10 tips for a green, clean home

10 very handy tips we found at the Green Villages Website!

There’s a treasure trove of natural cleaning gems as close as your pantry. Here’s our top tips for an au natural clean.

1. Do it daily
   If you’re as averse to cleaning as we are, do a little bit, often. By spending 15 minutes every morning or night, you’ll be less likely to resort to the chemical artillery when confronted by furry green shower tiles.
2. Go Microfibre
   Get your hands on a good-quality microfibre cloth. They last forever and let you clean, dust and polish with nothing more than a splash of water.
3. Keep a kit
   Grab staples like bicarb soda, white vinegar, pure soap or soap flakes, washing soda, borax, lemons and eucalyptus oil from your local supermarket. Keep jars with lids, spray bottles, rags and old toothbrushes to mix, store and clean.
4. A new loo
   Make your toilet bowl sparkle: simply pour in a cup of white vinegar and leave overnight. Sprinkle with bicarb if really in need of some love. Scrub with a toilet brush in the morning and wipe over the rest with eucalyptus oil and a soft cloth.
5. Oven lovin’
   If you’ve let your oven go to pot, mix bicarb soda into a paste with water, cover the inside and turn it on low for 10 minutes. The heat melts the grease and the bicarb absorbs it. When it dries, just scoop it out. Voila!
6. Window patrol
   Add 50/50 white vinegar and water to a spray bottle. If the glass is really grotty, wipe with warm soapy water. Then spray with your vinegar mix and wipe with a microfibre cloth until crystal clear.
7. Hot pots
   If your pots are holding burnt remnants of yesterday’s omelette, pour a thick layer of bicarb over the remains, sprinkle with water and leave to soak overnight.
8. All purpose
   Mix 1 tsp lavender oil with a litre of water for an all-round surface cleaner. Lavender calms and smells celestial; it’s also a powerful natural antiseptic. 
9. Lemon fresh
   Lemons add zing to your meals, and they’re a sweet-smelling cleaner, too. Use the cut side of half a lemon to clean chopping boards or dip in salt and rub over your bath to shift stubborn stains.
10. Go easy
    Don’t be brainwashed into thinking all germs are evil. The truth is, a little dust or spill is hardly worthy of reaching for the surface spray. A good wipe with a damp cloth often does the trick – leaving more time to do fun stuff!