Love blogs but hate the loose, disorganized way random green cleaning posts pop up in your web browser? Then pick up The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Cleaning for a step-by-step book that’ll give you the no-nonsense organization you’re looking for.
Written by Mary Findley and Linda Formichelli, the Guide to Green Cleaning kicks off by naming the easiest way to reduce the time you spend cleaning: Have less stuff to clean. Ransack the house, the authors say, and shrink the mess before ever picking up the cleaning tools and products!
As you can already tell, the Guide to Green Cleaning isn’t just about switching out chemical cleaners for greener varieties. The book often turns your attention to bigger picture ideas to help you reduce chores altogether. My personal favorite section’s dubbed “The high cost of penny pinching,” which explains how buying cheapo cleaning tools is not only bad for the environment but horrific for your wallet too. Invest in quality vacuums and mops that last a long time, and you’ll save money as well as both cleaning and shopping time.
To that end, Guide to Green Cleaning shows you exactly what to look for in the tools you buy, depending on what sort of home you have. The book also has the expected chapter dedicated to creating your own cleaning products with lots of helpful DIY recipes, and another chapter to creating a workable cleaning schedule.
For pet owners or parents, Guide to Green Cleaning has tips for cleaning up after dogs, cats, fish, and kids. And for those who’ll go green only if scared into it, the book has a detailed “hit list” with long lists of common — yet very scary — ingredients contained in many “conventional” cleaners and household products.
But the most impressive part of Guide of Green Cleaning is in its nitty gritty details, attacking those less common but extremely annoying cleaning issues that’ll tempt even self-described environmentalists to grab a bottle of toxic bleach. Need specific directions to make a corian sink sparkle? Want a foaming sprayer to clean the fireplace front? Mad at your favorite tree for dripping sap on your porch cushions? Guide to Green Cleaning has instructions to help you deal with each of these situations — plus a complete stain removal guide in the appendix.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Cleaning’s available for $10.17 from Amazon.
Earlier:
>> Clean green to save green: Eco cleaning made easy and cheap
>> Eco-friendly sponges and scrubbies
>> Carpet cleaning, eco-DIY style
>> Eco-friendly professional organizers
>> Spring cleaning for bloggers
The cleaning products that can be found in most homes today were bought with the intention of cleaning the home while reducing the presence of viruses and germs to overcome the problems of cleaning.
Comment by addison — April 1, 2009 @ 11:05 pm