Spring Cleaning

Last night, while catching up on my blog reading, I noticed a common element in several. Spring cleaning time is here. That's been my focus here too this week. Monday, I worked on the bedroom, cleaning cobwebs, wiping walls & furniture down with Seventh Generation All-Purpose cleaner. I even got the sweet potatoes that have spent the winter under the bed moved out. Between the ones I'll be cooking on Saturday, and the ones J is using to start this year's slips, that will just about be the end of the 2009 harvest.

Yesterday, I began cleaning the bathroom. When I was building this house, I decided to use cedar in the shower. I do like pretty tile, but not spending my time cleaning grout. So, I opted to use cedar drawer liner on an angle, with tile along the bottom edge. I'm really happy with it, but it does take scrubbing every so often to remove soap and shampoo residue. I did use a natural sealer on it, which helped keep it nice for the first six months or so. Soon, I'll apply another coat of sealer. The products I used are Ecover Limescale remover, & when that ran out, Seventh Gen. Natural Tub & Tile Cleaner, which I recently found at my favorite discount grocery store. That made me happy! The water here is very hard, and challenging. I do have a whole house filter, which is in need of some repair, along with an under counter filter in the kitchen. I also have a Berkey filter on the kitchen counter for filtering rainwater, which is our drinking water. Water has probably been the greatest challenge of living here. I'll delve into that another day.

One of the tips I read yesterday was to put orange peels in the vinegar you use for cleaning. I bet that does smell lovely, & intend to try it. Do you have any cleaning tips you'd like to share today?