Greening the Cleaning

It works out perfectly. My husband's birthday is the first week if September. In order for me to have people over for his birthday (which is also the birthday of my twin sisters), I need to clean my house. In my world, cleaning is VERY different from straightening up. Straightening up is done 1-3 times a week and includes throwing all the toys in the playroom, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and occasionally dusting. Cleaning happens 2-4 times a year and consists of walking around to each room with a bucket of supplies, vacuuming screens, dusting ceilings and the like. Since I got pregnant with Bunny, I started becoming a little more aware of what I've been doing to the environment. I've slowly been replacing our household cleaning products (bleach, ammonia, Lysol...) with all natural, frugal, and environmentally friendly products (baking soda, vinegar, soap nuts, Mrs Meyers...). It's been pretty difficult to convince the hubby that vinegar and water is just as effective as Windex, so I've been a little devious and when the Vinegar Windex bottle was empty, I just refilled it with vinegar and water, and we are both satisfied. (Because I confessed this to the cyberworld, the next time I see him using it, I will have to confess it to him as well.) Today, I'm really excited to clean because it is the first time I will be using only all natural products to clean (not including my toothbrush and sponge). I've been using soap nuts for my laundry detergent, but yesterday I whipped up a batch of concentrated soap nut cleaner. I found the recipe here: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/09/using-soap-nuts-for-household-cleaning.html. And since I will be using it in conjunction with my Lemon Verbena scented Mrs. Myers, I will be adding a splash of lemon juice to my mixture. I will also be washing Bunny's dirty diapers with it. Yeah yeah what a day! I may have to take before and after pictures, but they will never make it here as I don't want the world to see the before pictures.