Retro, uh, Thursday? 2 Sick Hostesses Edition

Very nice article thanks for sharing

I've cut back, too ............ vinegar; lemons,salt and baking soda; Bar Keeper's Friend; Windex (the real stuff; I like the way it doesn't streak); OxyClean or Borax; Dawn dish soap; elbow grease; microfiber cloths as well as old rags.
I hate the too chemical smells of lots of commercial products. Can it be good to breathe them in?

Sorry to hear you ladies are sick. Hope some sunshine will come your way and boost your immune systerms! Take care of yourselves.

I have to get on with Spring cleaning... I'm hoping to get caught up while my husband's off for a few days so he can keep the little guys occupied. Much as I appreciate their "help," it goes a lot faster without!

I'm down to very few cleaning products now- Windex, method. all purpose cleaner and wood cleaner, vinegar, lemons and baking soda. I just tried cleaning my sinks and tub with 1/2 a lemon dipped in baking soda last week, and I couldn't believe how well it worked! Smelled great, too. :)

Hope you're both feeling better soon!

Get well soon, Ivy and Heather!

With a week of 80-degree temps, I started spring cleaning early. (Ugh, it's now in the 40s!) I'm down to using one solution for just about everything: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day general purpose cleaner. That, plus a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and a microfiber towel does just about everything. For disinfecting, I am trying a few drops of oil of oregano in the solution. It smells nicely herbal, and certainly leaves things looking very clean. The next time I'm sure I've made a germy mess in the sink or on the countertop, I'll clean it with my herbal disinfectant and then take a culture of the cleaned surface to see if it really does disinfect. If it does, I won't need a chemical disinfectant. I still use bleach solution to clean my kitchen rags, though.

I cut back years ago on cleaning products, because they are so expensive. I use (store brand) windex for windows, mirrors, any glass, Tide for bathtubs and showers (really cuts the greasy soap scum-USE VERY LITTLE on a clean mop head) and of course clothes, I do use those toilet wand scrubbers, but I only scrub the toilet once a week (sorry Flylady) and spray the outside with windex, so a box lasts me for a while. I mop in hot water using a different mop for bathrooms, kitchen and rest of house). If the floor is really bad, I will add a little dish soap. We wash dishes with dish washing tablets and I keep dish soap by the sink for dishes and hands. It lasts me forever though.

Because I have migraines, I don't use scented stuff any more. I keep bleach for when we are really sick (since it brings on a migraine)

One thing Flylady said years ago when I was using her system was that if a house is clean, it won't smell. If it smells, you need to find the source of the smell and clean. Once the kitty's moved out, I found that to be so true. Our house smells clean because it is clean. When I smell something (usually after cooking), I find it and clean that area well.

Unfortunately, what we have had lately at our house hasn't been related to how clean the house is, but rather who we've been with. I am so ready for spring so that we can all get well and stay that way for a while.

One thing I do splurge on is mop heads. I bought a mop years ago that the heads screw on and off of. I bought several extra mop heads. I use one in each bathroom (don't spread germs from one bathroom to another), one for the main part of the house, and another one for the kitchen. I mop like you bathe a baby, cleanest rooms to dirtiest rooms. I wash the mops in hot water alone so that they don't spread germs to my other clothes. Throw in a little bleach if you don't mop with it. When the mop heads get too old or really gross, I splurge on a few more.

Funny that you guys posted this. My hubby went shopping this week and I FORBID him to buy ANY cleaning supplies. We have too big of a collectin and I want to use them all up so we can start going a bit greener inside our home (more about irritants we are exposing kiddos to.....less about the Earth, although I do love the Earth).

I have gone through all the Windex cleaning the windows with my kids on Sunday. We are almost out of the Mr. Clean. Down to Ajax, 409 and this nasty smelling blue Fabuloso stuff (don't buy this....it will make your house smell really weird for days).

Once all this stuff is gone (next week?) we are going to vinegar and water for day to day cleaning. I will use bleach water for the serious stuff and I will have a hidden stash of commercial stuff tucked away for the tough jobs (shhhh.....).

I am tired of wasting this money on simple jobs like daily table wipe downs, counter wipe downs, cleaning out sinks, shining up chrome and mirrors and windows.

I look forward to saving the money.

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Sorry you guys are sick....but hope you guys find relaxing things to do whilst you mend.