simple days with bonnie rae

Recently I was talking with a wonderful friend and reader about my cleaning routine. It has been a while since I shared what I use to clean my home so here’s an update!

I use four “products” to clean my home and a few supplies. The products are baking soda, lemon essential oil, castile soap and water. That’s it. The world and advertisements will tell you you need a different product for every surface of your home. One for the windows, one for the bathroom, one for mirrors, one for countertops and on and on until your home is filled with chemical ridden toxins that pollute your body and the earth.

Advertisers want you to think you need their product. They want you to think homemade cleaners won’t kill germs or scrub away grime, but they do. Ask your grandparents what they used when they were young to clean their home. I bet it was some version of castile soap, baking soda, water and a scrub brush.

You don’t need tons of products, you don’t need the latest round of essential oils- Low tox cleaning doesn’t need to be stressful or expensive. Like all good things in life, it’s simple.

My cleaning spray is made of cold water and 20 drops of lemon essential oil. The essential oil disinfects and leaves a gorgeous simple scent. Cleaners are full of chemicals to make your home smell “clean” but clean doesn’t actually have a scent. Clean smells like nothing. Some people choose to add white vinegar or castile soap to their spray. Hop on Pinterest and search for “natural cleaning recipes”- find what you like best!

For other surfaces that need a bit more scrubbing- there’s baking soda. Cheap and powerful! I use it on the toilet, the bathtub and pots and pans with stuck on bits. You can also use it in the washing machine and a billion other places!

I use castile soap for everything else. It can be used in the washing machine, in your hair, on your teeth, on your baby and more! Click here for the 18 uses of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap. We love the lavender and unscented soaps best. Here you will find the recipes and dilutions for this miracle soap.

Have a few dedicated cleaning cloths. One for the germy places (like the toilet), one for surfaces, and one that can be used in the kitchen near food. And have a good toilet brush and scrub brush for tough messes.

That’s it. No fancy purchases, just simple safe products that have been used for hundreds of years.

Bonus: Recently we invested in a few items that have boosted our cleaning routine. A steam mop, an essential oil diffuser, and a Berkey water filter.These are not essentials but we really enjoy them and they’ve made cleaning a joy instead of a chore.

More soon,

Bonnie Rae xx