5 Natural Cleaning Hacks to try this Spring
You know how much I love a good cleaning hack, especially when it uses simple ingredients you probably already have at home. There’s no better feeling then coming home after a long day to a clean and calm home, and these easy tricks help you achieve that feeling without the stress.
These are some of my favourite little tricks for keeping your home fresh, tackling everyday cleaning jobs and making those annoying household problems just a little easier.
1. Use cinnamon to repel ants and flies
If you're dealing with ants or flies around your bins, this is such a simple trick to try.
In a spray bottle, mix:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Spray the mixture around your bins.
Cinnamon has a strong scent that ants and flies don't particularly like, making this an easy way to help keep them away. It's quick, inexpensive and smells much nicer than many traditional pest sprays.
2. Stovetop simmer to remove cooking odours
After cooking something with a strong smell, sometimes opening the windows just doesn't seem to do enough. One of my favourite tricks is to create a beautiful natural fragrance on the stovetop.
Simply simmer lemon, cloves and vanilla in a pot of water. As it simmers, the fragrance fills your home and helps freshen the air after cooking.
I especially love this after cooking foods with strong aromas because it makes the whole house smell fresh and lovely.
3. Make a simple mould spray
For mould around the home, try mixing:
1 cup white vinegar
10 drops clove oil
Add the mixture to a spray bottle and use it on appropriate areas around your home.
Clove oil is a favourite ingredient of mine when tackling mould, while white vinegar is a simple household staple to have on hand for cleaning.
As always, test any homemade cleaning solution on a small, inconspicuous area first and make sure the surface is suitable for the ingredients you're using.
4. Keep your linen smelling fresh in storage
There is nothing better than opening your linen cupboard and being greeted by gorgeous, fresh smelling linen. For a simple way to keep stored linen smelling beautiful, make little scent bags using Epsom salts and vanilla oil.
Pop the scented bags into your linen cupboard, drawers or storage areas. It's such an easy little DIY and makes your linen feel extra special when you pull it out.
5. Use shaving cream to buff mirrored appliances
If your mirrored appliances are constantly covered in fingerprints, here's a little trick I love.
Apply a small amount of shaving cream to the surface and buff it in with a microfibre cloth. Then wipe away the excess.
It helps leave mirrored surfaces looking shiny and can help keep those annoying fingerprints away. It’s great for mirrored appliances (like your oven) and bathroom mirrors which fog up.
Hope these quick tips are helpful to kick start your Spring Clean! You don’t always need overly complicated products or spend hours cleaning to make your home feel fresh. Sometimes the simplest ingredients already sitting in your cupboard can be surprisingly useful.
Chantel Mila xx