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I was beginning to feel a little guilty this week about my house as it looked scruffy and dusty. Watching my three cats cleaning themselves up so diligently three or ten times a day, made me feel worse. Then I picked up a book called MS Harris’s Book of Green Household Management by Caroline Harrish (The Essential Thrift Bible) from the British Council Library and after I had finished it I felt much better! There were so many easy and green and wonderful tips in it, that I was hooked.
The book is easy to read and stuffed with sensible ways to make our homes cleaner with safe ingredients, cheap solutions and a treasure trove of ideas to be gleaned from the internet that all of us must soak up.
Here are some of the most interesting and easy eco-cleaning tips that made me want to try them out immediately.
1. Baking soda oven cleaner: always have baking soda handy in the house. When your oven begins to smell, remove all the shelves, brush out the scum and other grit, then shake the baking soda thickly over the bottom and spritz with water! Then make a thick paste of baking soda and water and daub the oven sides with it.
Now leave the oven overnight so the baking soda can do its job. In the morning, wipe out the baking soda and watch the grime come off. Now wipe it all with a fresh cloth, then use a vinegar-soaked cloth to do the last bit of cleaning!
2. Vinegar-spray shower descaler: Be eco-friendly with your shower when it needs cleaning: spray white distilled vinegar from the top of the glass (or tiles) down and leave overnight. Then clean up with a scouring pad. If your shower cubicle is very caked, give it the white vinegar wash again!
3. Citric acid or vinegar toilet reviver: These are the genies that clean up your toilets safely and cheaply. They get rid of stains and limescale. Every couple of months pour two tablespoons of citric acid in the toilet pan. Or you can put in half a cup of vinegar. Leave it overnight and much of the limescale will creep off! Then use the toilet brush to remove the last bit of grime.
4. Lavender-oil instant lavatory wipe: Use a few drops of lavender-oil in water and dampen a cleaning cloth to wipe off your lavatory with. Or try out scented vinegar. Take several lemon halves, white distilled vinegar and one pan with a lid. Put the lemons in the pan and add enough vinegar to come at least halfway up. Bring to the boil with the lid on, then turn off the heat and allow to steep for a couple of hours. Strain the lemon vinegar into a glass jar. Keep it in a cool, dark place. You can also clean windows and kitchen ledges and shelves etc. with it.
5. Baking soda fridge deodorizer; If your fridge is beginning to smell remember that baking soda absorbs odours. Fill up a small cup with it and put it in your fridge. After it stops working, use it up for scouring the sink or scatter it in the bottom of your rubbish and compost bins to be rid of bad smells. Remember to wash your fridge regularly with a solution of baking soda and warm water.
You get a lot of gardening ideas from this book. Did you know that a 100 square-foot community garden can produce 10,000 servings of produce in a year?
Whether you're an avid gardener, or someone who just wishes you had the time and place to start a garden, this is a wonderful project. It creates community spirit, gives you a chance to get to know your neighbours, and offers a "hands-on" opportunity to work with the Earth.
Even better would be a community butter fly garden that attract these lovely friends to your garden. Grow bright coloured flowers like hibiscus, hollyhocks, dahlias and pansies. You need a core of 3 to 5 people to start one. If you are short of space you can use pots to start one.
Finally, this book is like a genie - who brings fun and joy and many useful gifts to the chore of house cleaning! It can be borrowed from the British Council Library at Kasturba Road.