need to get the order right, or you’ll have a mini-volcano! First, soak the stain with vinegar, then sprinkle on a little baking soda.  Wait a few moments for it to absorb the stain, then wipe and vacuum it up.

Tip: this method avoids scrubbing which also avoids a potential woolly-looking spot in your carpet where the fibers have unwoven.

Tip: before a stain occurs, test a small amount of vinegar on each carpet and rug in your house to make sure it doesn’t discolour. (You would need to do do this with commercial products too). You can also dilute the vinegar with water if you are worried that it might be too strong.

Natural Cleaning Mistakes – Cleaning Windows

We all know that vinegar is the best window cleaner – it’s inexpensive, easy to use, and doesn’t streak.  But if you’re cleaning your windows on a hot, sunny day, be sure to clean only a small surface area at a time, otherwise the heat will dry it more quickly than you can wipe, and cause streaks. Use equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle – for really dirty windows, use less water.

Tip: the first time you clean with vinegar after using commercial products, you may see some streaking.  Don’t blame the vinegar – it’s often due to the residue of the original commercial products. You’ll see that once that is gone, vinegar doesn’t streak.

You might also enjoy: You Never Thought of Using Vinegar This Way!

Natural Cleaning Mistakes – Polishing Furniture

Don’t put your natural polish directly onto the wood! Instead, spray or pour your mixture directly onto the cleaning cloth – the cloth can now collect dirt and trap it on a moist surface instead of making it fly up and then resettle once you’ve moved on to clean something else.

Tip:  A good natural polish recipe is the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon water. Mix well and pour or spray onto a clean cloth.

Now, not only are you avoiding toxic products by using safe ingredients, but you’re also avoiding the top 3 natural cleaning mistakes!

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