Natural Cleaning Week: All Purpose & Floors

It's still Natural Cleaning Week, where I am sharing my personal all-natural cleaning methods and recipes with you in response to the 22 Day Spring Clean Challenge.  Today I'll be sharing my two all-purpose cleaning sprays and floor cleaning solutions.  I've even got a great regimen for hardwood floors, so stick around and read on!

All Purpose Cleaning Spray

My regular all-purpose cleaning spray is the following recipe.  Simple to mix up and very affective.  I choose to add a few drops of Young Living Thieves oil for added sanitation, but vinegar alone has been shown to kill germs on contact.  Before I found Thieves oil blend, I used to use Wyndmere's Bacteria Fighter.  It worked great at sanitizing, too, and smells so fresh!

All Purpose Cleaner

1 part distilled white vinegar
1 part filtered water
a few drops of Thieves oil  or Bacteria Fighter (OPTIONAL)
(you may also like to try your own blend of oils, such as lemongrass, tea tree, lavender, clove, orange, mint, eucalyptus)

Add all ingredients to a clean spray bottle (order spray bottles in bulk to save money).  Shake to mix, and ready to use.  Safe to use on just about anything, even stainless steel!

If you've got to clean up a mess that is extra greasy, like my kitchen the other night after I made fried salmon cakes and splattered oil all over my walls and counter....  You'll need a little added grease-cutting boost to your cleaner.  Here's what I do:

Degreasing Cleaner

1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup filtered water
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 tsp castile soap
5 drops tea tree oil  (OPTIONAL)

Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake to combine.  Ready for use!  (And it is normal for the baking soda to foam a bit when added to the bottle.)

FLOORS

For tile/vinyl/linoleum/painted wood/stone floors, I use these same solutions, simply in a 3 gallon bucket.  Dunk mop in the All Purpose solution and wring as dry as possible (I prefer to use a cotton string mop or strip mop.  Strip mops are easier to wring out.).  You can let your floors air dry.  For really dirty floors, with mud or caked on food, the degreasing cleaner is fabulous!  Spray any big stains or dirt spots to pretreat for about 15 minutes -- this will cut down on your scrub time and effort.

For hardwood floors, you can use the general All Purpose Cleaning recipe above.  Make sure mop is wrung out until almost dry, and always follow up your wood floor mopping with a dry mop or towel to soak up any leftover moisture that can warp or damage the wood.  About four times a year, you can mop your floors with a hydrating and shine treatment:

Hardwood Floor Hydration & Shine Treatment
Use no more than 4 times per year to prevent oil buildup

2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 cups olive oil

Add ingredients to a bucket and use a whisk to combine.  Dip clean mop in and wring it out as well as possible, until it's barely damp.  Mop hardwood floors like normal.  Follow up with a dry mop or towel buff to soak up any left behind moisture.  Your floors will shine like new, and will appreciate the renewed hydration!