It's time for Spring cleaning for the health of your dog!

It's that time of year....warmer weather, lots more sunshine and more time outside having fun!

Inside, however, with more sun you'll notice more dust bunnies, nose prints on the windows, and maybe even a little spider web on the lampshades.

We all know what that means, right? It's time for spring cleaning!

But how do you clean your home well and still keep away the dangerous chemicals from cleaning products that can be harmful to your dog? It's easy, if you follow our spring cleaning routine. Let's explore!

The first thing you want to do is safely dispose of any chemical based cleaners and go natural for the health of your dog!

And don't be fooled by the 'green, eco-friendly, healthier' marketing hype of your potential cleaner; do your research to be certain that what you use to clean your home is really safe and healthy.

Why? Because many of the chemical based cleaners on the market can have dangerous consequences for you, your dog and the environment. Those chemical based drain, window, furniture, floor, carpet, laundry, dish washing products and more are reeking havoc on our health, not only from the exposure to the air our dog's breath when we use them, but the poisonous residue that they leave that may potentially be ingested by our dogs as they lick and are exposed to surfaces.

You can research virtually every cleaner on the market at Environmental Working Group to see if your products are safe for your dog.

The Organic Consumers Association shares that, 'cleaning ingredients vary in the type of health hazard they pose. Some cause acute, or immediate, hazards such as skin or respiratory irritation, watery eyes, or chemical burns, while others are associated with chronic, or long-term, effects such as cancer.' You can read more to be more informed on their website.

So let's get healthy cleaning!

Here is what is in our home cleaning kit:

• White vinegar
• Lemon juice
• Baking soda
• Washing soda
• Glycerin bar soap
• Duster
• Liquid Castile soap
• Lavender essential oils (only for surfaces not frequented by dogs and kitties)
• Old towels
• Swiffer dry mop
• Squeegee Vacuum

And our new HAAN MultiforcePlus SS22A  that was graciously provided to us free of charge for review from the great folks at HAAN, our newest Raise A Green Dog Partner!

Dusting and vacuuming

With our kit in hand we start making our way through the cabin, starting with the duster. We start with the duster because many times dust, dirt and webs may fall on the floor, so we work top to bottom. We dust everything from the ceiling corners to the lampshades to the light bulbs to the table tops.

Once that's complete we get out the vacuum. We own a Dyson, which we love and has many attachments to get in all those crevices, and an attachment to get all the dog and kittie fur from the couches and easy chairs. We move the couch and the beds and sweep well under those too!

Floors, rugs and carpets

Now that we have the HAAN floor scrubbing steamer we're using it to steam clean all the floors and rugs that we have in the cabin. I have to say that they really needed it after the long Fall, Winter and early Spring mud and dirt that we drag in from our hikes. The HAAN digs in deep, sanitizing and cleaning all the surfaces on our floor with only one machine (more on this in another upcoming post).

If you don't have a steamer, we recommend after vacuuming that you clean your floors with a wonderful solution of water and vinegar. It's safe for wood, tile and more. We used to utilize an old Swiffer Duster and dip a wash cloth in the solution to wipe down the floors. The best part is you don't even need to rinse! And for those carpets and rugs? Start with just water for stains. If that doesn't work move on to adding a little vinegar to your water.

Windows

Once you've tackled the dust and the floors it's time to start on the windows. Our favorite way to clean any glass (windows, mirrors) and other surfaces in our home is utilizing are fallback solution of water and vinegar, making sure that the windows are very dry when finished to get any potential streaks.

Kitchen

Wipe down all kitchen surfaces utilizing our all purpose cleaning recipe including counters, appliances, cabinets and more. Utilize a good baking soda paste to scrub down the kitchen sink, then add more baking soda and white vinegar to keep your drain clean and clog free.

Bathroom

Once we've finished with the kitchen, we head on to the bathrooms. Many people believe that stronger cleaners are needed to disinfect the bathroom. But the reality is that simple solutions of water, vinegar and essential oils, like lavender have powerful disinfectant properties. For tougher toilet bowl stains, try adding some baking soda to the mix.

Check back next week for our upcoming post of our favorite cleaning recipes for the health of your dog!