Prairie Scraps

Most days seem like there's little to no progress, but hey, at least there's progress, right?  I promise you that I am making some progress on the 31 Days of Green Deep Cleaning.  I thought I'd be able to get it done in one month, but posting every day has proven to be more difficult than I thought possible.  Thanks so much for hanging with me!  What are you making slow progress on right now?  Keep chugging along!

Today, we are going to clean the carpets in the living room.  If you own your own carpet cleaner, you can just focus on the living room today.  If you have to rent a carpet cleaner and you are anything like me, this will create a frenzy of 24 hours of cleaning all the carpets in the entire house!  Either way, you may want to save this job for when you can work on this for an entire day.   What you will need: Vacuum cleaner Carpet Cleaner - after getting a new puppy at Christmas, this is the one I ordered online and LOVE!!!  It is worth every penny!!  I've cleaned a lot of carpets, in my own home and commercially, and this is by far the best machine I have used! Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent Carpet Stain Buster Envirocloth What to do: Remove as much of the furniture from the room as you can. Vacuum the entire room, taking special care to get the edges around the room. Spray the Carpet Stain Buster on all visable stains ...

  If you haven't noticed, in each room, we've been trying to move from top to bottom with our cleaning.  So in the living room, we've cleaned the Chairs & Couches , the Woodwork , the Walls , and Organized the shelves and Drawers .  Be sure to check out those articles if you haven't already. Today, we are going to do a clean-up of all the electronics in the living room. You will need: Optic Cloth Dust Mitt Container to coral all of those chords - I like this one: Double Duty Caddy Zip ties What to clean today: Start off by cleaning all of the screens in the living room with the Optic Cloth .  Using a cloth that is not approved for this job can scratch you screens!  The Optic Cloth is approved and works great at not only cleaning, but repelling future dust. Here's a list that I came up with: Computers Television IPads & Tablets Smart Phones Small Gaming devices Once the screen is cleaned, you'll want to go all the way around yo...

Today is your chance to clean out any drawers or shelves in the Living Room! There's nothing really complicated about this day, but if you are like me, it's a much needed day!   Wipe off/out drawers with the EnviroCloth and apply that Oil/Vinegar mix as mentioned before to any wood that you are cleaning.   I love everyone else's shelves!  I love to peruse Pinterest for all kinds of ideas on how to make my living room shelves look like a magazine.  What am drawn to?  Well, simplified shelves!     Here's what I like for my shelves: Simple, small collections, grouped together Books in order of size, tallest to shortest, or visa versa. If function is needed (i.e. videos, or remotes, etc.), use baskets or bins to organize clutter Pick a 3-4 items of interest to "decorate" (this could be a globe, a vase, an antique camera, whatever) I love how this shelving unit, although it's for ...

Today's chore for Green Deep Cleaning the Living Room is to wash all of the walls.  I know!  Frankly, this is not something I think about doing very often, but once you start, you realize how dirty the walls really are.  My warning for this is that after inspecting and cleaning the walls really closely, you may decide you want to put a new coat of paint on them.  At least, this is what happens to me! What you will need to wash the walls: EnviroCloth Superior Mop System How to clean the walls: I start on one wall, and then methodically work my way around the room. For each section of wall, take the pictures off the wall. Wipe them down. Lock the Mop head into position and attach the dust pad (the yellow pad) to the mop. Wipe down the wall with the Mop (yes you saw that right!  This Mop works so well on the walls, I actually get excited to wash the walls!) Next, replace the dust pad with a wet (with water only) mop pad.  The wet pad i...

Today's Deep Cleaning is going to be all of the woodwork and furniture in the Living Room. The product I love the most to rejuvenate my woodwork is my Vinegar/Oil Combination. To see more details on how this process works, go to my posting this day.   Are you sticking with me on this far in your deep cleaning?  For me, focusing on just one area at a time, or even just one chore each day, makes the entire process of Deep Cleaning seem doable. 

Now that we've Green Deep Cleaned the Kitchen and the Laundry Room, let's move on to the living room.  Today, we will be cleaning the chairs and couches that have cushions. What you will need to clean your Living Room Chairs & Couches: Envirocloth Leather Shine Vacuum Cleaner Spray Bottle with 1/4 teaspoon of Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent and water Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent Mattress Cleaner (optional) What to do:  If you have any covers on your couches or chairs, before removing the cover, spray the UPP /water spray bottle on any stains, to pre-treat them. Throw the covers into the washing machine with a scoop of UPP.   They'll be all ready and clean after you're done cleaning everything up! Next, determine what kind of fabric your couch is made of.  Here is what the tags may mean: W: OK to use water for cleaning. S: Only use a solvent-based cleaner on fabric. SW: Either water or a solvent cleaner is safe to...

Today, we follow up our cleaning of the washer and dryer today, with cleaning the rest of the laundry room.   Now that we've moved all of the lint out of the dryer, we can be sure to remove all of the lint from around the area as well. What you will need today to clean: Envirocloth Superior Mop System Today's directions may be more individual for you, so I will just list the things you will need to do to make this area clean.  You may have to add things, or some suggestions may not pertain to you, if you don't have a laundry room. What to clean: If you have laundry cabinets, empty them out from top to bottom, wipe them down with the Envirocloth .  If these cupboards need to be cleaned and oiled on the outside, see my post HERE about how I used vinegar and oil for this. Dust the walls down.  This is something, I'm not sure I've ever done before owning the Superior Mop System ,  but now, I love to dust and wash the walls!  You'l...

My laundry room is part of my bathroom, so I don't have a separate room to clean, but there are some basic messes that are needing regular deep cleaning regardless.  Like the kitchen, the appliances should be cleaned up first, so I will give here some ideas on how to get those appliances and area around them cleaned up.  Tomorrow, we will clean up the rest of the room.  Overall, I want the Deep Cleaning to happen, but not take an entire day.  What you need to clean the washer and dryer: Envirocloth Window Cloth Envirowand with Sleeve White Vinegar Vacuum that blows air (only if you are able to take the panels off the dryer) I am going to start with cleaning the washer and dryer, as cleaning them will certainly create some extra lint in the rest of the room! Washing Machine If you are able, clean out all the traps internally.  My front loading washing machine, doesn't really invite you to do this, but we discovered this about 8 years ago, when o...

This is the final day of Deep Cleaning the kitchen!  Whew!  Thanks for sticking it out!  What we've deep cleaned in the kitchen so far: Day 1 - Refrigerator Day 2 - Oven Day 3 - Ceilings & Windows Day 4 - Sink Day 5 - Cupboards & Pantry Day 6 - Dishwasher & Microwave Day 7 - Woodwork For the final day in the kitchen, we're going to deep clean the floors.  Now, if you are like me, the floors get washed regularly (1-2 times per week for me).  I love to use my Superior Mop System for getting the kitchen clean.  Every time I use this Mop, I am so excited to use only water to get my floors clean!  No more chemicals that my children and pets can be harmed by. I want to share a How-To Video.  I signed up to be a consultant so that I could get my Mop !  Let me know if you'd like more details. What you'll need to green deep clean the kitchen floor: Superior Mop System Scrubby Corner Cloth Dusting Mitt or Envirow...

Today's Green Deep Cleaning is going to be cleaning and oiling all of that woodwork in the kitchen.  For the everyday, general dusting, I love to use the Envirowand with the Dusting Mitt .  This time though, we're going to really get all the sticky grime that gets on the woodwork in the kitchen.  My table set also gets pretty bad with all the things the kids get smeared on there, so if I can really work on getting those clean twice a year, I am happy. What you will need for Green Cleaning today: Envirocloth Vinegar Olive Oil Small bowl Old towel First, you'll take the Envirocloth  and wash down any of the wood surfaces with just warm water on the Envirocloth .   If you are doing China Cabinets and other fine cabinetry, you won't want to do this step on them. For me, this step includes my kitchen table and chairs, my window sills (my window sills are always moist, so they often have a coating of water and mold) and my cabinet fronts.  ...

Today we are going to clean the dishwasher, microwave and any other small appliances that need some deep cleaning. We are now done with all the cupboards and pantry, so no need to do that. How to Green Deep Clean the Microwave For this job, you will need:  Glass Bowl Lemon Juice Envirocloth Window Cloth The best way I've found to clean all the stuck on food inside of the microwave, is to loosen the food up with hot moisture.  Here's what I did: Fill the glass bowl with water. Add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice to the water. Cook water in microwave 2 minutes at a time until the water is hot and steamy, and so is the microwave. Wipe down the microwave with the Envirocloth . Shine all of the glass parts with the Window Cloth . How to Green Deep Clean the Dishwasher One of the best ways to clean the dishwasher clean is to keep it clean all the time!  One of the best items that I have found to prevent build up inside the dishwasher, is the M...

Today, we're going to finish up the rest of the cupboards and pantry in the kitchen.  (Don't worry about the pantry, that will be tomorrow!) Hopefully, you've got this down, and have made a dent in cleaning out the cupboards.  You can go to my description on Day 1 to see how I go about cleaning out the cupboards.  I do some purging while I'm cleaning it out as well. Take out anything that is old, or not used very often and get rid of it. I have put together some organizing inspiration in a Google Album .  I'm not going to lie, here are a couple of my dream pantries!  I just love everything to have a place and a box. Of course, to try to help my family make ends meet, I am an Independent Thirty-One Consultant , so if you want to start having your pantry look this great, I would greatly appreciate your support.  Please contact me directly through the website if you need my personal assistance.

Today we're going to scrub down the sink and clean and straighten out that cupboard under the sink.  (See Day 1, for how I clean the cupboards) For the sink, you'll want to have on hand: Descaler Envirocloth or Spirisponge Cleaning Paste My sink is stainless steel, so here's the results To clean the sink: Get the Spirisponge or Envirocloth wet.  Dip into the Cleaning Paste .  Scrub down the entire sink. Get around the edges, in the cracks, the backsplash, and the faucet too. If the faucet has water stains that don't come off easily, use some Descaler to get rid of the water stains.  This can also be used on the drain as well.  Here's another example of this working in the sink As long as we are in the scrubbing mood and have the Cleaning Paste out, go ahead and choose a couple of pans to get all that grungy black stains off as well.  You may want to use that Oven & Grill Cleaner to get the metal pans clean.  Eve...

We've had a couple of rough days, tackling the oven and the refrigerator !  (Seriously not my favorites!)  Next we are going to move upward in the kitchen.  Don't forget to clean another set of cupboards today.  You can check out my how-to over here for that!  Today our big Green Deep Clean is getting away from the appliances for a bit, and going to be cleaning up high and the windows!  Are you excited? I am. Here's what you will need for today's cleaning: Household Package Plus Dishwashing Liquid I don't know why, but it seems like the spider webs get pretty crazy in the months of December and January.  Maybe they've just decided to settle in for the long winter months, I'm not really sure!  Of the cleaning and dishes that get done in the kitchen, I rarely dust or even think to get rid of the cobwebs.  Here's what we're going to do: First start by taking down all the light fixtures.  I just wash these in the sink in Dis...

It really seems like the kitchen has some doozies for deep cleaning, with all of the appliances!  Don't forget to clean out at least one set of cupboards today.  You can check yesterday's post HERE  for the how-to.  You'll not have a problem joining in and catching up today!    The oven is one of those things we all hate to clean!  Most chemical based oven cleaners are so toxic, you might wonder if you'll survive the process!  My new favorite for Green Cleaning is the Oven & Grill Cleaner  for the oven.  Instead of toxic chemicals, this product uses enzymes to break down the grime! Here's what I'll be using to clean the oven: Oven & Grill Cleaner Mighty Mesh Pot Scrubber or Spirinett  - for the inside of the oven Sirisponge - for the enamel stovetop Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent Kitchen Scrub Cloth   To use the Oven & Grill Cleaner , you warm the oven up, turn it off and then spray it ...