You should clean your family car every one to three weeks to keep it in top condition, according to CNN. But if you wash your car this often with standard car cleaning products, you’ll pollute the environment and potentially damage your health. Thankfully, these eco-friendly cleaning tips will ensure your car sparkles all year round with very little negative impact on the world.

Use a commercial car cleaning company

There are more than 100,000 commercial car wash companies across America, but many vehicle owners still opt to do the job themselves on their driveway. This isn’t beneficial though, as you’ll use up to 262% more water than a commercial car wash service would, and the dirty wastewater will wind up straight in the sewer. In contrast, commercial car washes are bound by U.S. law, and have to drain their wastewater for treatment purposes, making it safe to be reused.

Eco-friendly car washing at home

If you don’t fancy paying the average $15 for a full car wash and would prefer to save your cash to spend on your kids, then there are environmentally-friendly ways to clean your car at home. The first rule is that you should use biodegradable soap every time. These can be purchased ready-made, or you could make your own using environmentally-friendly dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent and water. You should use eco-friendly products on your car’s interior, too, especially as this is a confined space that you and your family will sit in for significant periods at a time. Both Castile Soap and All-Purpose Cleaner will work well in this area, and best of all, they’re free from synthetic ingredients.

Make the most of the rain

The average annual rainfall in the U.S. is just short of 30 mm, so there are plenty of opportunities to utilize this water to clean your car. When it rains, you and the kids should get outside and gently wipe off any dirt and debris from your car with a cloth or soft brush. Not only does this spruce up your set of wheels, but it also means you’re not using unnecessary water. You do, however, need to be careful with this method, as it can affect the quality of your car’s paintwork. If you do notice that the paintwork on your car has lost its shine, you can repair it by turning to an online vehicle maintenance resource and following a tutorial designed for the make and model of your vehicle. 

Invest in reusable cloths

You’ll need a fair few cloths to clean your car to a good standard. These include sponges, microfiber cloths, and chamois leather cloth. These are typically available as single-use items and as reusable ones, and you should make sure you choose the reusable ones every time to avoid clogging up landfills. Microfiber cloths are particularly a good investment, as if you care for them correctly and wash them in an environmentally-friendly laundry detergent, they’ll last up to 500 washes.

Your family car is likely to be one of your most used and loved possessions, and cleaning it regularly is an absolute must. But there’s no need to worry about your car cleaning regimen damaging the environment or your family’s health when you follow these tips.

 

Contribution by freelance writer Sally Preston

 

• Alternative heaters such as fireplaces, space heaters, and wood pellet stoves offer a reliable and efficient heating without taking a toll on your wallet or the environment.
• Improve insulation by installing insulation through the loft and cavity wall insulation to save more than $100 in heating every year.
• Use curtains to ensure you get some extra heat around the house during the day, and close them when it gets dark.
• Add rugs and wool carpets to trap cold air underneath and prevent it from cooling the house, as well as reflect existing heat away from walls.
• Utilize radiator panels with shiny surfaces to keep heat confined within rooms instead of against walls.
• Move furniture such as sofas away from radiators to allow hot air to circulate freely around the house.
• Winterize homes early by getting an energy audit, installing weather stripping, insulating attics, basements, and exterior walls, sealing entry points for cold air, and performing routine maintenance.

I am super excited to be going on my first ever Business Retreat with the Indie Business Network! They are celebrating 20 years in business and I am thrilled to be joining them for some sun, sand, celebrating and masterminding... we have big goals for 2020! 

As soon as the retreat is over I fly to Atlanta for the Home & Gift Show. 

While we are away from the studio we will not be mailing out orders. 

If you'd like to order while we are on hiatus, please enjoy this DISCOUNT CODE for 10% off your orders.

We will be back in the studio on MLK Jr. Day and we will start packing your orders in the order in which they were received. 

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• Using everyday household items can help maintain a clean home.
• Vinegar is an affordable and efficient cleaning product that can kill bacteria and germs and leave behind a clean shine.
• Baking soda can be used to scrub dirty surfaces and neutralize odors.
• Essential oils are effective replacements to harmful chemical cleaners while making housework more pleasant.
• Professional help may be necessary for certain tasks like carpet cleaning, upholstering, or deep spring cleaning.

• Homeowners should take precautions to prevent pets from ruining their carpet, such as installing a hardwood or tile entrance for wiping off dirt and mud from paws.
• Carpets should be maintained and cleaned using hot water extraction once a year.
• Pets' nails need to be trimmed and filed routinely to avoid scratching the fibers of the carpet.
• Adequate cleaning supplies and other supplies should be kept ready before bringing a pet home.

The air that is inside of your home can have a big effect on the health of you and your family. When you are constantly breathing in allergens like dust, dander, pollen and mold spores, this can cause a number of health issues. You can experience an increase in allergic rhinitis symptoms, asthma attacks and even upper respiratory illnesses. Improving your indoor air can go a long way towards decreasing the risk of these issues.

Filter Your Air

There are a couple of different ways that you can filter the indoor air that you breathe when you’re at home. Your HVAC system and furnace have a filter that air passes through before it is dispersed into your living space. There are a number of different filters that you can choose, but the requirements vary based on the type of furnace that you have. A HEPA-grade filter is the best choice if you’re looking to remove allergens. You can also use a stand-alone air purifier in rooms that you want to be especially clean.

Remove Carpet

Carpet tiles in the home can harbor a lot of allergens. Even if you vacuum regularly, there are allergens that can work their way into the deep fibers of a plush carpet. According to Floors Direct, Hardwood floors can be a downside in humid areas but engineered hardwood can resist moisture damage better. This type of flooring allows you to clean up easier and more thoroughly.

Open Your Windows

With all the different allergens that can accumulate inside your home, it’s important that you periodically open your windows to get some fresh air. In the warmer months, it is a lot easier to do this. In the winter, you may only be able to open your windows for 10 minutes each day. If you have fans in your bathroom, it is recommended that you run them for about one full hour each day. This is a way to circulate the air in your home and make it cleaner. It’s often difficult to determine if you have allergens floating around your indoor air. While you can’t necessarily see them, you can listen to your body. If you’re not feeling well a lot of the time, indoor allergens may be to blame.

Try a few different ways of freeing your home from allergens, and see if you notice a difference in how you and your family are feeling.

Interested in keeping your home clean? Check out this other article: What You Should Clean Before Winter Hits

Pathogens like harmful bacteria thrive in dirty environments. The accumulation of dust in the air and on surfaces can aggravate certain conditions such as asthma, especially in children and the elderly. Perhaps most importantly, pests like rats and roaches are attracted to unclean places where plenty of food and hiding space is often available. As part of your responsibility to keep your family healthy, maintaining cleanliness in the home is vital.

Several strategies can keep your home in top shape and prevent sickness. Most of the daily upkeep involved in cleaning a home is straightforward, easy, and fast. Ten minutes every day devoted to cleaning the house should be enough to keep your home clean until the next big cleaning day.

Here are a few tips for keeping your home free from harmful grime and dust from day to day.

Keep Your Floors Clean

Sweeping the floor and removing food sources can prevent rodents which can help keep your family healthy. The details matter – focus on extracting debris from even the tiniest cracks and crevices where it often gets stuck and festers into balls of pathogens that could seriously harm your family’s health. Mopping is not necessary every day, but you should give your floors a quick scan with the broom as part of your daily routine.

Wiping Surfaces and Spot Cleaning

The most effective cleaning for health is often the simplest. Taking the extra few seconds to wipe down counters after cooking a meal or tidying up a mess in the bathroom goes a long way in preventing the spread of germs. Don’t let things accumulate on surfaces that you eat from or use often because you would be exposing yourself over and over to bacteria and viruses that your body has already expended energy battling.

Cleaning Filters

The most important thing you can do to keep your family breathing easily is by maintaining your heating and cooling system. If you have central air, this means routinely cleaning out all the air filters and the area around your unit. These machines perform the important function of purifying the air you breathe inside your home. When they are clean and in good working order, dust and other particles floating through your home are trapped in the HVAC’s filtering system, making removal easy.

Work these three daily cleaning practices into your routine for a healthy family.

Here is another article you might enjoy: Advances in Technology Enable Effective and Eco-Friendly Cleaning

This year, 77% of Americans took nearly a week to complete a thorough spring clean of their home. Having a clean and healthy place to live is a priority for most people, and cleaning can be very satisfying and make you feel safer in your own home. However, it is also rather time-consuming, and some commonly used products can be harmful to the environment and your health. Fortunately, advances in technology have seen a rise in the availability of highly effective and sustainable cleaning products made without harsh chemicals, and smart technology can now help to minimize the need for such products in the first place. 

Effective Eco-Friendly Products

Technology in cleaning isn’t just about equipment and smart devices. It has enabled the manufacturing of increasingly eco-friendly products that effectively remove dirt and bacteria without the disadvantages of harsher chemical cleaners. In the cleaning industry, improvements in technology have made the production of ionized water easier for more facilities. Tap water can be converted into a chemical-free cleaner by infusing it with ozone in an electrolysis process, so creating a highly safe and effective disinfectant. Homeowners can also invest in a compact water ionizer for the home. The resulting ionized water kills 99.9% of bacteria but leaves no chemical residue when used in the kitchen and on other surfaces around the home.

Reducing Environmental Impact

Water is the main ingredient in most cleaning fluids but this makes them heavy and expensive to transport and deliver. This means even eco-friendly products create a large carbon footprint, especially since they are also packaged in single-use plastic bottles. Scientists have now developed a method of compressing cleaning products into tablet form, which can then be dissolved in ordinary tap water in a reusable bottle. As well as being more sustainable, these products have also been designed to be easier to use and more effective than conventional cleaners.

Preventing Major Clean-Ups

Some problem areas in the home, such as the formation of mold, are harder to treat without using harsh and potentially harmful chemical cleaners. However, advances in smart technology mean that these issues can be more easily prevented in the first place. Air purifiers and dehumidifiers are not new, but, when these devices are combined with smart technology, their effectiveness is enhanced. By providing you with feedback on the quality of air in your home, you can be alerted to unseen problems and unusual levels of moisture in the air. This means you can deal with the causes of mold before it has time to become an unsightly mess and contaminate the air with its spores.  

New technology can make keeping your house clean and safe much easier with increasingly sophisticated devices and smart appliances. In addition, through innovative scientific design, it enables the creation of sustainable cleaning products which, although gentler on the environment and less harmful to your family’s health, are also highly effective. 

You probably do spring cleaning every year, but it's important to remember that you need to clean before winter hits as well. Colder temperatures and an increase in precipitation mean the inside and outside of your home need to be protected from the elements. Here are some great places to start your winter cleaning.

Indoors

Cleaning indoors before winter hits means protecting your home from the potential bad weather about to arrive. Rain, snow, and overall wet weather arrive in most areas during winter. All that moisture makes it necessary to focus on keeping mold and mildew at bay in the home. Mold and mildew not only affect your health, but they also affect the value and structure of your house. Check underneath your cabinets for leaks. Wipe down the bottom of your windows and make sure no moisture is seeping in from the outside. Make sure also to keep air circulating in your home. The cooler weather does mean less humidity, but it also means less fresh airflow through your home. Turn on vent fans in your bathroom to clear out moisture and air out areas that are susceptible to mold, such as bathrooms and closets.

Your Home Exterior

Cleaning the outside of your home before winter hits is essential. It's not easy to go outside in the snow to wipe down the exterior windows and clean your siding. Do this before cold weather arrives. While you are cleaning, look for ways to protect your home from the elements. You may need to caulk around doorways or windows. It is also a good idea to repaint before cold weather seeps into your home. At the very least, clean your siding, your outside windows, and your yard before it's too cold.

Your Car

Clean your car before snow and low temperatures make it a very unpleasant experience. Wash the outside thoroughly. Don't forget to clear out clutter and vacuum the inside as well. Dust and wipe down the interior, and clean the windows for maximum visibility. You may also want to set up a winter box in the trunk that holds anything you would need if your car broke down in winter. A clean car makes it easier to get out and about when it's cold and dreary.

Winter cleaning is real, and it's important to get started before temperatures drop. If you wait too long, you could end up being incredibly uncomfortable and inconvenienced. You will save yourself a ton of discomfort if you clean these essential areas early.

If you want to make your cleaning an all-natural experience, try our household cleaning products!