The holiday season is just moments away, and with it comes visiting family, parties and gatherings, and lots of extra clean-up. Our friends at The Optimist Co. are sponsoring the giveaway this week, to help us all breeze through this season of messy togetherness easily, and without a toxin in sight.
Devin Donaldson founded The Optimist Co. after conventional cleaning products left her with a nasty asthma attack. Her products are simple, effective, and non-toxic (all made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen) and will help you keep your home spotless without compromising your health or the planet.
My favorite product from The Optimist Co. is their Make Your Own Cleaning Products Kit (for the right person, it could be an excellent holiday gift!). This six-piece kit includes two spray bottles, a small bottle of concentrated soap, and three small bottles of essential oils.
The bottles have recipes on the side so that you can create a cleaning and shining sprays. There are suggestions for scenting them, but you can also devise your own essential oil formula. Oh, and if you’re not into making the products yourself, the Green Your Home set comes with everything ready made and ready to go!
The Optimist Co. recently added a new scent to their line-up. While it’s not part of the MYO kit, a bottle of the Time to Shine cleaner with Rosemary and Mint is a winner for every stinky mess.
Thanks to Devin and her team at The Optimist Co., I have three Make Your Own Cleaning Products Kit to give away this week. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share a favorite cleaning trick.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, November 15, 2015.
- Giveaway open to United States residents only. Void where prohibited.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: The folks at The Optimist sent me the kit you see here for review and photography purposes at no cost to me. No additional compensation was provided. All opinions remain my own.
If I have any lemons that begin to go bad before I can cook with them, I keep them in the fridge. I’ll use them for scrubbing my countertops, sink, or anything else that needs stains removed and a fresh scent added.
White vinegar! Not really a trick, but I use 1/4 cup in every load of laundry. It makes a huge difference.
lemon or orange vinegar. I use up the fruit and soak the peels then dilute the mixture with water. Cuts grease and smells good.
As a pet owner and a renter, my go-to trick for cleaning up any dog-related messes on carpet is baking soda + vinegar and some elbow grease.
I started infusing my cleaning vinegar with lemon skins. Smells nice.
Baking soda and vinegar for the sink drains.
1:1 ratio of vinegar/water in the microwave for 1 minute, then use the warm vinegar/water mix to wipe the microwave down.
Use white vinegar as fabric softener in the wash.
Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar-for glass, for mold, for… And salt, especially to clean pots!
Bar Keeper’s Friend is great for scrubbing my stainless steel pots and pans.
Microwave a wet sponge for 1 min and let for 2 minutes. Then wipe it all away. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
I mix a few drops of peppermint essential oil into baking soda and use to it scrub counters, the tub, floors, stained dishes — anything! Thanks!
I feel like baking soda can clean almost anything when used the right way:)
plain ole simple vinegar for me
dilute just a little with water in my mason jar
I would love to try these products….
I like to keep just a couple multi-purpose cleaners to keep my cupboards a little less cluttered but I put several bottles throughout the house so it’s easy for me to clean at least a little bit whenever the opportunity arises.
Making scented vinegar (clementines, grapefruit peels, etc.) and then using that with baking soda or even alone works wonders on just about everything and it smells great.
favorite cleaning trick: clean a burnt-on mess in a pot by simmering white vinegar in the pot, then scrubbing. i wish i could say i’ve only read about this one, but in fact i use it once or twice a canning season.
My favorite cleaning trick is to teach your kids to clean and then delegate!
I’m a sucker for good a ol’ baking soda paste…works miracles…
Not exactly a secret, but a lemon in the garbage disposal to clear up the stink.
My favorite cleaning trick is… to hire someone to do it 😉 I’d rather do laundry!
One of my techniques is to spray the area to be cleaned, then let the product sit for a minute or more, depending on what might be on the surface. Usually I can just wipe the surface clean–no scrubbing. If I just spray and wipe, I’m not giving the cleaner time to do the work for me.
Use old toothbrushes to scrub hard to get places or in between grout. Put oven racks in bath tub with warm water and dryer sheets to remove grim. Mayonnaise can be used on wood furniture to remove water stains.
Vinegar!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t live without my spray bottle – i use if for everything!
I’ve recently been experimenting with homemade cleaners and I love them! My favorite is a sink and toilet cleaner made from baking soda, Castile soap, water and essential oils. I just mix it all together and store in a squeeze bottle!
I love to soak citrus peels in regular white vinegar for a few days, then strain out the peels and put the vinegar in a spray bottle for an all-purpose cleaning spray!
I have a glass top stove and bar keepers friends is the best way to get it shiny clean!
My husband showed me this one. Very tough built up crud in microwave ? ( he use to clean the one were he worked with about 25 guys only using one) Take a couple pieces of wet paper towel folded over and place in the oven . Start oven for just a minute or so , till it gets rather hot and steamy. Let set a few minutes. Even the worst caked on will wipe clean. And no harsh chemicals used. Thanks for your great offer !
Microfiber cloths for dusting
I learned of a few cleaning tricks I am eager to try.
The first is to leave a casserole dish soaking with a dryer sheet in it. Supposedly the next morning you can just use the sheet to wipe away all the gunk.
The second is to remove hard water mineral deposits in your toilet, get as much of the water out as you can, then fill the bowl with as high an acid content of VINEGAR as you can find. (I could only find 5%). Leave it sit over night or as long as you can. Then give it a good scrubbing. I’ve bought my vinegar and am going to give this a try tomorrow.
My best trick is to use newspaper when I wash the windows. Not much of a trick as everyone knows that one.
Vinegar is my go to ingredient for so many things!
Denatured alcohol mixed 50/50 with water for streak-free granite and glass!
Baking soda to clean sinks and tubs followed by white vinegar to kept the drains running smoothly.
Baking soda in the kitchen for scrubbing lots of things.
I knit up cotton dishrags to use (and reuse) with my swiffer-type mop.
baking soda and vinegar!
As caregiver for an insulin-dependent diabetic on blood thinners–peroxide is excellent to remove blood stains.
My cleaning trick is to put a cotton ball with a few drops of essential oils in my vacuum cleaner bag. It makes vacuuming more pleasant and leaves just a hint of aroma.
Whenever the dishwasher seems like it’s getting a bit grungy, I run a Pyrex cup of vinegar through on its own.
I don’t really have any tricks, but I’ve started making my own cleaners and cleaners that smell good at least make it more pleasant!
Toothbrushes! – great cleaning tools. Thanks for the chance!
baking soda followed by white vinegar down my drains
Great giveaway–thank you! Can’t say that I have any great cleaning tricks but I do love the pumice stone for dealing with hard water stains.
Not sure I have any real cleaning tricks, most of what I do is pretty ordinary and just relies on plain old elbow grease. Although I do find that toothpaste is a nice (and common) polishing agent for some random things like jewelry and car headlights which have fogged up with age…
Hairspray for ink stains. No idea why it works.
And cleaning of a different sort – we always made put own baby wipes. They were easy, cheap, and much kinder to baby bottoms than commercial brands.
I had some mildew in the shower that would not come clean. I solved it by taking baking soda/bleach combo on a cotton ball and letting it sit overnight. thanks!
Baking soda scrubs off coffee/tea stains inside mugs.
I use vinegar and baking soda for lots of cleaning in my bathroom and kitchen.
Newspaper for drying freshly-cleaned windows!
I discovered e-cloths to clean windows. Just wet one towel with water, rub down the window and polish it with the polishing cloth. Pretty darn amazing.