Cleaning Your New Home Naturally

Moving into a "new" house is always an adventure, especially identifying what you need to do to be comfortable as you move into the new space. At a minimum, you will need to clean your new home. And depending on your attitude toward cleaning, or your budget for hiring someone else, you will need to clean your home on a regular basis! I would like to share some ideas for naturally cleaning your new home and keeping it clean:

First, use non-toxic ingredients to clean your new home. The germs that you are fighting as you clean your home are often not as harmful to your health as the ingredients that are in the cleaning agents themselves. Try natural cleaners such as vinegar and water, baking soda, tea tree oil and salt. Many websites have recipes and instructions for mixing the most effective cleaner for specific jobs. Try putting the keywords "natural, homemade, cleaners" in your favorite search engine, or check out the links below:

http://www.mixitproductions.com/prjmisc/guides/greentips/tip10.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

Second, let the sunshine in! There is nothing like fresh air and sunshine to freshen your home and keep it nice and clean. Winter is over, so now is an optimal time to be letting as much light and fresh air into your home as possible. (Assuming you don't want to be living with things that *like* dark and musty spaces!)

Third, clean as you go. If you put off cleaning, the effort and time required to clean can increase immensely. Clean up spills when they happen, rinse dishes that you don't have time to wash right away, wipe the counters in the kitchen and bath, etc. Regular, light cleaning significantly reduces the need for major deep cleaning -- and seriously, who enjoys that??

Good luck in your efforts to maintain a clean, healthy, and non-toxic home!