The Smell Coming From The Backseat

Girlie is involved in a local Brownie Troop. They are a great group of girls who lately has been learning about helping others. This month, the Brownies orchestrated a personal care products drive at their school. Apparently, the local food pantry is completely out of products such as soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc.

Just two weeks ago Girlie and I printed fliers to distribute to the neighbors asking if they would help contribute to the food pantry. Pick-up was on the day that Girlie caught the flu bug, so Little Guy and I hoofed around the neighborhood with the old jog stroller collecting from our very generous neighbors.

All of our neighbor's contributions have been sitting in the back of my car for the last nine days. Imagine having the entire cleaning isle from Stop and Shop in the back of your station wagon? The donations are appreciated, but oh the chemical smell!

I haven't been in confined quarters with household cleaners in years. Are they supposed to smell like a secret scientific laboratory blew-up? After not using them for so long, my sense of smell has come back.

Now I can't seem to get rid of all of the personal care products. The food pantry is an elusive one. I have been calling them for over a week with no call back. Their hours are missing from the town website and from their voice mail message. Aren't food pantry's generally in great need of donations? Don't they want my donation of smelly soaps that is just sitting in the station wagon? Is there some sort of treasure hunt game to find the food pantry hours that I don't know about? ~ This is turning into a rant for another day.

Here is my question, why do most Americans think that our cleaning products, both for ourselves and our homes, have to be chemical laden and dangerous? Why do we think that they have to burn to work? Why do we think that they have to have a strong smell to signal that they are working?

Everyday items have antibacterial qualities without being dangerous. Baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice are amazing and safe to use around kids, pets and adults. The best part is that they will really clean your home.

I have a few cheap, easy and SAFE ways that I clean/chase the dust bunnies from my home without poisoning my family and our air;

Tub Cleaner: Mix baking soda and laundry detergent into a frosting-like consistency. (How I dream about frosting.) The scrub will gently clean your tub without scratching.

Better Than Dryer Sheets: Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to your rinse cycle and kiss that cling goodbye.

Window/Glass Cleaner: One part vinegar to three parts water. Mix in a spray bottle.

Dr. Bronner's Soap cleans everything. One little bottle can wash your floor, counters, hair and even teeth. I have heard about some people who only own a bottle of Dr. Bronner's and nothing else to clean their homes and bodies. Personally, I love to add one squirt of DB into a bucket of hot water to clean my floors.


Happy cleaning...um do I have to clean my house too?