Serious Spring cleaning tips

This is especially for those that requested suggestions for serious Spring Cleaning. Hope everyone finds something useful. Some of these I have found quite useful. Take care and I’ll be seeing you around…Agnes

 Spring Cleaning Tips and Tricks by Louise Gruenberg

Herbs that inhibit microorganisms: basil, bay, benzoin, bergamot, camphor, cardamom, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, eucalyptus, fir, ginger, grapefruit, juniper, lavender, lemon, lemon balm, meadowsweet, myrrh, myrtle, nutmeg, orange, oregano, patchouli, peppermint, Peru balsam, pine, rose-scented geranium, rosemary sage, sandalwood, savory, spearmint, spruce, tea tree, and thyme.

Herbs that kill or repel insects: basil, benzoin, cajuput, white camphor, cardamom, eucalyptus, juniper, lavender, lemon, lemon balm, myrtle, orange peppermint, rose-scented geranium, rosemary, sage, savory, southernwood, thyme, wormwood, and yarrow.

Herb Soap Concentrate

Makes about ½ cup: By incorporating essential oils into an oil soap concentrate (I use Murphy’s Oil Soap paste, available at hardware stores), then diluting the mixture with the herbal infusion described above, I get a double shot of herbal cleaning power. I usually use lemon or orange essential oil because they are relatively inexpensive. You will need: 1 tablespoon essential oil or combination of essential oils (about ½ ounce) and ½ cup or more concentrated oil soap paste. Wearing gloves and using a stainless-steel spoon and glass measuring cup, stir the essential oil into the soap paste. Tilt the cup to the side. If oil separates from the mixture around the edges, add more paste and stir. Larger quantities can be made with a mixer or blender. Store the concentrate in a wide-mouthed glass jar. Label it well (it looks like apple jelly). This quantity will make up to 30 quarts of cleaning solution. To use, dilute it by adding 1 to 3 teaspoons of concentrate to 4 cups of water or herbal infusion.

Citrus Scrubber

Makes 1 cup: I save this scouring powder for my grungiest jobs, such as the bathroom and kitchen sinks, using a loofah on light stains and a nylon scrubbing pad on tough ones. I usually use as a base a powdered calcium carbonate cleanser such as Bon Ami, but sometimes I combine borax and baking soda in equal proportions. Essential oils cut greasy dirt, battle microbes, and add an appealing scent. You need: 1 cup powdered calcium carbonate cleanser, or ½ cup each borax and baking soda and 1 ½ teaspoons each essential oils of lemon, orange, and grapefruit. Pour the cleanser (or borax and baking soda) into a glass bowl. Stir in the lemon, orange, and grapefruit oils, mashing any lumps with a fork. Store in a glass or metal jar with a lid. Wear gloves when you use this cleanser.

Fragrant Wood Polish

Makes about 1 cup: This formula forms a soft paste that can be applied with a wool or cotton rag or lamb’s-wool pad. I use it on fine furniture about once a year.

1 ounce beeswax 8 ounces mineral oil ½ teaspoon essential oil of Peru balsam ¼ teaspoon each essential oils of lavender, orange, tangerine, and lemon 1/8 teaspoon each essential oils of bergamot, rosemary, and spruce

In a double boiler, melt the beeswax in the mineral oil. Remove the upper pan from the lower one, allow the mixture to cool slightly (but not to the point at which the surface skims over), and stir in the essential oils. Allow the mixture to cool completely. Store in a jar with a tight lid. Apply the polish to the wood surface sparingly with a rag or pad, leave it for about 5 minutes to allow the wood to absorb it, and then rub off any excess with a clean cloth.

Herbal Rug Fragrance

Makes enough for an 8 by 11 foot rug: When our living-room rug smells musty, I hear about it right away from my husband, who does his morning exercises on it. Here’s a simple herbal solution. (If fleas are a problem in your house, add 2 cups of chopped, dried orange peel or pennyroyal leaf to the recipe.)

3 cups dried lavender flowers or leaves 2 cups dried rosemary leaves 3 pounds baking soda

In a large glass, earthenware, or stainless-steel bowl, blend the lavender flowers, rosemary leaves, and baking soda. Sprinkle the mix over a freshly vacuumed rug and leave overnight. Then vacuum again.

Disinfectant Air Freshener

Makes 1/2 cup: Make a variety of convenient sprays by combining essential oils with alcohol and water. Keep several on hand, including orange, lavender, and spruce as well as the combination given below.

4 drops essential oil of white thyme 6 drops essential oil of tea tree 8 drops essential oil of clove 2 teaspoons 190-proof alcohol Filtered or distilled water

In a glass measuring cup, stir the oils into the alcohol. If the oils do not dissolve in the alcohol completely, add another teaspoon of alcohol. Then add water to the 1/2-cup line. Pour the solution into a glass bottle with a spray nozzle. To use, spray into the air, avoiding people’s faces.

Stinky Sneaker Sachet Blend

Makes 4 sachets: Most of the dirt that gets into our homes hitchhikes on our shoes. Remove them at the door, and you might spend less time cleaning. But taking footwear off at our house exposes another problem: stinky sneakers. To solve it, I’ve made sachets filled with absorbent clay cat litter scented with an assortment of essential oils. I place a sachet in each sneaker and leave it there overnight. Below is the formula that I used for my boys adding more lavender for my girls. Reuse as long as the scent lasts.

2 teaspoons essential oil of sandalwood 1 teaspoon essential oil of tea tree ½ teaspoon each essential oils of lemon and grapefruit ¼ teaspoon each essential oils of spruce and lavender 4 cups natural clay cat litter 4 clean socks 4 rubber bands or rubber hair bands

Stir the oils into the cat litter in a glass jar, cover, and let the mixture age for a week. Fill the socks with the sachet blend and close them with the rubber bands. Put them in your stinky shoes to help mask the scent.

Minty Fresh Sachet Blend

Makes about 2 ½ quarts: Use this blend in drawers and closets, particularly where woolens and furs are stored. The bulk herbs absorb the oils and help fix and marry the fragrances. Sandalwood is one of my favorite fixatives, but because it is fairly expensive, I often substitute oak moss (a lichen), patchouli, cedar, vetiver, frankincense, or myrrh. Whichever herbs you choose, dry them completely, then chop or crush them finely or powder them before blending.

4 cups lavender flowers 2 cups peppermint leaves 2 cups rosemary leaves 1 cup patchouli leaves ½ cup whole cloves ¼ cup thyme leaves 5 drops essential oil of clove 10 drops essential oil of white camphor 20 drops essential oil of peppermint

In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, mix together the lavender, peppermint, rosemary, patchouli, cloves, and thyme. Add the oils and stir well. Place the mix in a glass jar, cover, and age in a cool, dry, dark place for several weeks. Make sachets and fill with the herb blend.

Spice Sachet Blend

Makes about 2 ½ quarts 6 cups oak moss 1 cup each black peppercorns, allspice berries, and cinnamon chips ¼ cup aniseed 2 tablespoons cloves

In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the oak moss with the peppercorns, allspice berries, and cinnamon chips. Add the aniseed and cloves. Stir well. Make sachets from fabric scraps, adding lace or ribbon if desired, and fill with the spice blend.

 Cleaning Up: For cleaning fine china and glassware, bathroom fixtures, kitchen counters, lightly soiled walls, appliances, and painted woodwork, I like to use a warm solution of borax or baking soda spiked with an infusion of fresh or dried aromatic herbs such as lavender, rosemary, thyme, and sage. I steep a cup of a single herb or a combination of several kinds for about 15 minutes in 4 cups of boiling water, strain, and then stir in 1 to 4 tablespoons of baking soda or borax. I wipe the mixture on with a sponge, then lightly rinse. For tough jobs like vinyl floors, walls, woodwork, or furniture—even wicker baskets—I use my Herb Soap Concentrate (see recipe above). It’s my favorite all-purpose cleaning solution, and it’s quick and relatively inexpensive to make. It has as its base a mild commercial soap concentrate, to which I add herbs and essential oils. I wipe it on with a sponge or mop, then rinse quickly, sometimes adding a dash of vinegar to the rinse water to discourage the growth of bacteria. Caution: Never mix cleaning products! Mixing cleaning products such as chlorine bleach with cleaners containing vinegar or ammonia produces toxic chlorine gas.

 Furniture and Floors: I use my Herb Soap Concentrate for cleaning almost all of my wood furniture and woodwork. For wood finished with shellac or varnish, I follow up by rubbing in essential oil of lemon with a lamb’s-wool duster. Once or twice a year, I damp-mop my hardwood floors, and then rub lemon oil on them, too. I do this when I can open all the windows, as the scent is intense. For wood with an oil finish, I use this Fragrant Wood Polish, which I developed many years ago at the request of my husband, who is a cabinet maker.

 Fabric Softener from Tipper

6 cups water

3 cups vinegar

2 cups hair conditioner  Mix in a spray bottle and use.

 Laundry Detergent

1 cup borax (20 mule team)

1 cup baking soda

1 cup super washing soda

1 bar soap (Fels-Naptha or other)

Once you get the soap chopped, throw the soap pieces in a food processor and pulse until they are like crumbs. Mix the other ingredients and you’re done! It takes 2 tablespoons of homemade laundry detergent for a full load-and you can adjust the amount for smaller loads. The detergent cleans well, stores well, and costs much less than store bought detergent. Tipper