Picture Perfect Cooking

Raise your hand if you LOVE to clean your house?  I thought so…not many hands raised.  I am like that, too; I love a clean house but don’t really like the work it takes to get it that way.  One think that I now do that makes the job a little easier is to use as many non-toxic cleaners as possible.

I used to use regular cleaners that had strong chemicals and fragrances added to them to make your home smell “clean”.  Guess what?  A clean house really doesn’t have a smell at all, good or bad. 

When I walked down the “cleaning” product aisle at the grocery store, my eyes would start watering and I would usually sneeze at least once.  Why was I bringing this stuff into my living space when I couldn’t even walk past most of them without tearing up?  That’s a good question so I set out to find a solution.

After some online searching, I purchased a few products to try and have found ones that I have stuck with for quite a while now.  My favorite brands are Method, Mrs. Meyers, and Seventh Generation.  All three seem to clean really well without a lot of extra scrubbing that some of the more well known brands require. 

In my bathroom, I use Method Bathroom Cleaner (formerly Tub N Tile).  It has a mild fragrance that makes the rooms smell so good, but doesn’t overpower the senses.  I also use Method Le Scrub on my shower doors and tubs.  We have extremely hard water which leads to terrible hard water stains on the glass doors.  I had tried CLR, which did not work very well and the smell was hideous and then tried Le Scrub.  I still use Comet on my toilets because I have not found a replacement that I like as well.

For dishwashing, I love Seventh Generation products.  My favorites are the Free & Clear Dishwashing Liquid and the Lemon Automatic Dishwashing Gel.  I also use Seventh Generation’s anti-bacterial wipes.

Finally, to soften our clothes and add a slight lavender fragrance, I turn to Mrs. Meyers.  Their liquid fabric softener and dryer sheets are perfect and I make them last as long as possible.  I use just a tiny bit of liquid softener and thin it with water and I use each dryer sheet for multiple loads.

This is just my little way of keeping C & I safe from unnecessary chemicals which may or may not be harmful, but why take a chance.  I have read on other blogs that some people actually make their own products, but I have not quite worked up to that point yet.  It is interesting reading, though.  By the way, these companies have no idea who I am and have offered me nothing for these thoughts.  I just like them!