Ohioan Erma Bombeck not only found humor in everyday life as a homemaker: she also had a knack for words which led her to a successful career as humorist and writer.
While "sweeping the room with a glance" may be the easy way out, it doesn't exactly clean anything, does it? :)
I know that "spring cleaning" is a thing of the past for most women, but for those of us who live in homes heated with wood, spring cleaning the house is like, well, a breath of spring!
I used to enjoy spring cleaning, getting the windows and curtains washed, cupboards cleaned out, etc. I can't say that I actually enjoy spring cleaning now, but I don't hate it, either.
This latest craze of "green living" (seems to come around every-other generation) has gone beyond people being aware of what they eat and what is in their food products to include what is absorbed through the skin via cosmetics. As we gather more education on the affects of chemicals on our health, this round of health consciousness is beginning to include what we breath via household cleaning products.
Cleaning with vinegar and baking soda is nothing new, it just got lost when the advertising world convinced us that we needed a special product for every single cleaning chore we might encounter.
With the economic downturn, folks began looking for a way to save money, and cleaning supplies seemed like a good choice. The number of advice columns on frugal living and blogs dedicated to sustainable lifestyles has seemed to explode lately.
I stumbled across one such blog while I was researching something else. In it, saw instructions for making Homemade Citrus Vinegar Cleaner that uses orange rinds and vinegar. Two simple, organic, and inexpensive ingredients. That's for me!
I did a Google search and pages of websites for making this cleaner popped up. Since so many people were making this cleaner and liking it so much that they were sharing, I decided to give it a try.
On March 24, I put orange rinds in a quart mason jar and filled the jar with white vinegar. Every few days I gave the jar a shake.
Most instructions for say to let the two soak for at least 2 weeks. It hasn't been quite two weeks, but I couldn't resist temptation any longer and gave the cleaner its "maid"-en voyage this morning.
My concoction did have the citrus smell, but also had the vinegar smell, too. It did a 'so-so' job on a greasy spot of my stove. The purpose of soaking the orange peels in vinegar is to draw out the oil, which is supposed to be a good de-greaser.
Even though I was disappointed in the lack of grease cutting, I am not giving up. Maybe the oranges need to soak longer in the vinegar to release more oil and have the vinegar smell get weaker. But even if it doesn't, I think that this is still a great cleaner for counter tops, mirrors, and windows, so I will continue to make and use it.
Marcheta *mirror, mirror, on the wall... speckled with toothpaste and hairspray and ~~~~~zap! you're clean!
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