Category: Green Cleaning Tips and Tricks

When it comes to your health, the number one rule of thumb that environmental safety experts recommend, is read the ingredient list carefully on anything you’re going to be spraying in the air or wiping on touchable surfaces in your home.
 
When it comes to cancer-triggering toxins, air fresheners are among the biggest culprits.  Air fresheners contain either Isopar, which is deodorized kerosene, or paradichlorobenzene, both of which are carcinogenic and toxic to the lungs, liver, and kidneys.
 
Among cleansers, oxygen bleach cleansers are particularly dangerous.  Watch out for products containing chlorine bleach and ammonia. Both of these are not good to breathe. Avoid spraying chlorine bleach in the shower or bathroom where the steam makes you more likely to breathe it in.

There are many "green" cleaning products on the market.  Replace your old standbys with green products that are approved by "Green Seal."  Or, for a fraction of the cost, try making your own healthy green cleaning products at home.  Your lungs and cells will thank you!

Maid Brigade House Cleaning Services cares about your health and the environment.  For more information on healthy green living, please go to greencleancertified.com or maidbrigade.com.

The warm weather is finally here!  Now is the time to pull out your outdoor patio furniture and give it a good cleaning so it looks fresh and bright for the summer months ahead.

Follow this advice to make the job go faster:

Furniture Cushions:

Clean your outdoor furniture cushions the natural "green" way by mixing your own solution.  In a spray bottle combine one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid and 1 teaspoon of borax per quart of warm water.  Spray cushion on both sides, let it sit for 15 minutes and rinse with a hose.  Leave them out in the sun to dry.

Aluminum:

Although it doesn't rust, aluminum can become dull and pitted when left outdoors.  To clean and restore the shine, scrub the frames with a plastic scrubber soaked in detergent or a soap-filled steel wool pad, then rinse and dry.

Canvas:

Soiled canvas seats and chair backs are usually machine washable, but be sure to put them back on the furniture when they are still damp to maintain their shape.

To clean canvas  that you cannot put in the washing machine, such as large seats, backs or awnings, run a scrub brush across a bar of Fels-Naptha Soap.  Rub on to canvas and rinse well.  This should remove most stains and bird droppings as well.

Plastic:

Wash with a good natural all-purpose green cleaner and water, then rinse and dry.  An alternative for white furniture is combining 3 tablespoons dishwashing detergent with 1 gallon warm water.  Let solution sit on furniture for 15 minutes and then rinse and dry.

Maid Brigade House Cleaning Services wants to know how you keep your patio furniture green clean.  Share your tips and homemade green cleaning solutions with us!

For more information on green living, please go to greencleancertified.com or maidbrigade.com.

Spring has sprung and so have your allergies.  For allergy sufferers, spring can be the worst season to clean the home.  If your allergies are causing sneezing, sniffling, itchy and watery eyes, the last thing you want to expose yourself to are more allergy triggers like particles and pests.

What can you do to reduce these allergies?  A thorough green spring cleaning!  It can actually reduce symptoms, especially if you are allergic to things that thrive in an unclean house, like dust mites, mold and animal dander.

To rid your home of allergens for good, first know what you are allergic to so you are better prepared to tackle cleaning tasks that stir them up. 

To get rid of dust mites that might be lurking in your bed sheets, wash your bed linens in 130 degree water weekly.  The hot water will kill the mites.  Remember to wash the decorative pillows and stuffed animals in hot water every 1-2 weeks.

Try not to dust with cotton cloths because they can spread particles around on surfaces which sends them back into the air.  Use microfiber cloths instead.  They trap dust and remove dust mite allergen that accumulates on hard surfaces.

Buy a vacuum cleaner with a hard-shell container or a bag vacuum with a HEPA filter.  HEPA filters prevent smaller particles from blowing back out.

To remove bathroom mold, use a solution of borax and water.

Spring cleaning a house from top to bottom is a big job.  If you are not up to the task of cleaning because of your allergies, hire someone to do your spring cleaning.  Maid Brigade house cleaning services can clean your house in a couple of hours!

Cleaning products don't have to be harsh or toxic in order to clean your home effectively.  Use natural green cleaning products instead.  Choosing environmentally friendly cleaning products can help decrease lung irritants and the amount of chemicals into the home.  Some of the best natural green cleaning supplies can be found right in your kitchen cabinet.

Vinegar can be used to clean your home in an environmentally friendly way.  Vinegar can be used to clean toilet bowls and showers, and also to remove stubborn stains.

Baking soda is the most popular non-toxic cleaning product.  It is very useful and cleans in a gentle, but effective way.  Baking soda can be used in a variety of ways, from cleaning drains to deodorizing carpets.

Castile soap is a bar of soap that can be made into homemade laundry soap, liquid soap, or bath soap.  Castile soap has cleaning and disinfectant properties.

Using natural green cleaning products is a healthy and inexpensive way to clean! 

A great deal of cleaning goes on in most homes.  We wash, scrub, vacuum, spray, and polish so that our homes stay clean and neat.  Strange as it may seem, some of these cleaners also can cause pollution, both indoors and outdoors.  How green are your cleaning supplies?

1.  Laundry detergent:  Your washer sends a lot of dirty water down the drain.  Besides dirt, what is in that water?  Many detergents contain phosphates, chemicals that help get clothes clean.  When phosphates get into waste water, they speed the growth of algae, which can kill fish and plants that live in the water.

     Besides phosphates, some detergents contain concentrated chemicals, like surfactants (which help with cleaning) and bleach (which removes stains).  Surfactants are made from petroleum, the nonrenewable source from which oil and gasoline are made.  Most bleach contains cancer-causing chlorine.

     Some detergents claim to be "biological", meaning that they contain enzymes to help dissolve stains and make the detergent work in cooler water.  Some detergents claim to be "biodegradable", which means that the detergent breaks down and becomes harmless in the waste system.  But this doesn't always happen. 

2.  All -purpose cleaners may contain ammonia, which can be harmful to your lungs, and chlorine, which can form cancer-causing compounds when released into the environment.

3.  Drain Cleaners contain very strong chemicals such as lye and hydrochloric and sulfuric acids.  These can burn your skin and can cause blindness if they get into your eyes.

4.  Flea and tick control products contain ingredients that have never been adequately tested for safety.  While not intended for use on people, they can rub off your pet onto furniture, exposing you to the risk of cancer and other diseases.  

5.  Floor and furniture polishes contain phenol, which causes cancer in laboratory animals.

6.  Metal polishes contain ammonia, phosphoric, and sulfuric acids, which are not healthy to breathe.

7.  Mothballs contain p-dichlorobenzene, which causes cancer.

8.  Oven cleaners contain lye, a powerful chemical that can burn your skin and lungs or cause blindness if splashed in your eyes.

9.  Toilet cleaners contain chlorine and hydrochloric acid, which can burn your skin and eyes.

   Take a good look at the cleaning products you use to clean your home with.  Note which ingredients they contain that may be harmful.  Why expose your family to all these toxic chemicals?  Help save the planet and keep your family healthy br green cleaning your home.    
    

Every year, the average American household uses between twenty-five and forty pounds of toxic cleaning products in their home.  For decades, consumers believed that a home can not be clean or smell fresh unless you could smell the chemicals from the cleaning products.

A 2007 study published in Insidemedicine, a physician-led news publication, says that household cleaners and sprays that are used as little as once a week, account for one in seven cases of asthma.  There are also suspected links to toxic household chemicals and behavioral issues, ADHD, and ADD.

The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that volatile chemicals in cleaning products can affect health and the environment.  The EPA has also stated that indoor air is three to seventy times more polluted than outside air.  Fumes from toxic chemicals used to "clean and freshen" have no where to go, therefore they build up in the home.

Almost all consumers can feel the short term effects of household cleaners when using them in a poorly ventilated area.  Most symptoms are minor and include nose, eye, and skin irritation.  When using these products over a long period of time, they can have a more serious impact on human health.  A study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine stated that the use of household cleaners which contain certain volatile organic compounds resulted in an increased risk of developing asthma.  Another study suggested other cleaning sprays can reduce lung function by up to four percent.

Clean your home in a healthier way.  Make the move to "green" clean your home.  Green cleaning products and homemade cleaning products are safer for your health and for the environment.