Spring Cleaning Tips

Ah it's that time of year again, everyone is looking to spruce up their gardens, freshen up house exteriors and start the traditional spring clean. Sound familiar?
Well now anyone who knows me will know that 'Show Home' is definitely not a term used for my house, so it may come as a shock to hear I love a good spring clean! Curry's have gathered their top ten spring cleaning hacks and asked me to share some tips  so here  are my tips for making spring cleaning a bit easier
Prepare For a Mammoth Day
Put dinner in the slow cooker (if you haven't got one, go get one ASAP they are amazing) that way when you have worked all day for a sparkly organised house. You will appreciate the ability to just dish up and eat without any faff.
Plan
Have a list of what you'd like to achieve and try to stick to it, don't get distracted and end up 'sorting' through old copies of Cosmo for 2 hours!
Multitask
Make sure you are being efficient, put bleach in your loos before you start so they've had a good steep before you scrub, set the washer and dishwasher away while you are cleaning floors then when you finished you'll have clean dishes and clothes 3 jobs in 1!!!
Sneaky Tricks
There are lots of natural ingredients that make cleaning much easier...

• Lemon and vinegar make a fab degreaser and will cut cleaning time for windows, tiles, oven hoods and hard surfaces. Just mix 3mls lemon juice , 10mls white vinegar 400mls warm water use in a spray or on a cloth
• Half a lemon in a bowl of boiling water boiled heated in the microwave for 5 minutes will enable you to wipe away any stubborn stains with ease and it smells nice too
• Hairspray will remove crayon from laminated or painted wood, no more child created masterpieces on your skirtings or bookcases! 
• Bicarbonate of soda mixed to a paste and spread on your oven will remove even the toughest stains if left to soak for an hour
• Popping the shower head in a jug of white vinegar for 20 minutes will remove all limescale effortlessly
• Windows and mirrors can be given and amazing shine by using a solution of water and vinegar sprayed on to the glass then wiped off with scrumpled newspaper!
• and one for the potty training months, a solution of water and biological washing liquid ((about 50mls liquid to 700mls water))  can be used as a cheap and effective carpet freshener if your little darling has tinkled on any carpets, just wash out the puddle with water and towel dry and then spray on your solution lightly. The bio liquid breaks down any remaining odour causing enzymes!

** always conduct a patch test first when using any of these natural products, the monkeyfooted mummy can not be responsible for any reactions!**

Set a Timer

Have a change of scene every 30 minutes even if it's just a quick breath of fresh air. It will keep you motivated and stop you feeling like you are in the middle of a marathon (Which you are!!)

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It'll be 'all white'

I'm sure you all know by now, I like to do my bit for the environment, and I like to save money. These two things have resulted in my use of home made cleaning products and my choice for termite to use cloth nappies.

 Back to saving money though, I of course haven't bought new or full price cloth nappies, in preparation for my little darling's arrival. I have been ferreting away passed on stashes, bargain pre-loved bundles and sale buys, I have a nice little pile of nappies and unfortunately not a clue what to do with them!

 

So to start they need cleaning, some of my inserts boosters and liners are looking,as you can see, a little grey.

I don't want to bleach them as they are going to be near some very precious and lovely skin so I sought the advice of other cloth Mum's. Now here's my light bulb moment, I cant believe that me,the girl who gets shiny windows using vinegar and newspaper, gleaming ovens with bicarb and glistening surfaces with lemon and water, I don't know about the magic of the sun! The reply back from my cloth mummy's was to hang them out in the sun and watch the magic. A little internet search reveals, this has been going on for century's! In days gone by there were such things as 'Bleaching Grounds' large areas of land dedicated to cleaning! Here folk would bring their washed whites and spread them out to let the sun bake them into gleaming blinding whiteness once again!

As you can see from the pictures there is some magic needed for my liners and inserts but they have been steeped in a little lemon and water and are going to be left in the sun to become gleaming things of beauty.

I shall post again tomorrow with the results, but in the mean time, if you are reading this and you are a Fluffy Mummy please please leave your tips and advice for anything related to cloth nappy use in the comments box, I always love hearing from you and there is nothing better than parental advice.