Call on herb power for eco-friendly cleaning products
hake a duster,
wer alon with a broom or a mop and scrub energetically, so that dust, cobwebs and winter grime are all banished and you’re ready for a new season.
Spring cleaning is a timeless annual ritual to spritz up your home but a chore.
Follow these tips to make cleaning in the old-fashioned way as enjoyable as possible. If you wouldn’t give house room to chemicals and toxins, white vinegar is a fantastic kitchen cleaner, says green living blogger Wendy Graham, author of Fresh Clean Home , which is full of recipes for natural cleaning products.
“Vinegar’s cheap, cuts through grease like nothing else, deodorises and some people even swear by its use as a disinfectant,” she points out.
“If you don’t like the smell, you can use fruit peelings and whatever herbs you have to hand.”
One of Graham’s favourite combinations is lemon, lavender and thyme concentrate, which can be used whenever any cleaning recipe calls for vinegar.
Alternatively, use it as an all-purpose kitchencleaning spray.
Half-fill a spray bottle with the scented vinegar mixture and top up the other half with cooled boiled water (for a 50/50 dilution).
Diluting is important because the concentrated citrus oils, undiluted, could stain lighter surfaces.
Do not use on marble, granite or other natural stone surfaces. Lemon, Lavender and Thyme Concentrate, featured in Fresh Clean Home by Wendy Graham, published by Pavilion, £12.99. (Makes about 4 litres/7 pints, for single use) Shelf life: Use immediately Ingredients: 150ml/5fl oz witch hazel; 1 tbsp borax substitute; 40 drops pine essential oil; 3-4l/5-7 pints very warm water Method: Add the witch hazel, borax substitute and essential oil to the warm water and stir well, ensuring the borax substitute dissolves fully. To use: Dip your mop in the mixture, wring out as much liquid as possible, then wipe over your floor as normal.