Where Energy Flows

Cleaning with intention not only cleans dirt from your environment, but it can also clear negative energy. An energetically fresh environment gives us the freedom to live our lives unhindered. To get the full benefit from cleaning with intention it is important to have the right attitude. Instead of resenting cleaning, welcome the opportunity to bring positive change to your life. Try to be upbeat while you are cleaning; music can help.

Use affirmations, such as “I am clearing all from my life that no longer serves me”, or releasing statements, such as “I willingly release all negativity from my life as I clean”. Pay attention to corners and other areas where debris lingers. Have some windows open to air out the space. You’ll be amazed at how fresh sparkly your environment feels, and cleaning will be much more fun.

Copyright Helen Harvey, 2008. All rights reserved

Dr. StrangeRebmann, or how I learned to stop worrying and love cleaning my chemical free home - Part 3
Read part One & part Two

My family and I sure spend a lot of time in our kitchen. I feel lucky to have my own kitchen sitting in the Family & Foundation and Abundance areas of the home. I love to prepare and share good food with my family.

I suggest trying to keep this area free from Clutter when possible, especially because of how much time we spend in the kitchen, and how great it feels when it is clear and clean. As we know, it is a powerful metaphor to have your space clean and clutter free.

I have to be honest and tell you this room is where I use the most commercial products. While I would like to use all homemade cleaners, I have run into difficulty finding ones that work well here. Yet, I do have some good tips.

1. Surface Cleaner – Mrs. Meyers All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner. I bought one of these sometime last year, and I haven’t even gone through a fifth of it. I take one capful of cleaner to 16 oz of water – and I am set for several weeks of cleaning up counters, tables and highchairs.

2. Dishwasher – Ecover Dishwasing Detergent. It works well with my pots and pans cycle. I have to use a little more water, but I think the reduced phosphates is worth it. Also – substitute white vinegar in your rinse aid compartment – works great – no chemicals.

3. Liquid Dish Soap – Mrs. Meyers again. It just works so well and I can clean an entire sink full of dishes with one squirt. I have also had good luck with Seventh Generation Dish Soap – it requires more - but is a bit cheaper.

4. Stainless Steel Appliances – Mrs. Meyers Stainless Steel Cleaner. This is more like a polish, but it works very well. I only have to use it once a month or so – and my stainless steel appliances and compost bucket look great!

5. Floor Cleaner – I use water. Unless it is raw chicken on the floor where I would feel the need to use some disinfectant, I use a damp microfiber mop. It works great!

6. Other cool tricks – Salt and Lemon Juice Paste for rust stains. Combine into pastes – leave on rust overnight – wipe off in morning. No need for CLR at all.

Next week – the rest of the house and laundry!

Dr. StrangeRebmann, or how I learned to stop worrying and love cleaning my chemical free home - Part 2

I used to hate cleaning the bathrooms, but now I think of this as giving myself a present.  Cleaning my bathrooms with my personal, homemade products gives me a great feeling of helping my home’s air quality, my family’s health, and the environment.  Plus, doing it to a hot, Latin rhythm is fun!

There are a ton of resources out there regarding making your own cleaning products.  I have simply decided to share what works for me.  I encourage you to research and come up with even better solutions.  Please share them with me too – I love to hear about cool things like this.

Make your own all-purpose, biodegradable, environmentally and budget friendly bathroom cleaner.

1. Procure one clean, empty spray bottle – best to spend $0.80 and get a new one.
2. Fill half full with vinegar.
3. Fill almost to top with water.
4. Optional – Add 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oil.  I like to rotate with Lemon and Peppermint – but it’s a personal preference here.
5. Shake Well

Here is my typical bathroom cleaning routine.  It takes about eight minutes.

1. Play Latin Dance Music…very important.
2. Spray vinegar mixture all over tub/shower.
3. Spray outside and inside of toilet.
4. Spray mirror, sink and countertop.
5. Wipe mirror with soft cotton rag. (If you have used any glass cleaner on your mirror before…it will get streaky when you wipe with the vinegar mix.  Just continue spraying and wiping several times and that will go away and you will have sparkly, clean mirrors.  You will not need to do this again as long as you stay away from commercial glass cleaners.)
6. Scrub sink with nylon scrubber…rinse.
7. Wipe counter with same soft cotton rag.  I like to use old cloth diapers.
8. Scrub tub/shower with nylon scrubber. Rinse.  Wipe edges with same cloth.
9. Wipe outside of toilet, under the lid, top of the seat, and under the seat..in that order.  Throw rag into laundry…it is done.
10.  Scrub inside of toilet with toilet brush.  Flush.
11. You are probably done now.  Dance.  Sometimes the throne needs a little more…shall we say…love.  In that case, I reach for my Ecover toilet bowl cleaner.  It is a little more expensive than Lysol or Clorox- but not too much.  I pay $4.70 for 25 ounces at my health food store.  Since I do not use it very much and it is so much better for the environment, this product fits well into my chemical free, budget minded home.  (I do not receive anything from Ecover for promoting them – and I encourage experimentation freely.  I use it because I like how it works.)

A footnote about vinegar: I was really excited the first time I used vinegar to clean my whole bathroom.  I could not believe how well it worked and how cheap it was at my local grocery store.  Unfortunately, I found out that the big jugs of vinegar for $1.47 or so may be made out of petroleum.  Can you believe that?  Apparently, you can make anything out of oil.  So, being of sound, healthy home, and renewable resources mind…I switched to Heinz.  It is about $1.47 for about half as much, but is derived from corn.  Plus, even half as much usually lasts me about six weeks or so.  So $1.47 isn’t so bad for that much cleaning.  There is a $7 bottle of vinegar at my health food store that is probably much better – but mom’s on a budget for now.

Next Week – The Kitchen

© Elise Rebmann, 2008. All rights reserved.

Subtitle: Dr. StrangeRebmann, or how I learned to stop worrying and love cleaning my chemical free home - Part 1.

This is the first in a series of four articles on Healthy Home Cleaning.  In this first installment, I will talk about my thoughts on cleaning and using intention.  Part 2 will focus on the bathroom and contain step-by-step instructions.  Part 3 will be on the kitchen, and Part 4 will be on the rest of the house as well as laundry.  I ask for indulgence, with a title this funny – I have to use it more than once.

Part 1 – Thoughts on Cleaning

When my son was an infant, I had a cleaning lady.  It was wonderful!  The feeling the house had after she left was unmistakably sparkly and fresh.  It was one of the best post-baby treats I can imagine and highly encourage everyone to spend money on cleaning services for baby shower gifts.  Yet, as sometimes happens, budgets change.  When the baby was about one, we started cleaning our house by ourselves again.

Luckily, I had recently gone through Denise Linn’s 28 day Soul Coaching program with the book and her guided meditations available free on her website.  While many things changed in my life during this process, I also started to think about cleaning in a new way. 

Prior to this, I could vacuum, dust, and straighten all day, but I just hated cleaning my bathrooms.  Throughout our ten years of marriage, my husband had been our designated bathroom cleaner because I hated it that much.  Yet, after my enlightenment, so to speak, I started thinking about a clean bathroom as a present to myself.  I remembered how great it felt to be home after our cleaning person left, and decided I wanted to feel that way again.  I also started researching making my own environmentally friendly cleaning products, so it became a bit of a challenge and science experiment at the same time.  Pretty much, I just decided to own it.  Having a clean house was going to be my gift to myself. 

Now, I really like it.  I play music.  I dance.  I improve my family’s health.  I help the environment.  The bathroom doesn’t bother me at all anymore.  Go figure.

AND… there’s more!  Cleaning has the power to activate intention.  If your are feeling tired and grouchy…come up with an intention like “I want to be vibrant and full of life.”  Then, clean your widows, and say, “ I clean these windows to let vibrant energy into my home and fill me with life.”  Every time you see those clean windows, you will remember your intention and it will re-enforce your desired change.  Easy!  Recruit these chores to serve your highest good – I say!

Do I have you convinced?  Want to learn more?  Stay tuned – more coming.  However, if in the mean time you want to start leaning more, good places to start are:

1. Denise Linn’s “Soul Coaching”
2. Karen Logan’s “Clean House, Clean Planet”
3. Google phrases like “Natural Bathroom Cleaner” or “Make my own tub scrub.”

Happy Cleaning! 

© Elise Rebmann, 2008. All rights reserved.