The Greening of Kelly

I was so excited to make my own spray cleaner, I made two with different recipes. (I have found many and will be trying others) This one is my favorite so far. Based on the recipe I received from Laura at All Star Cleaning Services.

My mom, who was in town a couple weeks ago, and is a big Formula 409 fan, gave it the thumbs up. Which says a lot! Seriously, she used to ask me “where’s the 409?” while pawing through the cleaners that I had at the time. “At the store. I’m sorry, I buy whatever is on sale and if I have a coupon. It is what it is,” I’d answer. She would sigh and use the whatever.

This time she liked what I gave her.

All Purpose Cleaning Spray

32 oz water in a clean spray bottle

2 T natural dish soap, I used Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbena

20 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract (which can be found in vitamin and supplement section of your local health food store) to disinfect

Optional: add 5-10 drops of essential oil for fragrance. I found that the Mrs. Meyers was fragrant enough, I don’t need to add any additional fragrance.

Give the bottle a shake and you are ready to roll!

Thanks Laura! We haven’t met, but my slow greening process is all your fault!

Microfiber cloths are my new favorite thing. I bought a pack of about 25 for less than $10 in the automotive department at Sam’s Club.

I wanted to try them, I wanted to like them. I didn’t expect to love them. I love them. I use them dry or damp, depending on the job I am attacking. I love the streak-free finish on windows and glass.

It is important to wash them in a load of microfiber cloths alone. If you wash them with other clothing or towels, particles and fibers from those items will cling to the microfiber and make them less effective. Also, don’t use fabric softener as the oils will attach to the fibers of the cloths taking away some of their awesomeness. I designated a bucket for clean cloths and one for dirty ones, once the dirty pile is large enough to make a decent load for the washer, I do a load. Simple as that.

Since switching to microfiber cleaning nearly three months ago, I have yet to use up the roll of paper towels that sits on my kitchen counter. I am very happy!