Cleaning green

I’ve never been a big fan of housekeeping. Sure I do what needs to be done, but on the scale of things I have to do and things I want to do, it ranks pretty low. I do enough to keep up appearances, saving the “big” cleaning for special events when we will have people over (birthdays, holidays, dinner parties, etc.). I've told Clean Fresh Hubby that we need to have at least one party per month just to get the house clean (and I mean every room, clean at the same time!).

Until now.

I am a full-pledged addict. My vice: Method cleaning products.

It all started in my quest to stop using harmful chemicals. Plus, I have an almost four year old who constantly asks if she can “help” me clean. Not anxious to give her a rag loaded with cleaning products whose bottles have scary warning labels and ingredients I can’t even pronounce, I decided to start investigating all natural cleaners.

I’ve always noticed the Method display at Target; the bottles are unique, the product names catchy, but other than that, I never really thought much more about them. Until the other day, when I picked up some of their bathroom cleaners:



And then I cleaned all the toilets in our house. The smell of the eucalpytus mint cleaner was heavenly, and seriously made me consider cleaning the toilet after every use. And the after shower spray (scent is ylang ylang) is way better than the humid, musty shower smell we had grown accustomed to.

So I went back to Target and picked up a few additional cleaners for the bathroom since I loved the smell so much:



Then I happened to be shopping at Whole Foods and found the Method display there, so I picked up some kitchen cleaner, dish soap, hand soap and glass cleaner:



Of course, I have to do laundry, clean the wood floors and dust the furniture, so back to Target I tromped, adding these to my collection:



And, since I had all these cool new cleaning products, I felt I needed a caddy to keep them all nice and shiny:



So yes, I am now officially addicted to Method cleaning products. I love that I can clean the bathroom and not feel my lungs burning at the same time. I love that my daughter can take a dust rag coated in the almond cleaner and dust to her little heart’s content. And I love that I have a newfound zest for keeping the house clean. But most importantly, I love that using these products means my family is not being exposed to harmful chemicals and in some small way, we are doing our part for the environment.

* To clarify for anyone who might think I'm crazy to go out and buy all new cleaning products: we were out of laundry soap, toilet bowl cleaner, shower spray, tile cleaner and floor cleaner. I did end up replacing a relatively brand new bottle of Pledge, Soft Scrub with Bleach, and a half-used bottle of Windex. I am still using the mega-sized canister of Clorox wipes that I got at Costco...