In These Stilettos

What if I told you that you would only ever need 3 things to clean your house?

Ok, apart from a good dish-washing liquid, with three simple ingredients, you can pretty much clean your entire house, top to toe.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my cleaning products, kitchen cleaner, bathroom cleaner, oven cleaner, floor cleaner, stovetop, window… you get my drift, the amount of products avaliable can all get a little overwhelming right? At a time where money is getting tighter and trips to the shops may not be as frequent, with these three things (and a bit of salt), you can get by.

• Vinegar
• Bicarbonate of Soda
• Lemon

Bicarbonate of Soda

An all around “freshener” and fantastic abrasive, this is a MUST have in every cleaning cupboard. We use it everywhere, not just for cleaning but for activities with the kids, to make scrubs for the bath, the possibilities are endless. Just SOME of its uses include:

• Eliminate all fridge odours by keeping a little open in the fridge on the back shelf.
• Remove grease from baking sheets – Make a little paste out of vinegar and bicarb and scrub.
• Keep your mattresses fresh – sprinkle baking soda directly onto mattress to remove any dirt/moisture. Click here for a tutorial, under home hacks.
• Keep mustiness at bay by popping a little into your cupboard or drawers.
• Freshen up your flowers by adding a teaspoon of baking soda at the bottom of the vase.
• Polish your own silver – one of the most popular hacks that I’ve done! Baking soda and hot water are miracle workers when it comes to shining your silver, you can check our hack here. It makes the most amazing “science” experiment for kids too.
• Clean your bowl, by scrubbing a 2/1 ratio of baking soda and olive oil, you can leave your toilet bowl as shiny as new.
• Clean your oven – again, by creating a paste out of baking soda and vinegar, rub it into your oven and leave to sit overnight. A simple wipe down with a cloth in the morning will have your own looking like new.
• Clean your sink – Wet the sink, sprinkle baking soda over the surface, and scrub, then rinse. Use a soft brush and the same paste on the rim. Line the sink with paper towels that you’ve soaked in white vinegar. Leave them there for 20 minutes.
• Relieve your itch. For insect bites, mix baking soda with a little water and rub onto bites, rashes from ivy etc. The number of times my mum used this on me growing up.

White Vinegar

• Dustbin deodoriser – Sprinkle a small amount of baking soda into dustbin to help absorb odours.
• Freshen up and clean your kitchen drain by throwing some baking soda down the pipes and then flush it with white vinegar.
• Soften and freshen your laundry – With Vinegar? Yes I have tried this, and it is true ! You won’t have vinegar scented towels either. Simply add a cup into your wash water, it softens the water and you will see the world of difference in your towels.
• Clean your shower head – tie a bag filled with vinegar to your shower head to remove any limescale build up. Leave it to soak overnight for any hard to remove stains.
• Clean your carpet – Remove carpet stains with a mixture of 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in 1/2 cup white vinegar. Let the solution dry, and then vacuum to remove. For tougher stains you can add 2 tablespoons borax to the mixture.
• Clean your dishwasher – Similar to the shower head, vinegar works a wonder to remove any build up of detergent or water residue. Pour 1 cup of white vinegar into your dishwasher and run on empty with hot water.
• Wash your windows – Mix equal parts white vinegar and warm water to keep your windows streak free.
• Battling with mosquitoes? Use the same window cleaning mixture to spray around window frames where mosquitoes may enter through. We have done this a few times and I am convinced I noticed a difference. It supposedly works against ants too.
• Shine your glassware – My mum used to own a hiring company and swore by this – by adding a cup of vinegar to your wash water your glasses will sparkle!
• Clean your grout – By mixing cornstarch, bicarb of soda and yep, vinegar – you can create the most amazing paste to clean the grout in between tiles.
• Descale your kettle – we all love fancy glass kettles, but the limescale build up on the element can be unsightly. Pour in some white vinegar and leave to sit, or boil the vinegar up a few times to remove the build up. Just remember to rinse your kettle thoroughly afterwards 🙂
• Make your own kitchen cleaner – By mixing citrus peel (or some essential oils) and vinegar and leaving it to sit for about a week, you can make a great all purpose cleaner. We haven’t tried this yet but its something my Gran used to do when they lived on a farm.

Lemon

• Scrub your wooden chopping boards – Cut a lemon in half and run across your wooden chopping boards with some sea salt. It cleans any grease or dirt on your wooden board and leaves it smelling wonderful!
• Clean your microwave – Chuck some lemons into a bowl of water and pop it into the microwave to steam. Wipe down the steam once complete.
• Clean your cast iron pots – This worked wonders, lemon is the most ingredient thing to remove rust. Rub sea salt and half a lemon all over your pan to clean. Rinse and make sure you dry and oil your pans to prevent any future build up.
• Taps – There is nothing like a shiny, streak free tap. Cut a lemon in half and rub it all over the tap, finish by wiping it down with a clean, microfibre cloth.

There you have it! With these 3 essential items you can literally spring clean your home. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking you to go “all natural”, I use day to day cleaning products just like everyone else, but working together with some of these things has made my life a lot easier and I hope it does for you too!