Cleaning Tips

The dish sponge is a breeding ground for bacteria. Throwing the sponge into the dishwasher makes it look cleaner but will do nothing to kill the bacteria. The dishwasher simply does not become hot enough to get rid of the bacterial build up on the sponge and washing it in the dishwasher only spreads bacteria over your dishes. Bacteria will stay alive as long as there is a moist place for them to thrive (never put wet or damp dishes into your cupboards).

What about zapping the sponge in the microwave? Well, the entire sponge must reach boiling temperature to kill the bacteria (and the recommended time for most sponges placed in the microwave is between 30 to 90) so if based on the power of your microwave and the size of the sponge you can figure out when it would reach boiling temperature this might work.

A simpler method is to get a stack of dishcloths and 2 containers.

1. Use one container for your clean cloths and use the second container for your used cloths.
2. Everytime you need to wash dishes or wipe the counter, use a clean cloth. That way you can be sure you’re not spreading bacteria around. Throw your used cloth into your second container.
3. When the second container is full, toss it into your wash using a hot setting.

1. Replace your toxic rinse agent with Vinegar.
2. Pour vinegar into your rinse-aid compartment and turn on your dishwasher.
3. Vinegar rinses away soap residue and will leave your dishes sparkling. If you’ve been using a toxic rinse-aid, it will take a bit of time before your dishwasher uses it all up – but it will eventually finish. The vinegar will save you money and give you a great toxic free rinse.

1. To clean your kettle of water deposits, fill it with vinegar and turn it on. The vinegar will clean off all the hard water deposits. Rinse well. Before discarding the used vinegar – recycle it with some baking soda to clean your drain.
2. To give the used vinegar double duty, let it cool. In your drain pour in ½ cup of baking soda then follow with the cooled vinegar. This will clear grime from your drain leaving it fresh and clean.

Another option is to ½ fill your kettle with vinegar then top it off with water and boil. This method works the same as the first method – but doesn’t provide the strength to allow the vinegar to do double duty down your drain. But if you don’t need to clean your drain this method is perfectly fine.

If soap scum is your enemy, my number one recommendation is to switch to a pure liquid castile (vegetable based) soap. It washes away cleanly, doesn’t leave soap scum (especially if you dry the sink or tub immediately after use) and is harmless to the environment.

• A spray bottle of vinegar and water is a simple, easy and non-toxic method for this job.
• Mix ¼ to ½ cup of vinegar to approximately 3 cups of water and a squirt of soap.
• Spray on the glass and clean vertically from the top down using a clean white cloth.
• If there are any streaks on the mirror use an eraser (a chalkboard eraser - you can buy it in the dollar store) to remove any streaks.

To prevent bacteria laden droplets of toilet water being propelled into the air from the flushing action, close the lid, THEN flush.

1. For regular cleaning of your toilet bowl pour in ½ cup baking soda and scrub with a toilet brush.
2. To clean a stained bowl, pour in ½ cup of baking soda followed by ½ cup of vinegar or lemon juice and scrub with a toilet brush.

• Sprinkle carpet with baking soda before vacuuming. Let sit for 15 minutes then vacuum. The carpet will be clean and deodorized.
• Start vacuuming from the farthest corner and use overlapping vertical strokes.
• Vacuum slowly and methodically.
• Vacuum your way out of the room.

1. Use an all purpose cleaner. My favourite is to fill a bucket with hot water and add a ¼ cup of a plant based soap and a ¼ cup of vinegar.
2. First test your cleaner in an out of the way spot to ensure it works for your wall. Dip your clean white (any other colour and you may end up painting your wall in that colour) cloth in the water and wipe your test spot.
3. Wait a few minutes.
4. If the wall looks clean and is not tacky (sticky) to the touch, proceed with your whole wall cleaning.
5. Start at the bottom and work your way up the wall.
6. Although it may seem counter-intuitive start cleaning your walls from the bottom up that’s what you need to do in order to avoid dirty drips creating a cleaning nightmare. Cleaning up the drip line that runs from a just cleaned wall to a dirty wall is hard work.
7. Work from the left side of the room to right. This method will let you know what you have already done and allows you to work methodically and quickly.

Most walls can be maintained by spot cleaning (cleaning up only the marks or dirt) as needed.

• Pencil marks can be cleaned by using a regular rubber eraser.
• Crayons can be cleaned using an all purpose cleaner with some scrubbing powder if needed. Do test in an inconspicuous place to ensure your wall can take it first.

Dust mites are a fact of life. And here in Canada, where we have our homes closed up during the cold season dust mites can be abundant. The simplest way to reduce these creatures is to reduce the heat and humidity and remove dust. Dust mites cannot survive temperatures below 16 °C or above 60 °C.

• Rapidly shake your bedding to air it out and this will reduce the temperature and your dust mites.
• Thoroughly vacuum once a week – this will be more effective in removing dust mites than light vacuuming daily which stirs additional dust into the air.

• Most of the dirt in our homes comes in from outside.
• Save yourself time and energy by using mats inside and outside your home’s entrances.

Learn More about Chemicals in your household

If you want to learn about a chemical in your household visit the SCORECARD pollution information site. It will give you detailed information on more than 11,000 chemicals.