Right now I'm reading a great book by Ellen Sandbeck called Organic Housekeeping. It's format is very straight forward and easy to read and it's chock-a-block full of fantastic tips for keeping a home naturally. A lot of her tips are based on prevention so that you won't ever need heavy duty toxic cleaners. Some of the pages in this book I found to be just plain common sense. But I suppose we all could use a reminder now and then to keep our kitchens dusted. However, she also gives some fabulous tips that I've never heard anywhere else. Here are a few of my favorites so far:
- "If your dishwasher begins to stink, clean the filter according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then pour 2 cups of white vinegar in a bowl and set the bowl face up on the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Run the machine through a wash cycle to clean the inside of the appliance. The vinegar will deodorize the dishwasher as well as dissolve hard water deposits."
- "If your [porcelain] sink gets stained, pour a little consumer strength (3 percent) hydrogen peroxide on a clean, wet cloth, rub it on the stain, and rinse it off immediately. Don't allow it to sit on the surface for more than a couple of seconds."
- To rid your carpet of fleas and flea eggs, she recommends "...sprinkling the carpet liberally with table salt... Wait several hours, then vacuum the carpet... After you finish vacuuming, remove the vacuum bag and seal it tightly in a black plastic garbage bag. Put the bag in a sunny location, and let it bake in the sun for several days in order to kill any survivors."
Along with helpful tips, this book is also packed with informative and up to date facts. For example, she gives the low down on Teflon-coated cookware and the toxic fumes they emit when overheated. I only have one such pan, and I know exactly where it's going tonight.
You can pick this book up for only $9.99 at Amazon
She also has a newer book that was published last year called Green Housekeeping
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