[Almost] Edible Spring Cleaning

There is something about the Spring that makes you want to clean and declutter.  After months of cool temperatures it feels wonderful to be able to throw open the windows on a sunny day.  The sunlight has the added disadvantage of showing how much dust is swilling around as it glistens in its rays, doing a merry dance.  I am the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of housework, I do the minimum I need each week.  I am reading a fascinating book at the moment, it is not about cleaning but it does mention our obsession to clean and in doing so we are ridding the world of good and bad bacteria and worryingly in the case of the good ones possible forever.  A bit of dirt is no bad thing it would seem, I am also doing my bit for the preservation of good bacteria.

I mostly* always use my own homemade products when I clean.  The cleaning product aisles in the supermarket are not ones I ever venture down.  When I inadvertently do, on the way to the checkout, the smell of chemicals is really strong and totally overpowering.  A recent study highlighted that whilst they might clean our homes the fragrance chemicals in these products react with the air effecting air quality in our homes, if you also use scented candles and air freshness you could be creating an interesting, and not terribly good for you, soup.

The two ingredients I use the most are ones that you might find in your food stores.  Bicarb [baking soda] and white vinegar, I use enough of each to justify buying it in bulk as the shops tend to only sell small quantities.  I use the bicarb to clean all surfaces, floors and the bathroom suite either sprinkling it neat and rubbing it in with a damp cloth or dissolving in water and using the solution which is what I do to clean the tiled and wooden floors.  A 50:50 mix with borax is my washing and dishwater powder.  I inherited a carpet in my bathroom which can get a little smelly at times, but this carpet deodoriser is perfect for removing the smell.  You may wonder why we don't just get rid of the carpet but the floorboards underneath are not a suitable flooring either, the bathroom will eventually need an overhaul so there is no point replacing the flooring only to rip it out again when we come to replace everything.

My oven doesn't get a clean inside very often, we eat very little meat so I can get away with it.  But when it does get a clean I make this:

Oven Cleaner mix 1/4 cup salt, 3/4 bicarb and a 1/2 cup of water and mix into a paste, apply into a warm and oven and let it sit for a least an hour or overnight and wipe clean.

I not only clean the house with bicarb, I also use it to make.....

Deodorant  1/4 cup deodorant, 1/4 arrowroot, 2tbsp coconut oil (you can also add drops of essential oil if you wish) melt the coconut oil and mix.  I use an old deodorant stick and keep refilling it, you might need to store this in the fridge in summer if your house gets warm.

I mentioned white vinegar earlier, this is great for cleaning glass you can spray it on neat or dilute with a little water, wipe off with some old newspaper.  It gets used neat as a fabric conditioner , 2 tbsp with a few drops of essential oil.  I use lavender which seems to be doing a great job of keeping the moths out of our house, that is not to say we were ever infested with them but I rarely see them in my house these days.  I also use it neat to clean the loo.   If you have mildew then mix 50:50 with salt to make a paste and wipe onto effected area.  I have read recently that you can use it as a weed killer anyone ever tried this?  I am not sure what effect it would have on the soil or on other plants growing near by, I will be doing a little more research before trying that one out I think.

You have probably had enough now, so I will leave you with one last recipe.  I mentioned recently that I make my own toothpaste, here is my recipe for that:

Toothpaste 4tbs coconut oil, 4tbs fullers earth /bentonite clay, 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, 10 - 15 drops food grade peppermint oil.  Mix together, add a little water if necessary to gain the consistency you like.

What cleaning products do you make?

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* I buy soap and washing up liquid

I will be back on the 20th (Wednesday) with this months In My Kitchen if you wish to join me.

Slow Living

It is always lovely to look back and reflect on what you have done over the previous weeks or months, taking stock, observing changes and celebrating achievements.  Even better if you can join together and see hat others have been doing too in their part of the world, blogging is a wonderful way of making the world a smaller place.  Christine over a Slow Living Essentials started this wonderful reflection and has now passed the baton onto Linda at Greenhaven for the monthly link up here are mine for January...

...nourish I have felt a desire for pies this month.  Warm, nourishing food after time outside in the cold.  Each week we have had a least one meal if not two.  A lentil pie with mash potato topping, a spinach and feta filling wrapped in puff pastry, a leek and squash pie, are just a few that have made it to our menus.

...prepare we seem to be spending more and more days of the week having lunch away from the home.  This means I have to provide a nourishing lunch that will keep us warm and full.  Most evenings whilst cooking the evening meal I have also been making a pan of soup to eat, on some occasions I have made a large enough quantity to freeze some ensuring that I have a supply for 'emergencies', you never know when you might need soup.......

...reduce I have a small pile of clothes in a drawer that are beyond repair but the material could be put to good use so I have kept them.  An old pair of linen trousers have been transformed into mats for hot drinks with a piece of old towel in the middle they are the perfect thing to protect our tables from being marked.  I shared a how I did it here.   I also started on a pair of trousers for my youngest from an old pair of mine.

...green we have been visiting and staying with friends and family quite a bit over the last weeks/months.  It has been lovely to spend extended time with the ones we love but it has created a lot of washing for me.  A skin condition that developed a few years ago has meant that the only washing powder I can use is one I make myself.  There are times when touching items washed in other cleaners can make it worse so I usually take my own bedding with me!  The powder I make is a simple combination of borax and bicarbonate of soda, equal amounts of each.  We keep a jar of the mix on the kitchen counter as we use this mix in the dishwasher too.  I use a tablespoon and a half to two tablespoons per wash depending on how dirty the items are.  I add two tablespoons of white vinegar and seven drops of lavender oil as a fabric conditioner.  I have noticed that using the lavender oil has really reduced the amount of moths I have been finding in the house.

...grow it is also quiet on the growing front for me at this time of year.  We are in the middle of Winter now and it is too cold for much to grow.  The hardy herbs are still providing me with their leaves for cooking and I still have a small amount of salad leaves growing in my polytunnel which provides a welcome bit of raw green to my meals.

...create January is often a quiet month for me after the busyness of creating for Christmas.  Perhaps because I managed to make everything in good time that has not been the case this January.  I have been knitting a lot, a cardigan that now has sleeves attached and the beginnings of a yoke, a scarf that I am writing the pattern for as I knit, a sock which is growing slowly and a shawl which I cast on a few days ago and is growing very fast.  I have also made some more fabric bowls as a birthday present for a friend, the start of a pair of trousers from an old pair of mine and the project mentioned under reduce.

...discover I have been keen to observe more of the old traditions and festivals this year.  I have been writing them into my diary for a while now but not actually finding out about them and adding them to our week.  This month we have been finding out about Plough Monday and Wassailing, both very similar traditions based on the type of agricultural practiced in the area.

...enhance I am an assessor for the D of E Award, these award, there are three levels, is started at age 14 and includes an unaccompanied expedition which is what I assess.  Although I have not assessed any this month (they have to be completed between Easter and October when the weather is usually less serious) I have added four dates into my diary this month for later in the year.  This is the most I have ever completed in a year and some of them are in places where we can take a short holiday when we are there, I am really looking forward to them all!

...enjoy we have two weekends away this month one to stay with my brother the other with an old friend they have both been filled with fun.