Green Cleaning

Today's post is all about cleaning, as that is what I am going to be be doing today. This last year I have taken a lot of steps to become more green outside of the regular recycling and not using disposable shopping bags. Other ways that I have changed is in the way I clean. I used to be a clorox-wipe-aholic, I would buy them in bulk (as I still have several containers around as a result of this bulk buying) but when you clean with clorox wipes you easily can be throwing away 15 of them every time you clean your kitchen and bathrooms, if it was a big mess in the kitchen it can be much more. Also bleach is a pretty harsh chemical, while it can definitely be necessary in some situations that is not always the norm. I have also adopted a one in one out policy when it comes to clothing. For every piece I bring in I have to donate or get rid of another. I donate things that I think other people would enjoy, if it is a tee shirt I got at a conference I cut it up to make cleaning rags with that I generally wash or if the job is really bad, like spilled paint on occasion I  will throw one away. I still have access to bleach, but most of the time I will just use good old soap and water.

The deep cleans like I am going to be doing today is quite a different story. My goal is that as I save some of my current cleaning products for big messes or quick clean ups that the only thing that I will need in the future is AJAX as I need my bathtub, shower, grout, and sink to be really clean. The rest can be handed primarily with the Shark steam products that I have purchased this year. I am all about sanitization, but if you can do it without harmful chemicals that is the way to go. All that the shark cleaning line needs is water. There is no waste, it is dry almost instantly. Which is great if you have kids, or pets, or if you spill something all over your floor right before a dinner party. Then when you are done you just throw the pads in to the washer, this is the only catch that I do not like, they have to be by themselves, no towels or anything else can go with them.

I like to clean from the top down so if anything comes off the counter I will clean it when I get the floors, I have the handheld model SC630D. It runs around a hundred dollars, there is another on that is about twenty dollars less, getting the same one I did might be the best twenty dollars you ever spent.

The less expensive one

The more expensive one

I know that the carrying bag does not make the difference, but it is nice. The two extras that will rock your world are the two extra wedge attachments, the yellow one does mirrors and windows in a way that will rock your world, even when you have those mirrored electrical outlets on the mirror an the gray one is a oven cleaner. If you have not replaced your oven for a Samsung that had steam clean in the oven, this is the next best thing and at a tenth or twelfth of the cost. 

For my gout I have an extra head for my sonicare toothbrush that is clearly marked cleaning only. You know what they can do for your teeth, now you know what they can do for your grout. 

When we purchased our place this year we put in hardwood floors all over the condo, all of the kitchen and the bathrooms already had that nice linoleum that looks like tile. So my first purchase was a shark steam mop. I already have a Dyson which are green to because there are no filters to replace and they have a 5 year warranty so you are sure that it won't be in a landfill anytime soon. I have the DC 17 Animal

I have had it for a few years, I got this one right after Mikey got back from Iraq, I got it the same day Mikey got a new WRX, I was more excited than he was. This was actually my third Dyson, not because I have ever had one break, but the ones that I have previously bought I have lost during a break-up. I always get the animal. For those of you that do not know about Dyson any Dyson in the same line i.e. DC17 they are the same vacuum they just have a different color cap that tells you what type of accessories it comes with. The animal always comes with the most. For example

The Flat Out Head - I use this one the most, instead of a broom I use this to vacuum up all the dry stuff before I use the shark. 

Mini Turbine Head - Great for sofas.

Car Kit Vacuum - Great for the car

The flexible crevice tool is great, not just for under the seats in the car but down the lint trap in the dryer and my personal favorite baseboards, the get hair and dust on top of them especially when you have dogs, this will  suction on and then you just walk down the hallway and it just cleans everything off. 

Just in case you are not convinced of the amazing power of a Dyson I will tell you a story of the first story Dyson that I ever had. The house we had lived in at the time had been lived in for a year already and before that the people who lived there had a black dog, we had a little white dog. I had vacuumed that house three to four times a week with a Kirby. When I first got the dyson not only did it pick up at least a full canister in every room you would have thought we had a dalmatian, gross. After that I will never have another vacuum.

Anyway so after I vacuum everything then I will shark it. I have the shark SC3501, the model number is important because it is the one that has the double sided mop that you can just flip it over when one side gets dirty.

 It also has the corner pads that work great in the bathroom, and purple nubby heads.

You can get one at Best Buy for around a hundred dollars. This has a really long cord, if I plug in in the dinning room I can get the whole condo without replugging. As you steam you can immediately walk over somewhere you have just steamed it will be warm but not wet.