Start Your Green Cleaning Resolution With This Printable House Cleaning List
October 29, 2008
In this series of articles, you’ll learn how to quickly and effectively green clean your home in under 30 minutes a day.
To help you get started and stick with the plan, here’s a printable house cleaning list that you can download and stick on your family’s refrigerator or bulletin board.
Give it a try for a week, and leave us your tips, feedback, and suggestions in the comments below. Let everyone know how it’s working for you!
5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
- Getting Organized - Download the Printable House Cleaning Checklist
- Day 1: Cleaning Tips for Bedrooms & Home Office
- Day 2: Dusting Home & Furniture
- Day 3: Cleaning Bathrooms
- Day 4: Floor Cleaning
- Day 5: Kitchen & Dining Room Cleaning
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Day 5: Kitchen & Dining Room Cleaning - 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution
October 26, 2008
This is Part V of V in my 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
I find the kitchen is generally not too bad to clean, as we are cleaning our counter tops and tables continually throughout the week. I have also heard that our kitchen counter tops are one of the cleanest surfaces in our homes since we are constantly cleaning them.
Friday (Day 5): Clean Kitchen & Dining Room
- Wipe cupboard doors and knobs
- Wipe off telephone
- Clean inside and outside of microwave and any other appliances you may have on your counter top
- Wipe down counter tops using a Norwex All Purpose Kitchen Cloth (great for picking up any grease)
- Clean your stove top (use Norwex Cleaning Paste and Spirisponge to make this job a breeze)
- Scrub your sink (Norwex Cleaning Paste and Spirisponge will make it sparkle)
- Wipe the front of any appliances in your kitchen with a wet Norwex Antibac cloth, shining any stainless steel surfaces with an Antibac Window Cloth (Polishing Cloth)
- Wipe kitchen and dining room table and chairs
- Dust any furniture, baseboards and air vents
- Sweep, dry mop and wet mop floor
List of cleaning items you will need:
- Norwex Antibac Enviro Cloth
- Norwex All Purpose Kitchen Cloth
- Norwex Antibac Window Cloth (Polishing Cloth)
- Norwex Cleaning Paste
- Norwex Spirisponge
- Norwex Antibac Dusting Mitt
- Norwex Wet and Dry Mop (Mop Starter Package)
I easily completed this task within 30 minutes. Maybe because I’m sure my kitchen is the cleanest room in my house, since it feels as if I spend the most time there. I’m now looking forward to enjoying a weekend without too much cleaning. My plan is to use 30 minutes each day on the weekend to tackle some task I’ve been neglecting, e.g. cleaning out a closest.
I hope you have found this series helpful. It certainly helped me make my cleaning easier to tackle. It feels good to go into the weekend with a clean house. Best of luck to us in sticking to our 30 minute plan. Now if I could just find the time to throw in a load of laundry every day and make it to the gym …
Stay tuned for a printable green-cleaning checklist to help you plan and stay on track…
Day 4: Floor Cleaning - 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution
October 25, 2008
This is Part IV of V in my 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
The 4th day of my plan consists of cleaning most of the floors in my house. I’ll save the bathroom and kitchen floors for the days I tackle these rooms.
Thursday (Day 4): Clean Floors
- Sweep, dry mop and wet mop any surfaces without carpet (except: bathroom and kitchen)
- Vacuum any carpeted floors
- Vacuum between and under cushions on sofas, couches and chairs
List of cleaning items you will need:
- Norwex Antibac wet and dry mop (Mop Starter Package)
- A vacuum cleaner
- Norwex Antibac Enviro Cloth (for any stubborn marks) and to remove carpet stains
- Norwex Spray Bottle
All my cleaning enthusiasm sparked me to go out and buy a new vacuum cleaner which was desperately needed. That being said, I did spend about 45 minutes between vacuuming and sweeping and cleaning floors. I should point out that these tasks had also been a little neglected in my house as of late. I am confident since I gave everything a very good cleaning tonight, that this can be easily maintained in 30 minutes if I keep up on it every week.
I also got a little carried away with looking for any spots and stains on my carpet. I don’t quite know why it works so well - but the Enviro Cloth is amazing for removing carpet stains. The trick is to spray the spot with water and make sure it it well saturated. Then, just use a wet Enviro Cloth to scrub. Almost every stain I have ever found on my carpet comes out with just the cloth and water. Even stains I had used harsh chemicals to previously remove - without success.
Day 3: Cleaning Bathrooms - 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution
October 23, 2008
This is Part III of V in my 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
This afternoon a saying I had once heard or read came to mind - “cleaning a house while your children are growing is like trying to shovel when it is still snowing”. This of course was not an entirely random thought - my two year old had wiped peanut butter from his snack from one end of my patio doors to the other. These of course were the same patio doors I had cleaned way too late last night. Oh well 
Okay people, we knew this day would eventually come - the dreaded bathroom cleaning. I find if you do this job once a week it is not quite as terrible. This will be my most challenging job to finish in 30 minutes as I have three full bathrooms which all get used. Hopefully, you can enlist the help of a spouse or older child to assist if you have more than one bathroom.
This is also the job I hated the most when I used chemicals to clean my home. Especially when I was pregnant. I was so sensitive to smells I would absolutely hate to clean the shower stall and bathtubs. Admittedly, I would sometimes get those awful pink stains on the shower walls from neglecting the shower stall. What exactly is that??? I’m thinking maybe mildew. I’m really not sure - all I know is that it does not come off without a fight. I would spray with “Tilex” and then clean in minute bursts while holding my breath. I literally would get dizzy from the smell and thought this cannot be good for anyone, let alone someone pregnant.
Since I’ve discovered Norwex, I find I can clean most of the bathroom using several Antibac Enviro Cloths. These will even take most of the soap scum and mildew off the shower door. If not, the Norwex Cleaning Paste is amazing. I just use the Antibac Enviro Cloth or toothbrush and a little elbow grease and it works better than the bathroom sprays I previously used. I also like to use the cleaning paste to clean out my sink and tub, although the Enviro cloths also do the job. I really like the cleaning paste. As one of my colleagues often states, “the Cleaning Paste only has four ingredients and I can pronounce them all.”
Wednesday (Day 3): Clean Bathrooms
- Clean counter tops and wipe out sinks using wet Antibac Enviro Cloth and Cleaning Paste (if a little elbow grease is needed)
- Wipe off any items such as toothbrush and soap holders using Enviro cloth
- Clean tub using a wet Antibac Enviro Cloth and Cleaning Paste if necessary
- Scrub shower stall, wall, floor and door, again using Cleaning Paste if necessary. (Norwex Micropads also work very well on shower floors.)
- Scrub inside of toilet (using Sanira Toilet Brush System)
- Wipe outside of toilet with a wet Antibac Enviro Cloth
- Empty garbage
- Dust baseboards and/or wipe with wet Enviro Cloth
- Sweep or dry mop and wet mop floors
List of cleaning items you will need:
- Several Antibac Enviro Cloths
- Antibac Window Cloth (Polishing Cloth)
- Sanira Toilet Brush System
- Norwex Cleaning Paste
- Norwex Micropad
- Norwex Wet and Dry Mop (Mop Starter Package)
- Rubber Gloves
- Old Toothbrush
As I expected, it did have a little difficulty completing this task in the 30 minutes. I did finish two of my three full bathrooms in under 30 minutes. My third bathroom in the master bedroom was another story as I must admit, the shower stall has been a little neglected lately. As I said above, bathroom cleaning would definitely be a good task to enlist a little help in order to accomplish the chore in 30 minutes. Although, I feel like if I can manage to stay on top of this task every week, it will take much less time.
Day 2: Dusting Home & Furniture - 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution
October 22, 2008
This is Part II of V in my 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
The second day in my cleaning plan will consist of dusting and wiping down everything and anything I can with my trusty Antibac Microfiber Dusting Mitt. I find this Mitt really speeds up dusting. For tougher jobs, I’ll use a wet Antibac Enviro cloth and the Antibac Window Cloth (polishing cloth) where needed. I start near the entrance of my house and move room to room, before moving upstairs.
Tuesday (Day 2): Dusting
- Door windows and any glass in foyer
- Door knobs
- Ceiling fans, lamps, light fixtures
- Blinds and picture frames
- Books or other shelving units, knick-knacks and picture frames
- Tops of doors
- Windowsills
- Coffee and end tables or any other furniture
- Televisions and entertainment units
- Air vents and baseboards
- Patio doors
List of cleaning items you will need:
- Norwex Antibac Microfiber Mitt
- Norwex Antibac Enviro Cloth
- Norwex Antibac Window Cloth (Polishing Cloth)
No naps today for anyone, and after an evening meeting I reluctantly start my dusting spree at 11:00 p.m. with the three aforementioned items in hand. Halfway through my dusting mitt is getting a little dusty, so I move it to my left hand - it’s a little clumsy but does the trick. The dusting mitt is quickly becoming one of my favourite Norwex items - it makes dusting baseboards, air vents and blinds very easy. I am able to finish my dusting tasks in just under a half an hour.
Day 1: Cleaning Tips for Bedrooms & Home Office - 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution
October 20, 2008
This is Part I of V in my 5-Day Green-Cleaning Resolution series, with cleaning tips to help you green-clean your house in under 30 minutes a day
If you are anything like me it is difficult to find time to do anything - let alone clean my house. Worse still is leaving it all until one day on the weekend after the kids go bed. The expression the “Road to Hell …” rings true. I tell myself tonight after the kids go to bed, and next thing I know I’ve either fallen asleep putting the kids to bed, or else I’m too tired to face two hours of cleaning. I thought back to an article I had read in Today’s Parent a while back about how to clean your house in 30 minutes each day.
I’ve decided to modify the plan to work for me, using only 30 minutes each day maximum and no chemicals. My cleaning plan will only be for the 5 weekdays and I’ll split it into five parts in this series - one for each day of the week. Like any good resolution I propose to start this one on Monday Please try it with me and see how it works for you …
Monday (Day 1): Bedrooms & Home Office
- Tidy-up, pick up books, papers, clothing etc.
- Dust and wipe clean ceiling fans, light fixtures, lamps, dressers, shelves, pictures, baseboards, and any other surfaces
- Change bedsheets
- Empty garbage pails
- Clean and shine mirrors
List of cleaning items you will need:
- Norwex Antibac Microfiber Mitt
- Norwex Antibac Enviro Cloth
- Norwex Antibac Window Cloth (Polishing Cloth)
- A garbage bag
Tip - Save your floors for “Floor Day”
Like any resolution I began today with lots of enthusiasm. I began the morning by immediately grabbing the bed sheets and throwing them in the washer. So far, so good. I think this plan might just work for me. Usually, if I get two kids to sleep for a nap, there is so much to do, I have a hard time focusing on one task.
Today, I headed straight to my bedroom and 15 minutes later I had finished my to-do list, but by then, one of my kids was crying. I managed to get the other bedroom dusted and straightened up in about 5 minutes just before the kid’s bedtime. Which left me with 10 minutes for the office after everyone went to bed. I did a quick dusting and tidy.
I’m thinking this plan just might work for me. I definitely subscribe to the theory that if you want to attain a goal you need to write it down and break it into manageable pieces. Hopefully this checklist on my fridge is just what I need. I also find it focused my efforts today. Here’s hoping I have as much enthusiasm tomorrow for my household tasks.
Please try my plan along with me and share any comments as to what did or didn’t work for you. On the last day of this series, I will post the complete plan in one document. Happy speed cleaning.
Why I Became a Crystal Deodorant Convert
October 16, 2008
For years I have had a love-hate relationship with antiperspirant. Long before I’d even heard of crystal deodorants I was a “Secret” baby powder scent junkie - frantically stocking up on copious amounts whenever Walmart would have a sale. Then, I would stash them everywhere: my drawer at work, my gym bag, my dresser, every bathroom in the house. You would think I had a problem with sweating, but no, I just liked to make sure I smelled fresh. And of course, applying after my morning shower, then reapplying should I go to the gym or freshen up.
As much as I loved my “Secret”, I hated aspects of it:
- the white crumbles that end up in your arm pit after all-day of reapplying
- the white marks on your clothes if you’re not oh so careful in putting on your shirt
- the daily debate: do you put on your antiperspirant first or attempt to get it on after getting dressed
- getting to work or an important meeting and realizing you have antiperspirant all over your shirt (that stuff will not wash off)
- the antiperspirant getting close to the end and you are basically at the point that you are just scraping your armpit with plastic and then the few pieces which are left fall onto the floor and mush into your carpet
- white marks on the top of a formal dress, which will not wash off, and
- antiperspirant staining your nice white shirts and leaving them with yellow pit stains.
Until recently I always thought that sweat stained my shirts yellow in the pits, but no it is actually the antiperspirant. Don’t believe me, check out this site: http://www.essortment.com/lifestyle/deodorantantipe_sgpw.htm
I digress easily, so let me get to the point, for years I had heard individuals talk about that fact there was aluminum in our antiperspirants and deodorants which were linked to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease. Naively, I thought if there were links or if products were unsafe you would not be able to buy them. As well, I figured the only alternative was to go au-natural and was not willing to go that route.
About 5 months ago, I was at a Norwex meeting and a colleague was discussing Norwex’s Crystal Deodorant. She mentioned how many years ago when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, her mother’s doctor told her to stop using antiperspirant/deodorant. I thought to myself, doctors are recommending to breast cancer patients not to use this product, yet you can still buy it. I am hardly an expert on the subject, but my understanding is this: many anti-antiperspirants/deodorants contain aluminum chloride which has been linked both to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s. Women not only apply these products to our armpits, but first we shave and remove a layer of skin cells, not to mention if we have nicks or broken skin.
Here’s an interesting site, which has more technical details: http://www.controlyourimpact.com/antiperspirants-and-breast-cancer/
For some reason, after years of hearing this - something clicked and I thought this is crazy. I decided to give the Norwex Crystal Deodorant a try. I have now been using this product for 5 months and absolutely love it. I’ve become very passionate about getting friends and family using it as well. I’m not a scientist, but even if there is any indication antiperspirants might be linked to breast cancer and I have an alternative, I’m going to take it. Interesting enough, another friend of mine recently told me that when her mother had a breast removed as a result of breast cancer, the doctor also told her to stop using antiperspirant/deodorant.
My husband and brother have even started to use the product and like it. I’ll admit it took a few days to get used to not having my familiar baby powder scent, but now I rarely think about it. In fact, what triggered the idea for this blog post was a woman in my aerobics class this week with chunky antiperspirant in her armpit and white streaks on her gym top. I could relate, but thought to myself - I certainly don’t miss that!!
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