Words From the Wise Irish Twin

To add some family fun lovin' to our blog, (er, what I really mean is, to distract you from the sad but true fact that I don't have another project whipped up or one of the many I've been "working on" done) I asked my Irish twin sis, Farrah, to guest post this lovely weekend.  She was born ten months and five days after me - me in February and her in December - and yes, we have the same mother.  As the story goes, our mother got a surprise notification at her post-birthing-me exam.  :)  News to us and known by God, we endearingly refer to that blessed surprise as "Peach".  She's one of the most artistic, creative people I know and I'm so excited for her to share her wisdom with y'all.  So, without further ado, here's Peach:

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Well, I'm excited to say, I am one day closer to putting my sister's fabulous tutorials, tips, and tricks to practice! But first, I must CLEAN.

A recent series of events has landed us in this little ditty.

It's a cute, little, three-bedroom house only a couple blocks from the beach. 

As my sister knows, I am a total sucker for all-natural products and all things DIY and budget-friendly; having a new baby only makes me more so.

So, to prepare my canvas (aka new home), I am pulling out all my cleaning secrets (or maybe not so much secret) but certainly all-natural, DIY, and cost-effective cleaning methods. Of particular interest, and for the purposes of this post, I am highlighting odor-fighting tricks and wanted to throw out a couple quick and easy recipes. Bear with me.

1. I use this to wipe down pretty much everything, including walls:

ALL PURPOSE CLEANING SOLUTION:

1 part (preferably distilled) water to 1 part distilled white vinegar

Lemon EO (optional)

That's it. So easy right? And vinegar as a cleaning agent rocks. Read more about it here. (O, and don't worry, as you clean, the vinegar smell will completely dissipate.) The essential oil is totally optional. Sometimes I'll even just throw in a fresh lemon peel (makes it pretty). A note though about the benefits of lemon essential oil. It is thought to lift spirits and fight fatigue and psychological weariness (definitely helpful when cleaning), and is a powerful antiseptic - antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal (also good for cleaning). It's also useful for a lot of other cool things. See here.

So, to rid of smells trapped in walls (aside from painting... also very effective, and I'm certain you can find a tutorial about that on here somewhere), I simply wipe them down with this solution using a soft sponge (so as not to destroy the paint).

I also set out bowls of straight up vinegar where needed (particularly smelly areas like closets) and let them sit anywhere from overnight to several days.

*Tip: If you get a gallon jug of vinegar, use half the jug to set out in bowls and replace that half of the jug with water to make your cleaning solution. To this I add about 40+ drops of Lemon EO.

2. To deodorize the carpet, we use this:

NATURAL CARPET DEODORIZER

(Recipe adapted from aromaweb.com)

1 12 ounce container of baking soda

8 drops Tea Tree EO (optional)

8 drops Lemon EO (optional)

16 drops Lavender EO (optional)

You can always find a use for baking soda so be economical and get a big box. But also get one of the small 12oz ones with the holes in it that permit you to "shake" it onto your carpet and just refill it as needed. Again, straight up baking soda does the trick but I love using essential oils, especially because of their antibacterial and disinfectant properties (the above named are particularly useful). If you choose to use the oils, simply add them to the container and shake it all up really well (you may have to remove a little baking soda first to give you room to do so). 

To use, simply sprinkle onto your carpet, allow it to sit for 20 minutes (sometimes I leave it overnight) and then vacuum it up. That's it!


A few more smell-good tips:
– Sprinkle several drops of your favorite essential oil (mine is lavender) onto your ac filter to get the house smelling fabulous in seconds. Sort of like a giant diffuser. (My husband was the genius behind that one.)
– Also, dry coffee grinds are another great odor-neutralizer and can be set about in small bowls/cups much like the vinegar.
– Dilute several drops of your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle with water and use like you would Febreze. 

So there you have it. Now my sweet daughter can rest her weary head upon fields of clean, aromatic carpet and reserve her energies for things of greater importance, like finding her lost sheep...

Note: She does have a bed. I only do this for pictures. I swear. Check out more here.

Thanks for reading and happy cleaning!

~Farrah