DIY Grease Busting Spray

Cleaning Supplies for Spring Cleaning (Photo credit: Chiot’s Run)

 

Happy Friday everybody! Does your range need a pick me up after cooking dinner all week? Use this simple recipe to remove grease from any appliance surface. It’s affordable, effective, and safer for your family and the environment than conventional store-bought cleaners! What’s not to love, and an added bonus is it smells amazing!

 

Supplies:

 

• 1 empty spray bottle
• 2 cups distilled water (using distilled water prevents the spray from going bad before you use it all)
• 1/4 cup oil-based soap (like this one by Murphy)
• 10 drops of either rosemary, lavender, or citrus essential oil, or a combination of them

 

Directions:

 

1. Combine all the ingredients into your empty spray bottle, and shake well each time you use it.
2. Spray a generous amount on your appliance surface and wipe it clean with a damp sponge or cloth.
3. Dry with a clean cloth or towel!

 

And there you have it, a simple, affordable, and fragrant way to degrease your kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

Give Your Appliances A Scrub! DIY Appliance Cleaner

Breville Appliances. From left to right: Emporia BKE400, Aroma Style Electronic BCM600, Ikon SK500, Emporia Toaster CT25B. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The holidays are such a busy time—putting up decorations, shopping for gifts, baking deserts, attending parties, and keeping your house tidy all take up quite a bit of time. Fear not, we’ve got plenty of tips to help you with the last part, and if you don’t have time to DIY it, you can always call us or your favorite local housekeeping service to help you out! Today we’ve got a recipe that will help get your appliances looking like new in no time flat!

DIY Appliance Cleaner

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Mix together the ingredients in a spray bottle or a bucket (if you are making more).
2. Apply the spray directly to stains and let the mixture sit for a few minutes (at least 10)
3. Then scrub off the dirt with a sponge. Be sure to unplug your small appliances though before cleaning them!

That’s all there is to it! If you have need more kitchen cleaning tips check out our other posts for recipes and steps to get your house shining! If you use this recipe let us know what you think!

Speed Cleaning Your Bathroom

How To Naturally Clean Your Washing Machine

Tidy Up Your Kitchen In 15 Minutes

Get Your House Ready For Thanksgiving: 3 Days, & Under 3 Hours To A Clean Home!

Image from StylishTrendy.com

Thanksgiving is only a week away, and there is still so much to do—between shopping, cooking, and oh the cleaning! But, don’t freak out, Perfect Shine is here to help! Of course you could always eliminate one of these holiday tasks by calling us or another local cleaner to get your house nice and tidy. But if that doesn’t fit in your budget we have a game plan for you to tackle cleaning your home in the days leading up to Turkey Day! Total time to a clean home: less than 3 hours!

Tuesday: 2 Days Till Turkey Day (Total Time = 75 minutes or less)

• Declutter Part I. Take a box and walk around each room collecting misplaced items to put away later (10 minutes).
• Dust. Give your living room, dining room, hallways, dens (basically any room guests will see) a good dusting (15 minutes).
• Vacuum/Sweep/Mop. After you have dusted, vacuum or sweep/mop all the floors in the living room, dining room, hallways, etc. (20 minutes).
• Bathrooms. Time to tackle the bathrooms your guests may use. Start by tidying up: put away misplaced items, fold towels, etc. Then sprinkle some cleaner into the toilet bowl and close the lid. Wipe down the mirror, sink, exposed shelving, and cabinets with an all purpose cleaner. After cleaning the hard surfaces sweep the floor. Scrub the toilet with a brush and wipe the seat/exterior of the bowl with a rag and all purpose cleaner. Then mop the floor (10-20 minutes depending on how many bathrooms).
• Declutter Part II. Remember that box of stuff you gathered earlier… carry it around the house and put things back in their proper place. Or better yet, enlist one of your kids or your spouse to do it (~10 minutes).

Wednesday: 1 Day Till Turkey Day (Total Time = 45 minutes)

• Kitchen. Yes we know you will be cooking tomorrow, but it is a good idea to spend some time tidying up the kitchen before the cooking begins. Follow our guide to get your kitchen clean in 15 minutes (click here). Do this routine before you get ahead on preparing food for tomorrow. After you complete any prep cooking for tomorrow spend another 15 minutes tidying up (~30 minutes if cleaning twice).
• Bedrooms. If you want to show your guests the rest of your house, follow our guide for speed cleaning your bedroom in 15 minutes (click here). Each member of the family can clean their room this way (15 minutes).

Thursday: It’s Turkey Day! (Total Time = 30 minutes)

• Touchup the house. The hard work (in terms of cleaning) has already been done. At this point move from room to room tidying up where necessary. This might mean making a bed, giving the bathroom sinks/counters a quick wipe down, or sweeping up an entranceway (15 minutes).
• Kitchen. Try to maintain the kitchen as you are cooking, this will save you serious time. But you can also get it pretty clean in 15 minutes following our guide that you can see here!

There you have it, a clean home for Thanksgiving in less than three hours spread over three days! Totally doable, and the whole thing will go by even quicker if you can enlist the help of your children or spouse. Breathe easy, now all you have to think about is how to keep the turkey moist!

Do you usually host holiday gatherings at your house? How do you prepare?

DIY: Another Recipe for Soft Scrub

Several months ago we shared a recipe for making your own natural soft scrub, but today we wanted to share an alternative recipe for soft scrub just in case you find yourself without ingredients in our first recipe (we don’t always have pure aspirin on hand…).

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup castile soap (for bathrooms we love Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint or Citrus scents)
• 5 drops of tea tree oil
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
• 1 old shampoo or squeeze bottle

Directions:

1. Combine the baking soda and castile soap in the old (but clean) shampoo bottle or a new sealable squeeze bottle.
2. Add the water and tea tree oil, place the lid on the bottle and shake to combine.
3. Lastly add the vinegar, stir or shake to combine into a smooth creamy paste.
4. Squeeze your new soft scrub onto a sponge and use to clean your tub, floors, or toilet.

To use the soft scrub on your toilet simply squeeze some in the bowl and use a toilet brush to scrub away dirt. The tea tree oil helps to kill and prevent bacteria! Rejoice in the simplicity of cleaning your bathroom without chemicals!

Do you have a cleaning job you want advice on how to clean in the most green way? If so comment us with your questions and we will do the research!

Green Spring Cleaning: DIY Vinyl & Tile Floor Cleaners

Tile Floor with Shadows (Photo credit: Hkuchera)

Last week we shared a recipe for cleaning you wood floors naturally, and this week we’ve got two recipes (from Make Your Place) for mopping up those vinyl and tile floors!

Both of these cleaners can be used on vinyl and tile flooring, which one you choose really just depends on which scent you prefer.

Lemon Floor Cleaner

Ingredients:

• 1 cup liquid castile soap
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 10 drops tea tree oil
• 6 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients and store in a plastic jug.
2. When ready to clean floors, apply cleaner to wet reusable Swiffer mop head and clean away! The solution is more concentrated, so you can also pour some of the cleaner into a bucket of warm water and use a traditional mop!

Pine Floor Cleaner

Choose this recipe if you love the smell of Christmas trees :). Pine oil is great for cleaning because of it’s natural deodorizing and antibacterial properties!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup liquid castile soap
• 1/2 cup pine oil (you would need 4 of these one ounce sized bottles)
• 6 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and store in a plastic jug.
2. When ready to clean your floors, apply cleaner to wet reusable Swiffer mop head and clean away. The solution is more concentrated, so you can also pour some cleaner into a bucket of warm water and use a traditional mop!

Which vinyl/tile floor cleaning recipe do you prefer, lemon or pine?

Related articles

• 12 great ways to use castile soap (mnn.com)
• Green Spring Cleaning: DIY Wood Floor Cleaner (perfectshinehousekeeping.wordpress.com)
• Product Review: Method Bathroom Cleaner (perfectshinehousekeeping.wordpress.com)
• Vacuum Cleaners Buying Guide – John Lewis (johnlewis.com)