A little vinegar in water is a tried and true recipe for cleaning wood floors. (You don't want to use too much--about a tablespoon in a quart of water.) But even better is distilled water.

​A few years ago the rage in the cleaning industry was using a fancy dispenser that de-ionized water for cleaning floors. At a training with ARCSI, the national house cleaning industry association, I learned that de-ionized water was tested by the association and found to be the best general floor cleaner available. 

Distilled water, available at any supermarket, is a close cousin to de-ionized water and is as effective. So for the best cleaner, skip the vinegar and use distilled water. That's what I use to clean not only wood but all floors.

Here is a brilliant idea I came across for keeping your shower stall and/or bath tub forever clean. It takes a miniscule amount of work but is worth it, if you are so inclined. It's very simple. Have dedicated towel that you use to wipe down all surfaces--tub, walls, doors, chrome--after each shower or bath. It only takes a minute and will save you ever having to clean your tub or shower!  

This comes from a great source which is full of useful cleaning ideas:
https://outlook.live.com/mail/0/id/AQMkADAwATc3AGZmAGUtODE2Ny1kYTE3LTAwAi0wMAoARgAAA9N%2BaaPP5HZKtwtSu1IXe34HAM6y%2Fs5wvIFDumoLzTQihHAAAAIBDAAAAM6y%2Fs5wvIFDumoLzTQihHAABTiBysIAAAA%3D

Here is a good trick for getting off burnt-on gunk from the inside bottom of a pot, Cover the bottom of the pot with a cup of hot water and a cup of distilled vinegar. Add in 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Watch it fizz. When it's done, it will be softened and can scrub it off easily with dish detergent. 

www.mom4real.com/clean-burnt-pots-pans-natural-cleaning-trick/

Here are some helpful guidelines for window cleaning from a window cleaner's perspective. Some of the main takeaways: cloudy days are better than sunny days because the sun can dry the window too quickly and leave streaks; always work from top to bottom to avoid drips; use a little vinegar in water to avoid harsh chemicals.  https://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/blog/9-best-window-cleaning-tips/

A handy way to get those baked-on brown and black grease spots on your stove is with a Brillo pad. Test it of course, but I have not found it to scratch. On glass stove tops, those spots or rings can be gotten using a razor blade scraper. Be sure to wet the spot before using.

Here are some more things to do to get your home in the mood for spring while waiting for the warm weather to actually return:

1. Vacuum under the cushions of your sofas and stuffed chairs. Lots of things, big and small, like to hang out in there. 

2. Go through your closet and take out those clothes you haven't worn in forever for Goodwill. Marie Kondo's criterion: if it doesn't give you joy, toss.

3. Put your winter hats and gloves and boots back in the closet and take out the spring stuff if you have a bin for these things.

4. Clean the glass on the framed pictures you have hanging on the wall..

I use all nontoxic cleaning products for my normal routines. But sometimes there are just hard problems that only a more commercial grade cleaner can get. Bartender's Friend, a cleanser sold in many supermarkets and hardware stores, is not a green product (though it's lower in toxicity than many others) but is unrivaled in getting out rust and black marks from bathroom fixtures and kitchen counters. It's a very good resource of last resort for some of those hard-to-get issues. 

if you are an aficionado of cleaning this will be a treat. Otherwise, probably not. In my many years of cleaning the best general bathroom cleaner I've found is one made by Ecover. It's made with nontoxic ingredients and is extremely effective, even on really tough soap scum. They use to sell it in all the co-ops. I used to pick it up frequently, as part of my regular cleaning toolkit. But they stopped selling it about ten years ago. 

I looked and looked for an equivalent but wasn't able to find a nontoxic cleaner that really took on the heavy jobs in the same way. But... I discovered that they do sell it in England, where it is made. I do order from there and continue to use it, quite happily. So if you are a cleaning aficianado, you can go to

​www.naturitas.us/p/home-and-garden/home-and-kitchen/household-detergents/bathroom-cleaner-500-ml-ecover?gclid=CjwKCAjwj6SEBhAOEiwAvFRuKHfrKFSE40nGMg82CCSjyQOqTLduBDvLmFKTMosQb-s-ESqcaLXxexoC7Q8QAvD_BwE

to order it for yourself!

Here's another idea from a great website for innovative cleaning ideas: Apartment Therapy. To clean a sink disposal the main thing involves putting ice cubes in it, running hot water, and turning on the disposal, letting the blades crunch up the ice. You can add your choice of natural cleaning agent to aide the scouring power of the ice. Cutting up a few lemons is my preference. This is a good spring cleaning task. Give it a whirl! 

www.apartmenttherapy.com/tiktok-garbage-disposal-ice-cleaning-trick-36871965

Cloth, canvas, and plastic grocery bags are a great improvement over paper bags in terms of cutting down on our use of natural resources. But they do get grimy and crumb-filled after awhile. Take a moment to clean them up. Some you can just throw in the washing machine--though best to put them in a mesh bag so the handles don't get caught in the machine. Otherwise, for canvas and cloth bags, wash with a little laundry soap in the sink. Plastic bags, use a cloth or sponge in soapy water to wipe down, then rinse. 

This great idea comes from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/g3345/spring-cleaning-tips/?slide=5, which is filled with other good cleaning tips.