Spring Has Sprung!

In the midst of all of the myriad concerns occupying the news over the past week, you might have lost track of the fact that we’re moving from the Winter Solstice to the Spring Equinox. Or you might just be surprised that it’s already here. The Equinox this year begins on March 19^th, the earliest it’s been since 1896.

Really, the only thing good about the threat of a global pandemic is that it reminds everyone to keep clean. Thoroughly washing your hands and covering your face when you sneeze or cough are essential. And what better way to spend your time if you’re stuck at home than Spring Cleaning!

And if you choose to go green with your spring cleaning, you’re in luck! While everyone else is stampeding the stores, the supplies you need are probably already around your house!

Getting Started

Start your day by collecting the following items:

• white vinegar
• isopropyl alcohol
• olive oil
• baking soda and
• lemon juice – preferably from fresh lemons, as the peels can also be used

Fill a spray bottle with about a cup each of water and white vinegar. Drop in lemon peels if you have them, then add a little lemon juice in – a couple good squirts will do. Cap the bottle and swirl the contents to mix them. This will be our all-purpose cleaner.

Floors, Part 1

If you have any hard wood or tile floors, sweep them to eliminate surface dust. Sprinkle baking soda liberally around on carpets and rugs. It acts as a deodorizer and helps eliminate bad smells.

Wait just a few minutes for it to settle in, then run the vacuum cleaner over all of it.

Now grab a bucket and fill with warm, soapy water. No need for bleaches or hard cleaners, just some basic dish or hand soap is fine. Use a washcloth dipped in the bucket to wipe down baseboards. A little elbow grease can get any stray marks or crayon off.

Do you have any really hard to clean marks? Our homemade all-purpose cleaner works as a strong cleaner without chemical residue.

An additional tip – after they dry, wipe the baseboards with a dryer sheet. This helps the baseboards repel dust and dirt longer.

Windows

No need for the blue stuff – we’ve got a better ‘solution’! Mix ¼-cup of white vinegar with a gallon of water. Squeegee this mixture onto your windows, then use old newspapers or newspaper-style grocery flyers to wipe the windows down.

The high absorbency of the newspapers sucks up more of the excess liquid, leaving clean, streak-free windows. And now there is no need to waste the few paper products you have!

Surfaces

Our homemade all-purpose cleaner works great on countertops and sinks in the kitchen and the bathroom. It also does wonders for hard water deposits and soap scum.

It can also serve as a “Febreeze-style” freshener for your drapes, fabric furniture and for wiping down window blinds, shower curtains, walls and more.

Don’t waste energy using your oven’s self-cleaning mechanism! Spray our all-purpose cleaner on the rack, then sprinkle baking soda on top. Spray it again with the cleaner, and leave it overnight. The next day, use a warm, soapy washcloth to wipe off the mixture, and the baked-on grime as well!

(It works on outdoor grills too!)

Shake a 50/50 mix of baking soda and vinegar into the toilet bowl or onto stubborn drain stains. Let the natural reaction between the two create safer scrubbing bubbles, then scrub with a brush as usual.

For wood furniture, mix a little vinegar or lemon juice with twice as much olive oil to create a polish that will collect dirt and create a reflective shine. Use a dry, preferably microfiber cloth to rub it down and wipe it up.

Floors, Part 2

Now take the homemade wood polish we just created, add a little bit of isopropyl alcohol and a liter of water. Then spray this mixture on your hardwood floors. After a few minutes, use a mop or a dry cloth to wipe it up.

To clean and disinfect your tile floors, pour a 1/2 cup of white vinegar into a gallon bucket filled with warm water. Use this when mopping. With some grout stains, you’ll need to let the water soak, or you can grab an old toothbrush and use the all-purpose cleaner once again to scrub away the dirt.

Spring is a great time to clean up around the house, even when there’s not a suggested quarantine in effect, and by staying natural, you’re keeping your family and the environment safer!

Another popular spring activity in Florida is backyard grilling, especially as the weather heats up. While mosquitoes don’t transmit COVID-19 Coronavirus, they do sometimes carry a lot of other diseases. Mosquito-borne zika virus, dengue fever and malaria kill more than a million people every year.

The good news is, mosquitoes don’t have to be an issue. Our exclusive Mosquito Protection technology that turns biting mosquitoes into vegans is now available at retail prices. And, if you live in Manatee, Sarasota, or Charlotte Counties, we deliver! Check it out on our website, or give us a call!