E-book coming soon!

I know I am still not posting regularly...

But I actually have a good excuse!  I'm working on an e-book on low-maintenance home design.  I know, so useful!

Check back soon.

Toxicity: What does non-toxic mean?

What is the difference between toxic and non-toxic ingredients?  The difference is definitely meaningful and to be perfectly honest, you should only use non-toxic cleaning products.

A toxic ingredient takes a really long time to break down in the environment.  For example, if your toilet cleaner contains toxic ingredients then once it is flushed down the toilet it will not degrade quickly and can last in the environment for hundreds of years, if not longer. 

I am going to research labeling requirements around toxicity and write a post about that in the future but for now, do your best to stick to non-toxic cleaners.  These products break down into harmless components once they are used.

Product Review: Eco Mist Calcium & Lime

I've reviewed another Eco Mist product quite a while ago.  I tend to use a basic set of cleaning supplies so I don't get around to product testing very often.  However, when I was in Home Depot one afternoon, I spotted a wicked sale.  It was for Eco Mist Calcium & Lime and it was on sale for only $3.00 for a gallon!  The price was so low that the cashier double checked it.  You know you are getting a good deal when that happens. 

Once I started using it I must admit to being quite satisfied.  Again, like other Eco Mist products, it is unscented, which I like.  It has a slight alkaline scent, kinda like how baking soda smells, but not at all off-putting.  I am assuming that this is from the pH level of the solution being basic like baking soda.  It's times like these that I wish I was still dating my biochemist boyfriend because he could have filled me in on all the details!  Oh well.

So, on to the product.  I put it in a squirt bottle for ease of application.  So far I have used it to shine up metal faucets, glass doors and ceramic tile.  I just spray it on and let it sit for a few minutes and then use a microfibre cloth to scrub, scrub, scrub.  In general I tend to chip away at stubborn stains rather than exhaust myself and perhaps damage the surface by using a lot abrasiveness whether that be from a tool or my hand power.  As well, I have removed shower heads and let them sit in the sink covered in my Calcium & Lime solution.

This is a product that I highly recommend!

Green Recipe: Thyme-Infused Vinegar Sanitizer

Thyme oil is incredibly anti-microbial.  Visit this site for more information as well as a link to the EPA fact sheet on thymol - the active ingredient in thyme oil.  The essential oil is so strong that it can't be used on your skin undiluted.  I know because I've tried and, oh, the burn. 

To make a sanitizing spray, use fresh thyme to make an infused vinegar.  For this I would use extra thyme and distilled white vinegar.  Once the sanitizer has sat for a couple weeks and is ready, dilute it with 50% water or you will find the vinegar scent overwhelming.  I find that this sanitizer is very herby smelling, thyme is intense.  To combat this strong scent, I like to add other essential oils such as rosemary and basil.  They work with thyme and also have strong scents so the medicinal smell of thyme is toned down a bit.  Other cleaning products try to cover it up using essential oils that clash with thyme rather than are complementary.

This spray is great for kitchen counters, toilet seats, door handles, and light switches.

Product Review: Method Wood for Good Furniture Polish

One word summarizes Method Wood for Good Furniture Polish product: Yummy!

I generally don't use Method products.  I find them overpriced to be perfectly honest though I appreciate the way the company popularized green cleaning products.  Because I tend to not buy their products I had never tried their wood polish, at least until one of my clients introduced it to me.  She had several small sample bottles that she wanted to use up and a lot of nice wood furniture that needed polishing.

So I started to use it and soon I was addicted.  The scent is what got me.  Being an aromatherapist I love nice smelling things and Method smells like warm, vanilla-laced almond extract.  It is as if you are eating a lovely freshly baked almond pastry - luscious.

I highly recommend buying some of this for the wood in your home.  It gives your furniture a nice sheen and leaves a lovely scent behind.  Seriously if I could coat my house in this stuff I would.

Make Cleaning Fun: Archetypes

I haven't posted in a seriously long time.  I guess finishing my last year of school is taking more out of me than I even knew!  It's my darn thesis!

However, I still have lots of blog posts swirling in my head with this one being at the forefront.

Jungian archetypes are something of a treasure in my life.  They offer me inspiration, direction, and sometimes a solid kick in the butt (and who doesn't need that).  Archetypes help reframe activities, a cognitive technique I have touched on in a previous post.  Here are a couple archetypes that I find helpful in relation to cleaning. 

Hestia - Goddess of the Hearth

As described by Bolen (reference below):

"When Hestia is present, a (person) goes about (the) household tasks with a

sense that there is plenty of time.  She doesn't have one eye on the clock,

because she is neither on a schedule nor "putting in time." Consequently,

she is in what the Greeks called kairos time - she is "participating in time," which

is psychologically nourishing...  As she sorts and folds laundry, washes dishes,

and cleans up the clutter, she feels an unhurried, peaceful absorption

in each task."

When I am in Hestia mode, I tend to see my home as a peaceful and replenishing place.  There is a sense that I am taking care of it rather than doing a chore.  I find this happens most often with treasured possessions or with areas of the house of which I am especially fond.  For me, this is my garden - washing and scrubbing my pots is getting ready for the upcoming growing season.  As well, washing the counters and floors in my kitchen is quite peaceful because I adore cooking.  Chip away at your chores by designating a few to be inspired by Hestia.

Demeter - Goddess of the Harvest

As described by Bolen: 

"Demeter was the most generous goddess...  (She) provides

tangible food and physical care, emotional and psychological support, or

spiritual nourishment...  The mother archetype motivate (people) to nurture

others, to be generous and giving, and to find satisfaction as caretakers

and providers...  The nurturing aspect of the Demeter archetype can be expressed

through the helping professions... and in any relationship in which she

can be a nurturing person."

This is my primary archetype when thinking about my cleaning business.  I find that it shifts my mindset away from feeling like I do chores all day to feeling like I support my clients in living more pleasurable lives.  As well, the inspiration of Demeter is great when contemplating a young child's mess.  It transforms picking up toys into creating a clean and nurturing home.  The archetype can also be used as children get older and you are teaching them how to clean - the maternal instinct is not about being a slave, it's about raising healthy, well-loved kiddies who develop a role in the household!  

At the bottom of this post is a reference for the book I drew the quotes from.  As I mentioned earlier, I find archetypes wonderful for shifting my mindset.  These are two that work for me but I encourage you to find ones that work for you.

Thanks for reading!

Bolen, J. S.  (1984).  Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women's Lives.  USA: Harper Collins.

Green Choice: The Soap Dispensary

Mount Pleasant has a new cleaning store!  As you all know I love cleaning so I was very excited to be strolling up Main Street and see that The Soap Dispensary was open for business.  The store has a simple yet unique concept that promises to cut down on the plastic bottles circulating in the world - always a good thing! 

Linh, the owner, stocks a variety of green cleaning products in bulk sizes.  You bring in your empty bottle, she fills it up and you are out the door!  The selection is great and a lot of the products are unscented so you can add essential oils to personalize the scent for your home.  If you don't have bottles to reuse initially, she carries plastic bottles that you pay a small deposit for and then you can bring them back in the future.  

Anyone who appreciates green cleaning products with little to no packaging needs to check out The Soap Dispensary.

Stay clean and green!
Shonagh

Declutter: Creative wrapping solutions

Gift wrap - what an environmentally unfriendly material!  Wrapping paper can't be recycled because of the coating they use on the paper.  I know it is so pretty.  I happen to love wrapping gifts, probably more than buying them or having them opened.  I just think they look so nice clustered together, like little bundles of loves.  BUT, I am sure that there are ways to create beautiful gifts without using gift wrap. 

DIY: Holiday Aromatherapy Blends

When I was 21-years-old I got a certificate in aromatherapy from Langara.  It was one more step on my scented journey in life.  I have loved scent for as long as I can remember - one vivid memory: Being five-years-old trying to capture the scent of rose petals in water and being mystified that it didn't work.  Indeed aromatherapy still captures my imagination and fascination.  It is in this spirit that I thought:  Let's share some of my favorite holiday aromatherapy recipes!

Healthy for the Holidays!

Who loves the holidays?  I know I do.  Besides Halloween, Christmas is my most favorite time of year!  This is probably because it gives me an excuse to bake to my hearts content.  During Christmas there is no excuse needed for showing up with a tin of cookies or a pot of homemade dulce de leche (it's my current obsession).  The foodie in me delights.  The cleaning lady in me cringes slightly as all of those hugs and handshakes means germs are flying around like no ones business.  To help you get through your holiday season (whenever that might be) health intact, here are a few green and clean suggestions:

Deep Clean: Ovens

Oh goodness, who enjoys cleaning out the oven?  All that stuck on gunk that has been baked over and over and over again.  Let's be honest, how often do you clean out your over?  If you are the average person then probably not very often.  Well it's time for penance and that penance is called elbow grease.  Oh yes, you heard me, because with my deep oven cleaning there are no toxic oven sprays allowed.  This is the green and clean method.

Shall we begin?

Deep Clean: Oven Stove Top

Dinner is finished.  You grab your damp rag and give the stovetop a haphazard wipedown.  Looks pretty clean and it is time for dessert!  Most of the time I think that is a perfectly fine after-dinner routine.  Every once in a while (maybe once a week?) though your stove top really needs a good solid clean.  Here is how to do it.

The Dirty: Black Mold

The unwanted intruder, creeping in behind your walls until one day - the tell-tale sign - a mass of tiny black dots.  Ugh!  Black mold.  It definitely looks gross but even grosser is what it does to the health of people who live with it.

The Secret: Frequent cleaning is...

green cleaning.  I was contemplating cleaning the other day (yes I do that a lot) and I think it is accurate to say that to clean more often is to clean greener.  I came to this conclusion while looking at the grout in my own shower stall.  It is a classic example of this truth.

The Golden Rule: Toilets

You make the smear, you wipe it clear.  Seriously this is a lesson that every parent should teach their child during potty training.  Wipe, flush, check, clean.  Everyone's happy.

Make Cleaning Fun: Cognitive Reframing

Cognitive reframing is a psychological technique used frequently in cognitive behavioural therapy.  In essence when you reframe an activity (or emotion or conflict, etc.) you are attempting to look at it in a new light.  You are trying to consciously change your focus.

Make Cleaning Fun: Become a Radio Announcer

This is a great way to make cleaning fun for little kids (and maybe your husband, but kids especially).  This technique comes from a very stressful experience I had when I was 18-years-old  - tree-planting.  For anyone who hasn't tried this hellish job just imagine clambering over four-foot stumps surrounded by mosquitoes with hundreds of seedlings attached to your waist.  There is a reason it is always top-ranked as one of the physically hardest jobs you can do in BC.  Anyways, there I was with my sister (she was 19) trundling along slinging my trees into the ground.  We were exhausted and together I must admit we get rather silly.  We decided to do the planting Olympics.

The Secret: Renovations

Time after time I see renovations that don't fit with the lifestyle of the owner(s) of the house.  The girl who hates to clean but is designing an all-white house.  The mother of three who has tiny white tiling in the main floor bathroom.  The world's most giant kitchen with shiny granite counters that need to be polished in order to look fantastic.  None of these renovations follow my simple rule to successful renovations.

Deep Clean: Toilets

Who here loves cleaning their toilet?  Whoa!  So many hands up in the air!  I know it is so much fun.  All joking aside, even toilets need a little cleaning quality time every once in a while. Here is how to get your toilet squeaky clean.

Raw Green: A New Category

I feel like there is a lot of information out in the world on green cleaning products.  What I have started to wonder about is the raw ingredients that go into cleaning product.  That is the motivation for my new category: Raw Green.  I also think it sounds kinda cool.