ZOMG! Martha Stewart is RIGHT!

Kind of a duh moment there huh? I recently purchased a copy of Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook.   Remember how I said that my Mom didn't pass down any of that good old fashioned homekeeping advice? (Don't get me wrong, she knew it, she just didn't teach me.  My grandmother and grandmother in law are products of finishing schools. My mother rebelled. Hence I don't know any of that random stuff).  Well this book has it all. Over 700 pages of cleaning tips. My favorite parts were how seven or so different kinds of counter tops were listed, their pros and cons, and how to clean and care for each and every type. Maybe not that big a deal for someone who is likely to live in one home her whole life, but for someone like me who relocates every three years? Priceless.  This last week has been a random collection of moments where I found myself saying "Oh my goodness! Martha was RIGHT!". For a girl with a Mary heart like me and not an ounce of Martha in her, this is perfect.  So many things I've learned but I've completely redone my cleaning kit.

What do I use now?

This stuff is fracking epic.  Apparently they've resisted change for YEARS...like over a hundred and kept their original formula. They've only altered it recently because they realized some of their ingredients were non renewable and wanted to provide a better product for the earth overall. Only minor changes but still all ingredients I can pronounce.  And there's only five of them. Baking soda, Soda Ash, Feldspar, Limestone and two surfactants made from corn and palm oils.  Natural enough that you could clean your sink with it before bathing your newborn baby. Even better, it actually works and didn't destroy my hands. It's mildly abrasive so don't use it on glass, but you can use it on anything else. INCLUDING pots and pans.  Try doing that with Comet!

White Vinegar

More acidic than most cleaners and a disinfectant to boot. You can clean soap scum in a flash and disinfect your toilets, clean your windows etc. A half and half mixture with water will clean damn near anything you need it too and the scent dissipates as it dries.  I first learned about this beauty when I cloth diapered my babies. Throw some in a downy ball and throw it in the wash and it will get rid of urine smells.


Dish soap

Not just for dishes. Instead of Simple Green, or Lysol or any number of chemical laden all purpose cleaners, a tablespoon or so in two cups of hot water inside a spray bottle is the best and by far the most gentle all purpose cleaner you will ever need. It degreased my stove, cleaned my cherry wood dining room table and washed fingerprints from my walls with the greatest of ease. All without agitating anybodies nose!


Oxygen Bleach

Now I know you've probably heard of Oxi Clean. But I bet you didn't know it's actually Oxygen Bleach.  Ever see those pins on pinterest where people mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide and clean the crap out of everything? What they are making is the liquid form of this stuff.  Not just for cleaning your clothes (although you should use a scoop of this stuff in every load anyway!) anything you need to clean with bleach you can clean with this stuff. While it doesn't disinfect as well as chlorine bleach, it does clean just as well without any scent at all.  If you need something disinfected, I recommend you look at what I wrote about Vinegar, above.

There are more things I use obviously like Ammonia for truly tough jobs but for the most part, this is it.  All clean, healthy and nothing you need to worry about using with little ones. If you have an extra thirty dollars I highly suggest you pick up this epic book.  It's not a detailed book on cleaning your coffeemaker perse, but you will gain lots of knowledge that is well worth having in my humble opinion.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!
 



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just your ordinary run of the mill mom of six, military wife and fitness freak. :)
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