Don’t let the promise of good weather fool you - there are still a few weeks of springtime left here in Britain and that means it’s not too late for your annual deep clean. A spring clean really is a great opportunity to put some time into the cleaning tasks that can’t be done on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Once these are completed, however, you can sit back, relax and gear up for summer in a fresh and airy home!
So with the whisper of a heat wave on the way (or so we’ve heard), it’s time to dust away the cobwebs. The bright light inspires us to deep clean, declutter, reorganise and to make the most of our homes.
Use our ethical and green suggestions below to help make your spring cleaning one of the eco highlights of your year.
How is Spring Cleaning Different to Routine Cleaning?
Most people do some cleaning each day to keep on top of the basics, such as keeping the kitchen and bathrooms presentable and staying on top of laundry. However, over the course of a year, dust, spider webs, grime and clutter build up and this does have an impact on our health, happiness and even the safety of our homes. Spring cleaning, or deep cleaning, reaches the corners, crevices, nooks and crannies which day to day cleaning misses. Spring cleaning goes under and inside furniture, rugs and sofas and it’s best done in late spring / early summer when the light is good and the weather is dry.
Why Eco Spring Cleaning is Important?
A home which is sparkly clean and well organised is a pleasure to live in and visit and it is fantastic for your wellbeing. But there are two approaches to cleaning: cleaning with natural biodegradable products and cleaning with chemical products.
Most conventional household cleaners are toxic and have been linked to asthma, dermatitis, certain cancers and infertility. These chemicals are just as dangerous once they are rinsed down the sink as they pollute our rivers, the seas and poison wildlife. Worse still, some chemicals instead of biodegrading actually bioaccumulate increasing pollution and become concentrated inside the bodies of living things. Who wants to pass this on to their children?
Another disadvantage of using chemical cleaning products is that so many of these items are packed in plastic. Even when you carefully recycle these bottles, we know so much of our recycling never does get recycled. It’s often incinerated or dumped in other countries, ultimately ending up in the sea. More than ever, it is important to do all our cleaning with natural products supplied in plastic free packaging.
Luckily, you can clean without chemicals. After all, that’s what people have done for hundreds of years. At Natural Spa Supplies, we only ever use natural cleaning products and we can pretty much clean anything with them.
We hope our range of environmentally friendly products help you and your family live a cleaner, greener lifestyle.
What do You Need for Green and Ethical Spring Cleaning
Besides a hoover, a mop, a soft broom, a polishing cloth, a dustpan and brush and a step ladder, for your green and ethical cleaning we recommend our Eco Cleaning Kit. This consists of:
1) Natural Antimicrobial Hemp Oil Soap - which gets to grips with all greasy, germy and stubborn grime ridden areas such as the oven, the fridge, the cooker hood, tiles, leather and heavy duty flooring.
2) Organic Soapnuts – a water based, tree grown detergent for cleaning most washable surfaces, especially shiny surfaces, windows and window surrounds, washing up, cupboard fronts and mirrors.
3) The Scrubby – a multi-surface, non-scratch biodegradable cleaning pad for almost any washable surface as well as detail cleaning such as hard to reach corners, rough surfaces such as skirting boards and for breaking through built up layers of dirt.
4) Walnut shell powder – a scouring agent, especially good for shower screens and neglected windows.
With these products, you will be able to do 99% of your Spring Cleaning. The bonus is you won’t need rubber gloves!
Save time - and power through your spring clean by getting a couple of Enamel Buckets: Being able to carry detergent and rinse water around is easy with two of these 5 litre buckets, or even our smaller 1.5 litre buckets: one bucket is filled with your detergent – say, hot water with a splash of soapnut liquid - the second bucket is for rinsing the scrubby or sponge. It means the bucket containing the detergent stays relatively clean and most of the dirt you are washing off ends up in the second bucket.
Benefit too, by using natural unbleached sponges: A honeycomb sponge (tip, look for one of our Wonky Sponges which might be an unusual shape, but they are considerably cheaper than a premium ‘beautiful’ sponge) can help you in three ways. Use the sponge wrung out for wiping surfaces, liberally filled with water for rinsing surfaces you have cleaned, or held in the hand with the scrubby; the scrubby lifts the dirt and the sponge absorbs excess water preventing drips and runs.
A sea wool sponge is ideal for damp dusting. This sponge is the most absorbent of all the sponges and can be squeezed so it is only just damp. Once every drop of water is squeezed out, the sea wool sponge is just right for collecting dust - damp dusting. I love to clean my computer keyboard with it! Plus the Sea Wool sponges are outstanding at mopping up moisture and spillages.
Clear vinegar is useful against lime scale and it is easy to buy in hardware shops and even malt vinegar is helpful. One product you are unlikely to need, if you are using natural products are rubber gloves, even if you do have sensitive skin.
If you haven’t used natural cleaning products before we are sure that that you will actually find our natural products better at cleaning than chemical cleaners, that your skin, throat / lungs will appreciate the absence of chemical vapours and that your Spring cleaning will not only be a joy, but an adventure. Get the Eco Spring Cleaning Kit here and don't forget to order your enamel buckets and sponges at the same time.
If you are new to these natural and ethical products, you will find them very instinctive to use. With the power of a Scrubby in your hand, no cleaning task will seem too onerous. We are here to help you (at the end of the phone!) if you need specialist advice.
Finally… reward yourself for all your efforts. Gather fresh flowers for your table, take some photos of your glistening space and share your new-found wisdom and cleaning hacks with your friends and family or even on social media. Don’t forget to let everyone know where they can buy the eco cleaning kit, the scrubbies, enamel buckets…
Finally, do let us know how you get on!