Category: Clean

January 22nd: Make Homemade Cleaners

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Back to some essential oil fun! And back to saving the earth. As the year goes on you will begin to see my efforts to cut out toxic chemicals, unneeded products and items that clutter my life. January has kicked off pretty nicely.

1. I have been spending the month purging items from my house, one day at a time. My January 1st item was purge one item from my house a day. I have fallen a little behind on this but plan on spending all morning tomorrow doing a large purge… even the small purges I have made have already made a difference.

2. January 15th challenged me to not use any plastic waste for a week. It has been challenging, mainly because when you get togo food or buy things at the store most things automatically come with unneeded plastic products. I am working on continuing this and think I can make it through the whole year concentrating on it. Even if I just minimize what I am using, that has to have an effect.

3. So back to the essential oils. January 8th was all about making my own essential oil blend. This was so I could produce something that I would use as a pain reliever without using toxic or unknown ingredient pills.

Today, I make my own house cleaner, and man, there are a TON of recipes out there and every variety of cleaner you can think of.

There is a great website One Essential Community that has a great list of different cleaners with a minimal, clean ingredients. Eventually, I would like to make them all – 8 DIY Cleaning Recipes with Lemon – but today I am just starting with the:

Mold & Mildew Cleaner

To make: to a spray bottle add 1 cup white vinegar, 15 drops lemon essential oil, and 15 drops melaleuca essential oil.

To use: shake to combine, spray on surface to be cleaned, wipe with microfiber cloth, spray again with cleaner and allow to air dry.

AND

All-Purpose Cleaner (great for counters)

To make: to a spray bottle add ¼ cup white vinegar, 1 ½ cups distilled water, and 25 drops lemon essential oil.

To use: shake to combine, spray on surface, and wipe clean

So here are the ingredients:

Here’s the All Purpose Cleaner:

And the Mold & Mildew:

I also found this other great site, Back Door Survival, that had a list of the 8 Best Essential Oils for Disinfecting. I will have to use some of these the next time I make some.

Happy clean, cleaning!

January 1st: Purge One Item Everyday for a Month

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Here we go again. Last year was not as good as I would hope but I’m going for… I only marked 60 things off my life… but I’m going for it again. This year I am kicking it off with purging items to declutter my life.

On the 1st I threw away some old boots that I have been holding onto for far too long.

Throughout the month I will continue to throw things out in hopes to clean up my house. They say decluttering brings a sense of peace.

February 18th: Deep Clean My Diffuser

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I started using a diffuser about a year ago. I am absolutely obsessed with essential oils and use them for everything from purification is the air, helping me breathe, helping me control appetite, relaxation, helping me fall asleep… the list goes on and on.

I typically just wash it out every once in a while, particularly when I switch between oils but I never really thought about doing a deep clean. Someone mentioned it to me and it I was shocked I had not thought about it before.

Below is the cleansing regime that I found on DoTerra‘s website because that is who I buy all my oils and even my diffuser from. But if you plan to use it, make sure it does not make your diffuser warranty ineffective, as I have heard that happens with some companies.

1 Fill your diffuser half way with clean water.

2 Add 10 drops of white vinegar.

3 Let the diffuser run for about 5 minutes to allow the water-vinegar mixture to disperse throughout the unit and clean it.

4 Drain the diffuser completely.

5 Using a cotton swab dipped in vinegar, clean the tight spots and corners of the diffuser.

6 Rinse with clean water.

7 Use a dry cloth to wipe the diffuser and dry it thoroughly.

February 15th: Buy Something Unnecessary

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I do not think I would call this completely unnecessary but I definitely could have gotten something cheaper or not as extravagant…

Anyway, getting to the point: I bought a Bissell SmartClean Robot Vacuum. Mia has always shed a lot but now with AJ in the house there is even more hair ALL OVER THE PLACE.

So I bought this vacuum and can not wait to use it!

January 4th: Purge Contact List in My Phonebook

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This one is simple. And it took me about 15 minutes, but it felt good after. I deleted quite a few people that I honestly did not even know who they were. But I also came across a lot of people that I have not talked to in a long time, who I might want to reconnect with soon.

Simple task. Simple rewards. But making sure to build on your life and do new things everyday continuously reminds me to not stay stagnate. A task a day, regardless of how small, seems to make a difference.

As for a my food intake today I might be going back to old habits, so I need to check myself. Anyway, here is Day Three of my one week food log challenge that I started on January 2nd:

Gyro Sandwich with potato salad

Small Farmhouse Salad with apple cider vingerette

Soft Pretzel Bites with beer musturd

3 Ciders

May 25th: Give Dog a Bath

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Mia is not very happy with me today but she is clean. 🐶❤️😎

She very rarely gets dirty and has a coat that stay relatively clean, so doesn’t often need a bath. But she needs one every once in a while.

So I took her down to a new Self Dog Wash today and gave her a bath.

It was strange, she smiled nearly the whole time…  no pictures available because it was hard enough to hold her down and wash, let alone take photos.

But here’s a great one once we got back in the car. She looks like she hates me.


But look at that fluffy, clean coat!

May 18th: Try Cucumber over Eyes

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Wow, I understand the term “cool as a cucumber” a little more after that experience. Cucumbers really are cooling, almost chilly. 

Anyway, in all honesty when I added this thing to my list at the end of last year I actually had no idea why people did this, I just knew they did and thought it was something I should try.

So I looked up how and why and all the normals questions and got this info:

Putting Cucumbers on Your Eyes
I actually don’t really have dark circles, or puffy eyes, but I thought I would give it a try anyway. 

It is cool and refreshing. And it is just nice to sit eyes closed for 15 minutes, not being blue to open your eyes… somewhat meditative. 

I recommend it. Plus, the site has lots of other benefits of using cucumbers in a variety of ways.

April 30th: List 10 Material Things I am Thankful For…

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…and get rid of 10 things not on the list.

I know that life is not all about material things but we live in a society where they do start to consume us a little. Today, I am just doing a bit more decluttering. This is forcing me to think about the things I truly use and enjoy and purge some of the things that just really are not necessary. Like with my month of purging an item a day, this feels super satisfying and cleansing of both space and mind.

1. My computer.

2. My car.

3. My (NEW) plants. 😁🌿

4. My books.

5. My golf clubs.

6. My art (my own and other art I have collected).

7. My bed.

8. My art supplies.

9. My race medals.

10. My collection of cameras.

So… those things I appreciate the most, and would hate to live without. (Especially my bed 😂). So now, I need to toss some stuff.

April 22nd: Buy a New Outfit including Shoes and Accessories 

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I am in no way a fashionista. And I don’t buy expensive things. But every once in a while you need some fresh new things to wear. So I bought new top, jeans, shoes, a bra, socks, earrings and even a new scent to wear. It will feel good to go into work one day soon feeling fresh and new.

March 25th: Donate Clothes

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After cleaning my bedroom closet it only seemed natural that I complete this task next. 

Because well of course when I cleaned out my closet I got rid of a lot of clothes that either no longer fit me or I just never wear.

I still have more clothes in my closet than I need or probably wear, but maybe if I go through everything again in a month or so I can continue to declutter.

March 24th: Clean the Bedroom Closet

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So Spring is here and it only seems appropriate to start some Spring Cleaning.

I thought cleaning out the closet was going to be really difficult but after some of my purging efforts that  as part of my other things for the year I had a lot less clutter than expected.

The closet is still full… because I still have way too much stuff. But it is cleaned and more organized, so there is definitely a nice sense of relief.