Review: The Green Clean Book
So, with allergic asthma, house cleaning can be a nightmare. And, I’ll admit, sometimes I just let it slide because I know it’ll make me sicker. But, I do love having a squeaky clean home, and a maid isn’t in the budget these days… So, I had a dilemma.
And I rather thought that I’d just be stuck with it–always feeling like I had to choose between my lung health and my tidy home. Using harsh cleaners left me wheezing, but you can’t disinfect with plain old water… Or so I thought! My first step in the right direction was buying a steam cleaner–if you’re considering one, I really recommend it. It gets things really clean and it’s easy to use. The only drawback is that when it’s full of water, it’s a little heavy for going up stairs, but I bought one on wheels so it’s really maneuverable other than the stairs.
Once I saw how well the steam cleaner worked, I decided to seek out other green cleaning supplies and my search led me to this book and I’m so glad that it did! The Green Clean book is chock full of recipes that are genuinely useful around the house. I admit, I’m a big laundry gal–I *love* the fresh smell and soft feel I get when using my favorite laundry products. But, because of my allergic asthma, I also thought maybe all those products were hurting my health, and after reading the chapter on laundry, not only were my suspicions confirmed, but I also came away with some great substitutions. I’ve already fallen completely in love with the book’s substitute for dryer sheets.
I have a gorgeous old Chesterfield sofa in my living room–a hand-me-down from my parents–and the leather was in rough condition in spots. It had split a little and I knew that I needed to take better care of it if I wanted it to last. So, I tried out the leather care recipes in the Green Clean Book and, whaddya know?! They worked beautifully and left the leather smelling delicious.
I also really appreciated their focus on disinfectants–I know I’m killing the germs and keeping my home a safe environment (both germ-free, and chemical-free) which is especially important to me in the kitchen.
The one drawback was that there are just so many recipes to try! I was actually overwhelmed at first until I decided just to pick a place to start, and to begin (I started with the dryer sheets). Then, after following a few of the recipes, I realized that most of the recipes use the same basic ingredients, just in different ways and proportions, so it was really easy to make up whatever cleaning supply I needed next.
If bleach makes your breathing hurt, and chemicals make you dizzy, or even if you’re not sensitive to chemicals, but you want a greener, healthier home, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Green Clean Book.