Green Up: Eco-Friendly Cleaning and Organizing Hacks
With spring comes the unavoidable spring cleaning and home reorganizing, but this year, try to be a bit smarter with your tidy-up process. Store-bought cleaners are pricey, trigger all sorts of allergies and health issues and can harm our beautiful planet. Additionally, getting a bunch of plastic boxes and new crates for storage can also cost you a lot of money and fill our already overflowing landfills with even more stuff. However, if you give these eco-friendly cleaning and organizing tips a try, you’ll make your home healthier and your environment cleaner.
Repurpose as much as you can
The easiest items to repurpose are cardboard boxes, glass jars and bottles and wooden crates. So, don’t throw away new shoe boxes, but use them for storing tools, accessories, hygiene products, makeup or out-of-season gear like scarves, hats and gloves. And of course, you can also use them for neatly organizing your shoes. Next, once you finish a jar of pickles, wash the jar and save it. These jars can be used for many things right in the kitchen. Use them as utensil holders, or keep grains or various cooking ingredients in them! Old wooden wine or fruit crates can also serve as handy and beautiful storage for bigger items like blankets, magazines, books or kids or pet toys. They are sturdy, easy to stack and can be easily repainted to fit your interior style. If you keep an open mind, many things in your household can be reused for storage.
Utilize under-the-bed space
The space under the bed is a perfect storage area that usually goes unused. However, you can easily utilize it with some old drawers. If you have an old dresser you’re planning to get rid of, remove some of its drawers and turn them into handy under-the-bed organizers!
Office organizing
If you’re reorganizing your home office, make sure to place your desk near the window. This little hack will not only provide you with a beautiful view, but will also boost the amount of natural light you get. You’ll save electricity and money on your utility bill!
Easy glass cleaning
Cleaning glass surfaces can be a big bother and it often requires huge amounts of glass cleaner. However, you can ditch your chemical cleaner for some vinegar and achieve the same result! Mix vinegar and water, pour it into a spray bottle and wipe your windows, glass tables and mirrors. Another great thing you can do is invest in glass coating. For instance, the reliable Shellkote coating can turn your glass surfaces from regular glass that smudges very easily into an easy-to-clean surface that will make maintenance a breeze. This coating also makes your glass scratch- and abrasion-resistant, and all you’ll need to clean it is some mild detergent and a cloth! No more nasty and toxic chemicals!
Healthy furniture polish
Furniture polish you can get from the store contains many chemicals, including petroleum distillates and solvents which are both toxic. However, there is a much better and healthier way to keep your furniture shiny: lemon and olive oil! Mix two parts olive oil and one part lemon juice for an easy and cheap wood polish. It will leave your furniture smelling fresh and looking sparkly!
Keep your tiles sparkly clean
If you notice your bathroom grout looking all mouldy and gross, you can fix this problem with the help of some sparkling water. Take some water, mix it with vinegar and spray the solution onto your mouldy grout. After some scrubbing, all the grime should come off. However, if you have some seriously nasty grout, add baking soda to the mix until you get a thick scrubbing paste. This should take care of even the mouldiest of grouts and make your bathroom clean and mould-free.
Who says you can’t clean and organize your home without strong store-bought cleaners, plastic containers and expensive storage chests? Everything you need to keep your humble abode clean and tidy is already present in your household, you just have to know how to use it!
