My mother, my sister in law, and Monica from the sitcom Friends, all have one thing in common... they love to clean. Or maybe it is the results of their efforts that they love the most. Either way, I lovingly refer to them as cleaning geeks. They get very excited when they find a new product that works better, faster, simpler. I, on the other hand, do not enjoy cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I don't leave food out to rot, nor are we unable to see ourselves in the mirror for the dust, and we can see the floor... We have a clean house, just not an overly sanitized. I have always avoided the chemicals that come with cleaning. It was not something, until I became pregnant 3 years ago, that I even consciously thought about. I had just avoided most chemicals up until this point because I knew that I will spend the whole time I was using them holding my breath and gasping for air. So I didn't use them. I just don't trust these chemicals. And I think they are unnecessary. In fact, I know they are. I wipe my counters with a wet baby washcloth. I change the cloth each day but other than that I just use water. No one in my family has gotten sick from all those scary germs you hear kids trying to pronounce on television. We are a very healthy bunch. I don't wash my daughter's toys in bleach solution, and she puts them in her mouth all the time. And in our house we don't use antibacterial anything. The hand sanitizer that I did use when in Haiti, is now only used for removing pine sap from clothing. And air freshener? I am the most suspicious of that. I know many people who Febreeze the hell out of their surroundings. This makes my skin crawl and my lungs seize. Should our kids, pets, and ourselves be inhaling this stuff? I can understand that occasionally you don't want to leave the bathroom without it, yet all you need to do is strike a match, blow it out, and flush it. As you can see, I have given these things some thought but what I never really "got" until yesterday was that there is a natural alternative to most of these crazy chemicals. I mean, I do use white vinegar and baking soda to clean my toilets. And I did start to use diluted vinegar in a spray bottle to wash my mirrors. And I was so thrilled the other day with my vinegar, baking soda, and scrub brush treatment on my shower and tub that I almost could see Monica's love of cleaning. In fact, I went temporarily insane and considered becoming a "natural" cleaning lady for other people! Yeah, I have come back done to earth. But, I know I have only scratched the surface on ways to making everyday cleaning a good experience for myself, my family, and the earth.
Recommended Reading:
Green Clean
By Linda Mason Hunter & Mikki Halpin
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