Debra Lynn Dadd

How I Clean My House

I've been cleaning my house without toxic chemicals for more than twenty-five years. When I started, there were not many nontoxic cleaners available. So I had to make do with what I could find. Even though now there are many nontoxic, natural, and even organic cleaners sold at natural food stores and online--and they are all fine choices--I've tended to stick to the same simple things I started using in the beginning. Occasionally I'll try new products, but mostly I stick with the old standards.

Here are the products I am using today, listed by cleaning task. If and when I change anything, I'll update this page.

Washing dishes

I have a great dishwasher--his name is Larry :-). We don't have an electric dishwasher. My parents had one, so I grew up with one, but I've never had one in my adult life.

I have never liked electric dishwashers. The one I grew up with was noisy and reeked of chlorine, used a lot of electricty and water and required rinsing the dishes before they were placed in the washer. Even though today there are new generation dishwashers that are quiet, and energy and water efficient, they cost over $1000. I just can't see spending all that money to buy a machine to do a simple household task that we can easily do by hand. It seems to me like a waste of materials and energy to even have dishwashing machines at all.

Our dishwashing equipment consists of

a natural color cellulose sponge
a wooden disk rack (which we have had for at least ten years and shows no signs of wear)
wooden silverware holders (which we have also had for at least ten years, and have repaired several times)
cotton towels (hanging on a wooden towel rack--also over ten years old)
two plastic "scrubby things"--one "fine" and one "heavy-duty"
an old toothbrush

Our dishwashing products are:

unscented liquid soap (which we got as a bonus when we purchased a water softener we no longer use)
baking soda (poured into a stainless steel shaker can--the kind with big holes)

Larry washes the dishes once a day. We pile up dirty dishes and put water in them to keep food from drying on or to loosen cooked-on food from pots and pans. If, while washing, Larry can't easily remove the food, he just fills the item with water and lets it continue to soak. After washing the item with hot soapy water, he rinses it in hot water and puts it to air dry on the wooden rack. That's it. Later, after the dishes have air-dried, he comes and puts them away.

Cleaning the kitchen sink

Larry cleans our white porcelain sink after each dishwashing with soapy water and the sponge. We don't have a lot of stains and such that require harsher chemicals. We also use Bon Ami to clean the sink when we need something more.

Cleaning kitchen countertops, stovetop, and cutting boards

Mostly Larry just wipes them down with the soapy sponge after he washes the dishes, then rinses them with clean water. Occasionally, he may use baking soda or Bon Ami.

Cleaning the oven

When we bought our house, it came with a self-cleaning oven. If we need to clean the oven, we use the self-cleaning feature, but we rarely need to clean the oven. Over the years, we have just developed habits that pretty much eliminate the need to clean the oven. We use the right-sized containers for cooking and put a cookie sheet on the lower rack if we think a spill might occur. And if there is something that needs to be cleaned, like spattered grease, we clean it as soon as the oven is cool with soap and water and baking soda, if needed, so we never have baked-on grime.

Drains

We rarely have clogged drains. I don't think we've had a clogged drain in the three years since we moved into this house. The secret is fine mesh sink strainers. They used to be hard to find, but now I see them everywhere (couldn't find them on the internet, though). They are strainers with very fine mesh, like stainless steel window screens, and very cheap. Look for them at your supermarket or kitchenwares section of a hardware store.

Dusting

We actually do a fair amount of dusting at our house. There is less dust in the summer when we are running the air conditioning, but in the winter and spring, when the weather is beautiful here in Florida, and we have all the windows and doors open, we get dust. Plus, we have a cat...

We don't use any kind of dusting product. I use a slighly damp soft cotton towel for hard surfaces--the dampness will hold the dust.

We also use the vacuum cleaner. We have a small Oreck vacuum cleaner that Larry found at a garage sale for $10. We got a long wand with a circular dust brush attachment for another $10. I can easily carry this vacuum around and dust my many bookshelves and the books and windowsills and cobwebs...The brush helps loosen stuck dust and it all gets picked up by the vacuum.

Sweeping and cleaning floors

All of our floors have hard surfaces--either wood or tile. We do have a vacuum cleaner--an old Electolux Larry rescued from a thrift store. Usually Larry will go through the house and sweep all the floors with the vacuum. [Update -- see How I Reduced Dust in My Home for update on my vacuum cleaner]

I don't like big vacuums. They are too noisy and heavy for me. I like to sweep with a broom. I actually have a whole collection of handmade brooms. The one I like best to sweep with is a soft seagrass broom I got at an import store. I don't know where I'll get another one when this one wears out. The softness of the seagrass picks up all the little particles very gently.

So between the two of us, the floors get swept.

We don't clean our floors as often as we should. Occasionally we will run a damp mop over them, but we rarely track dirt into the house, so mostly we sweep.

Cleaning the bathroom

Cleaning the bathroom is fairly simple, too. We just use Bon Ami and a cellulose sponge for the sink, vanity top and shower, and Bon Ami with a toilet brush for the toilet.

Another tool we use in the bathroom is our Steam Buggy Steam Cleaner. It sanitizes, removes mold and soap scum instantly from the shower, and removes grease and odors--all with steam and no chemicals. We don't use it all the time, but we alternate giving the bathroom a thorough steam cleaning with more frequent Bon Ami cleanings.

To clean the mirror, I just wipe it with a towel after it gets all steamed up from the shower.

Cleaning the windows

For years I have cleaned my windows with vinegar and water, mixed half and half in a squirt bottle. I dry the windows with a cotton dish towel.

Organization

It really doesn't take much time to keep a house clean. The key elements are:

know what cleaning tasks need to be done in your house
know what tools and products are needed to get the job done and keep them in stock and at hand
know the best techniques for doing the task efficiently
schedule a regular time to do each cleaning task--don't wait until "it has to be done because it's so dirty."

Remember, regular maintainence and immediate clean-ups generally can be done quickly, easily, and with nontoxic and natural products.

More information

If I need to clean something unusual, I look to these books to find an easy, natural, do-it-yourself formula:

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