Spring Clean Naturally – Kitchen

With spring peaking it's warm weather around the corner, many of us are starting to get the urge to do that annual routine of Spring Cleaning. This article will be the first in a series for Spring Cleaning your house naturally. Today we start in the kitchen.

More great kitchen cleaning tips can also be found in our "Vinegar and how it can be your household friend" article.

Your dishes:

• Reduce your water use while cleaning dishes by shutting off the water if you are not directly using it.


• Save on your energy bill by not drying your dishes with the heat cycle on your dishwasher. Simply run the dishes then open your dishwasher door so your dishes can air dry.


• Another great way to go green in your kitchen is by switching to low phosphate or phosphorus-free dish washing soap. Unfortunately, I can't recommend any because I have not fully tested them in my household.

Your sink and garbage disposal:

• Does your garbage disposal smell? Next time you have an orange or lemon, throw the peels down the drain and turn on the disposal. The peels will help clean and deodorize that nasty smell.


• To clean up hard water stains and soap scum, use white vinegar.


• You can also polish chrome fixtures and appliances with white vinegar.


• To remove rust stains on your sink, use lemon juice on a cloth and pour cream of tartar on the stain. Scrub.


• Baking soda is a great natural cleaner. To clean and shine your sink, pour baking soda on a damp sponge and scrub.

Kitchen counters:

• A solution of 1 part white vinegar and 1 part water is a great everyday cleaner for kitchen counters.


• For stains use a paste of baking soda. Use 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water. Allow it to sit for an hour or two then wipe clean.

Refrigerator:

• Again your solution of 1 part white vinegar and 1 part water can be used to wipe down the refrigerator.

Appliances:

• To clean your coffee maker. Run 1 cup of white vinegar through a normal brew cycle. Follow with two pots of water to rinse the vinegar.


• To clean the grease off your chrome appliances, wipe down with white vinegar.


• To clean your microwave, mix a 1/2 cup vinegar and a 1/2 cup water in a microwave safe container. Then bring it to a boil in the microwave so it steams. Then just wipe down the inside of your microwave.

Many of these cleaning solutions require white vinegar. If you or members of your family can't stand the smell of vinegar, keep in mind that as the vinegar dries the smell will dissipate. You can also dilute the vinegar in water, this will cut down on it's effectiveness on some cleaning situations but will also cut down on the smell.

There are many great commercially made "Green" cleaning products. However, I have not fully tested many of these products and would not want to recommend a product I have not tried myself. In the coming weeks and months we are planning on reviewing some products to help you become better educated on the many "Green" products available. Stay Tuned and please remember to add you comments and recommendations.