While my home does not exist in a perpetual state of cleanliness (hello!? Mom, Homeschooler, Wife, Traveler!?), I do enjoy a good cleaning day! Since our family has moved to natural products as a lifestyle, cleaning the house has gotten simpler and easier. So I thought I’d share my go-to tips for how to spring clean your home naturally!
This is a sponsored post.
What better opportunity to talk about what I do to get ready for Spring Cleaning than when The Motherhood asked me to share some of my Must-Haves for Spring Cleaning! Kimberly-Clark sponsored this post and kindly sent me an assortment of products to help me out in my spring cleaning venture! Then I went to my local Walmart to grab a few tools and ingredients for spring cleaning!
What I do to get ready for Spring Cleaning
I have Spring Cleaning Kits set up for both upstairs and downstairs. Since our deep spring cleaning doesn’t happen in a day, and I want to keep up with cleaning throughout the year, I like to have a caddy of supplies handy on both floors. In my cleaning caddy, I included:
Handmade Cleaning Wipes – I used Viva® Vantage® paper towels to make these – with its thick, scrubby texture, like terrycloth, this is the towel I used to make my homemade cleaning wipes! I cut the paper towel roll in half, remove the cardboard roll, wet it, and stick it into a glass jar. Then I pour a natural cleaning solution over the towel roll. Finally, I pull out the middle section, and out come little cleaning wipes. Grab some packs of Viva Vantage towels at Walmart!
- Perfect for the kiddos to help me clean!
- Awesome for stovetops and appliances – sprinkle a little baking soda down, then grab a towel and scrub! Sturdy enough to get stubborn toothpaste off the sink!
- I’m going to make a jar of these wipes for outside when the weather is warmer, because grime always builds up on glass patio tabletops!
- Because the solution is natural, these towels are great for cleaning the kids up too!
- What’s in my cleaning solution? Water, castile soap, and essential oils.
Natural Cleaning Spray – Sometimes you need a bit more cleaning solution than a wipe, so for that I have spray bottles filled with my favorite cleaning solutions. You can find the perfect size spray bottles either in the mops section at Walmart, or – little secret: the travel/trial size bins in the personal care department! I make a glass spray and a surface spray. Paired with Viva® Towels, which are so soft, they remind me of cleaning with my dad’s old t-shirts when I was a kid, I use my sprays for everything from mirrors, windows, and countertops, to kids toys, shelves, and other light dusting needs.
- Great for kids to spray and wipe baseboards or dust your furniture!
- Save the used towels from the windows, mirrors and other surfaces to scrub at grimier surfaces to get extra mileage from them!
- What’s in my sprays? Water, vinegar, and essential oils! Sometimes I squeeze real lemon juice into the surface cleaner too!
Brushes – I keep a scrub brush and some old toothbrushes in the caddy for getting into nooks and crannies, grout lines, and sink drains!
Rubber gloves – I like cleaning but I hate the grime – protect hands with a few pairs of gloves stashed in your caddy!
Cleaning supplies – I keep a box of baking soda and a container of coarse salt handy. If I need something to get a good scrub, I can sprinkle these onto a surface, then spray and wipe for extra cleaning!
Dustpan / broom – As I clean, small particles, dust, and crumbs get brushed to the ground. It’s not enough to drag out the vacuum, so a small dustpan helps me tidy up as I go! Bonus – kids love to sweep up after me!
Bins and Baskets – well, these don’t go into the caddy of course, but I like to store extra paper towels and toilet paper in a large bin so I can grab more supplies as I go. Plus, when I find things lying around that don’t belong, they go into a bin, so I can put them away later and stay focused on my cleaning.
Toilet Paper – When I hit the bathrooms, toilet paper gets restocked! It’s so easy for kids to fill a basket with toilet paper rolls! Our favorite is Cottonelle® Clean Care with the CleanRipple Texture – this is a great one for little kid bums when they are potty training because the texture really helps the kids learn to wipe thoroughly! I’ve got more than a house to keep clean after all! Ha!
We also like to stock Scott® 1000 – it’s a good quality and the large rolls last a long time. Plus, soft enough to be used as facial tissue for runny noses (ask me how I know!).
Homemade Air Freshener – This is so easy to make – fill a spray bottle with filtered water and a few drops of essential oils. When you finish a room, use the fine mist setting to spritz a little into the air!
Spring clean your home naturally for simpler and easier cleaning!
Spring clean your home naturally for simpler and easier cleaning!My best tips for getting that spring cleaning done with no fuss are:
- Have cleaning supplies on each floor to save you time
- Start at the top and work down as much as possible (be this floor-to-ceiling or upstairs-to-downstairs) to keep you focused on what has and has not been cleaned
- Don’t waste space on a wide variety of different supplies – the same types of towels and cleaners work well for a variety of surfaces!
Always keep it simple when you clean and cleaning won’t seem like such a chore! Get more family care tips from Walmart!
Thank you to Kimberly-Clark and The Motherhood for sponsored this post. All opinions and excitement about cleaning is my own!
Rosie
Saturday 4th of February 2017
I love the idea for the hand made cleaning wipes and the natural cleaning spray. It won't be too long before it is time for spring cleaning!