by natalie Wise
Take the angle attachment and vacuum all the corners and edges of the bed frame. Next, mix together 1 cup vinegar with 1 cup warm water, and add 15 drops lavender essential oil. Lavender essential oil fends off mites and bugs, and inspires sleep, too. Spray on a clean cloth and wipe down the bed frame. This works on laminate, metal, and wood.
If your bed frame is wood, now is a good time to polish it using the wood polish on page 91. If there are crayon or permanent marker marks, check out the tips on page 166. I like to add a drop of lavender essential oil in each of the four corners of the bed frame, too, as an extra touch.
Let the bed frame thoroughly dry before you put the mattress back on. Of course, this is a great time to clean the mattress as well.
CLEANING MATTRESSES
Mostly gone are the days of needing to flip and rotate your mattress every few months, but a good mattress should still be well taken care of. Memory foam mattresses are the most popular these days, so here’s how to clean those, along with a traditional spring mattress. This process also works well for memory foam cushions or pillows.
If the mattress has a removable cover, machine wash it and line dry or dry on low heat. High heat will shrink your mattress cover, making it a pain to get back on, and it will be liable to pop off during the night with movement.
While the cover is washing, mix 2 cups of baking soda with 20 drops of lavender essential oil. Sprinkle this mixture over the surface of the mattress. Let sit for 10–15 minutes. Then, using the upholstery brush attachment on your vacuum, vacuum up all of the baking soda, being sure to get in the seams and any pockets.
Spot clean the mattress using a mixture of 1 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon castile soap. Use a sponge or cloth to dab into stains and spots. Then take a clean dry towel and apply firm pressure to the wet areas to soak up all the moisture. Place a fan in front of the spots to help them dry thoroughly before you put the mattress cover back on.
MOTH-NO-MORE NIGHTSTANDS AND DRESSER CLEANER
Nightstands and dressers collect dust, crumbs, lotion spills, and more. Take everything out of nightstands and dressers and remove drawers so you can easily reach every surface. Dust the piece first so you can get that flyaway surface grime out of the way. The clove or cinnamon oil repels moths and other critters that find the body oils and wools we keep in drawers so enticing, so don’t skimp on it.
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 cup warm water
• 8–10 drops clove or cinnamon essential oil
Mix ingredients in an 8-ounce spray bottle. Shake well before using.
To Use: Spray onto a dry cloth and wipe down every surface of the furniture and drawers. Don’t let the spray pool or linger on wood or laminate surfaces; wipe clean immediately.
Extra Tip: If there are any grease spots, such as from lotion or body oil, on the unfinished insides of drawers, sprinkle cornstarch on them and let sit for 30 minutes.
KEEPING THE BEDROOM COZY WITH CANDLES
Making your own essential oil-scented beeswax candles is a wonderful way to ensure the bedroom air stays fresh without adding chemicals that come from wall plug-ins or harmful aerosol sprays, and even commercial candles that have lead wicks and artificial scents. Beeswax, in both blocks for larger projects and pearls for smaller ones, can be found in most natural food stores and even craft stores.
• 1 pound beeswax
• 50–60 drops vetiver, lavender, or geranium essential oil
• 100% cotton candle wicks with metal bottoms
• Assorted small glass or porcelain jars for your candles
• Pencils
• Small saucepan
• Metal wax melting jug (a bowl or tin can will do in a pinch but be careful!)
First, prepare your jars. Wrap the wick around a pencil until it is the right height for your jar, and set the pencil across the top of the jar to hold the wick in place. The metal piece should fit flush against the bottom of the jar. Make sure the jars are on a heatproof surface.
Place the beeswax pastilles in the metal bowl or tin you’ll be using to melt the beeswax. If you purchased a block of beeswax, first cut it into manageable pieces. Place this container in the saucepan and fill the saucepan so the water is 2 inches up the side of the container holding the beeswax. Melt slowly over low to medium heat.
Remove the jug or can from the hot water. Stir in the essential oils. Very carefully pour the hot wax into the jars you’ve prepared. Let sit overnight. Trim wicks to ¼ inch.
DON’T LET A DIRTY HAMPER HAMPER LAUNDRY DAY
Hampers and laundry baskets carry dirty laundry to and from the laundry room, so it makes sense that they get, well, dirty. Not only does dust and grime build up, but so can germs, so giving them a good spray down with a heavy essential oil spray will do wonders for keeping them (and your clean laundry) in good shape. This spray works on plastic, bamboo, most natural material baskets, and even canvas and cotton.
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 20 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
• 20 drops lime essential oil
Combine ingredients in an 8-ounce spray bottle. Shake well before use. Liberally spray the surface of your laundry basket. Let sit for a few minutes on hard surfaces and baskets. Wipe down hard surfaces, and let porous ones, such as natural material baskets, air dry. For cloth bags and canvas baskets, simply spot clean with a rag soaked with this mixture, then lightly spray the interior and let dry completely.
FEATHER FLUFF: WASHING DOWN COMFORTERS AND PILLOWS
Down comforters are the crème de la crème of sleeping covers. But these delicate feathers need a bit of extra care. I recommend taking them to the laundromat, where you’ll have access to a commercial-size washer and dryer that will handle the extra fluff factor of these comforters and allow the water to actually circulate and rinse clean. If you have an “extra-large” load setting on your washing machine, be sure to use that. You can also wrangle these into the bathtub, but be prepared with towels on the floor for the inevitable drips since it won’t be spinning dry. Despite the powers of line-drying that I love, down comforters do not do well hanging on a line, as the feathers will all fall to the bottom and clump there, never drying well.
If washing in a machine, use the gentle cycle and add an extra rinse if possible for the wash. Use a gentle soap, and only add half the lowest amount listed on the label for a load. Too much soap is the death of those tiny feathers. Wash a hand towel or two with the comforter to keep the feathers agitated during washing. You can also use clean tennis balls or dryer balls (page 138) to fluff the feathers during washing.
Immediately transfer the comforter and towels to the dryer. Use wool dryer balls to decrease clumping of the feathers in drying as well. Do not use any additional dryer sheets that can cause static. Use a low to medium-high setting, and be aware that this will likely take quite some time to dry thoroughly. But since there are feathers in there, thorough drying is essential to prevent mildew.
WASHING DUVET COVERS, SHEETS, QUILTS, AND COMFORTERS
Duvet covers, quilts, and synthetic comforters can generally be machine-washed on a gentle cycle and machine-dried as well. But let’s break them down one by one and see what suits them best.
Duvet covers: Most duvet covers can be washed just like sheets if they are made of a cotton material. If they are made of denim, corduroy, velvet, or a quilted material, you may wish to follow the instructions below for heirloom quilt washing.
Sheets: Sheets can, and should, be washed in hot water to release built-up body oils, sweat, and dirt that will eventually discolor them. Add ½ cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle for extra cleaning power. If your white sheets are losing color, use oxygen bleach according to the package instructions. Do not use the oxygen bleach and vinegar at the same time!
Synthetic comforters are sturdy enough to be machine-washed. I recommend machine-drying them as well, because they will have the same drying issue as down comforters. The filling will fall to the bottom an
d dry in a clump, never being quite the same, and if they aren’t thoroughly dried, they may mildew. I recommend machine-drying comforters.
Heirloom Quilts: If your quilt is a lovely heirloom that needs a bit of extra care, place it in the bathtub and give it a bath with a few tablespoons of gentle hand-washing liquid (page 86), being sure to rinse it extremely well. Lay it out on a bunch of towels, and roll it up, squeezing very gently, to get the majority of the water out so the heaviness isn’t stressing the delicate fabric on the line. Line dry or lay flat on a few towels in the grass. Keep in mind that colors will fade if line-dried in the sunlight.
New Quilts: Modern quilts can be machine-washed to speed up the softening process, which, is, of course, actually a breaking-down of the fibers. But new quilts can be stiff at first, so a few machine washings might do it well, and then you can decide if you prefer to hand wash or machine wash your precious, soon-to-be heirloom. New quilts do exceptionally well line-dried, too, which is less harsh on the intricate stitching than a machine dryer.
PLUMP THE PILLOWS AGAIN
Pillows get makeup, sweat, dirt, and drool on them nightly, so it makes sense you’d want to wash them thoroughly every few weeks. It’s a particularly good idea to wash pillows after you’ve been sick, and at the change of seasons as a regular rule. Pillows made with synthetic fill can be machine washed and dried.
Washing pillows should be done as a separate cycle, with only a few towels to keep them company and keep them fluffier. You can add clean tennis balls to the wash cycle as well to beat the fluff and keep it from clumping too badly.
Drying pillows should be done in the machine, since they are simply too thick to dry well out of doors, and need the addition of a spin cycle and agitation from dryer balls to keep their fluffiness and prevent mildew. Dry thoroughly on medium heat and add 2 dryer balls with a few drops of lavender oil on them (see page 139).
The laundry room is one of my favorite parts of the organic home. It doesn’t make sense to load our water with chemicals when we’re trying to get things clean. Old-fashioned ingredients are usually the best: borax, washing soda, vinegar, and essential oils are just a few of the simple ingredients you can use to keep your laundry fresh.
The Process: Purge, Clean, Organize
The laundry room or closet can be purgatory for many items that should be donated, used as rags, or sent in for textile recycling (look at your local dump for ways to recycle textiles that are no longer usable). It can also become a dumping ground for sports equipment; swim suits, towels, caps; baseball and football uniforms; delicate dance costumes; and other things that could use a cleaning but you aren’t exactly sure how to tackle. It may also become storage for extra supplies, such as the bulk packs of tissues and toilet paper we all stock up on from time to time.
Purge anything that is no longer usable, past its expiration date, or that you know you’ll never get around to mending. Place everything that needs a repair in one bin, and everything that needs a special cleaning in another. Keep these where you can see them, ideally on a shelf above the laundry machines, and when they’re full, have a hand-washing or mending day. Have a cotton bag hanging in the laundry room for heavily soiled items (baseball uniforms with grass stains, work clothes, etc.) and do a load of heavily-soiled laundry when that is full. Keeping things separated also keeps stains from working their way onto your nice white linen pants.
Clean the exterior of the washing machine and shelves by spraying them down with some white vinegar and wiping clean. Clean the interior of your washer, too (see page 137). Give the floor a good mopping. Wipe down the walls.
Organize your laundry necessities by keeping bottles together and clothespins in one bag or bin, tennis balls for the washer and wool balls for the dryer in another. I like to keep all of my cotton rags together in the laundry so I don’t have to search for them all afterward, so I keep a lingerie bag hanging by the washer and throw all dirty rags in there. Use a laundry organization system that works for you; consider keeping separate bins for lights, darks, and colors. Keeping your laundry station organized also allows older children, teens, spouses, and others to easily access the laundry necessities to do their own washing. Of course, keep any products out of the reach of smaller children, no matter how natural they are.
DOING THE LAUNDRY COMES NATURALLY, NATURALLY
I wish I could tell you how to make your own laundry detergent liquid and powder. I really wish I could. But the chemical reactions that must take place to create a detergent (what all modern-day machines are made to use) simply cannot be replicated safely (or at all) in your own home. It involves some fancy chemistry. Now, I know there are many, many recipes circulating on the Internet for homemade laundry soap. But that’s the problem . . . it’s laundry soap. Soap that will actually wreck your plumbing when you use it for any length of time, and only traps dirt and germs in your clothing under a thin layer of soap scum. Sure, the clothes might smell nice (from essential oils and fragrances in the soap), and look cleaner (from the water agitation), but you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be scummy soon, and your pipes will be, too. The trick is we want to use detergents, not soaps, and any recipe that uses grated bar soap is obviously going to be clogging up your drains. Back in the 1950s, many people did take on the task of tackling lye-based laundry detergent making, but these detergents are harsh and the gray water is not safe for septic systems. Here are my two favorite solutions:
Soap nuts: Soap nuts (sometimes called soap berries) are nature’s answer to doing laundry. These come from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree that grows in the Himalayas. Soap nuts have natural antimicrobial products and create a soaplike secretion that is totally safe for septic systems, gentle on skin (in fact, in Ayurvedic medicine they are used to treat skin conditions), and clean clothes wonderfully when activated by water. Used soap nuts can be thrown in the compost for a completely waste-free experience. Soap nuts can still be a little hard to find, and a bit expensive at first, but you can use them for multiple loads of laundry.
To Use: Place 5 or 6 soap nuts in a small muslin bag that can be zipped or tied closed. Throw into the washing machine with your laundry. When the laundry is done, hang the bag to drip-dry, and reuse a few times, until the shells of the nuts become gray.
Dr. Bronner’s Sal’s Suds: This is a biodegradable cleaner that is effective in hot and cold water, and you only need 2 tablespoons, undiluted, for an average-size load of laundry. Don’t freak out when you read there is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate on the label (synthesized from coconut) . . . this is very different from Sodium LaurETH Sulfate, despite the confusingly similar name.
BE ALTERNATIVE WITH BLEACH ALTERNATIVE
If you love your whites white, you probably love to use bleach. But bleach is so toxic and harmful, it’s not something I like to use on any regular basis. Oxygen bleach, which I discussed earlier (page 18), is a viable alternative for me, but you can also make an alternative that approximates the work of bleach but doesn’t harm your respiratory or reproductive systems like regular bleach can.
• ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup baking soda
Mix together in a small bowl and add to the detergent dispenser of your washing machine. Wash as usual. Make a new batch for each load of laundry, since the reaction that takes place between the ingredients means they won’t last.
MOVE OVER MILDEW: MILDEW & MOLD SCENT REMOVER
Sometimes mildew scents just happen in life, no matter how hard we try keep them at bay. Mildew is that unpleasant beginning-of-mold warning sign. You’ve forgotten something. You forgot the wet laundry in the laundry machine overnight, or a wet swimsuit coverup got left in a pile in the bedroom for days. Perhaps your bathroom traps moisture and towels don’t dry well between uses. Simply throw them in the laundry with a few extra ingredients in addition to your regular detergent (or soap nuts).
Add ¼ cup of baking soda to any regular load of laundry to help neutralize unpleas
ant scents.
During the rinse cycle, add ½ cup white vinegar mixed with 10–12 drops of lemon essential oil, which also neutralizes odors.
SEE SPOT RUN: SPOT REMOVER
We all get spots on our clothes, regardless of how “clean” our daily routine is . . . we all brush our teeth (toothpaste splatters), eat and drink (coffee, smoothies, chocolate), and go outdoors (brushing up against dirty subway doors or walking muddy streets), and spots just happen. When you see a soiled item of clothing, whip up this spray and say goodbye to the unwanted marks.
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide
• 2 drops lemon essential oil
Mix well and shake in an 8-ounce spray bottle. Spray onto spots and wash immediately. Do not let sit on colored clothes as it can have a bleaching effect. If the clothing is white, however, take advantage of the bleaching nature of both lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide when they come into contact with the sun and let the item sit in the sunlight for a little while before washing. Because of the fresh lemon juice, this spray does not keep well and I recommend you use it within 2 days of making it.
DEODORANT BUILDUP TEAR-DOWN
Many deodorants leave a hardened white buildup on the inside of shirts. It may even be visible from the outside on dark fabrics. The gunk won’t go away on its own, not even with repeated washing. Let’s make something a little stronger, but still natural, to get rid of the gunk. There are a few options depending on the item.