Living Room cleaning Tips

Wash your pillows with hot

Dust mites and dead skin cells are just plain rude for taking up considerable bed space and not even offering to pay rent. Get rid of these freeloaders by regularly washing their favorite hangout: your pillows.

Fill a sink or washing machine with hot water. The hotter the water the better, as this will kill dust mites without the need for harsh chemicals like bleach.

Now add a mild detergent followed by the pillows (minus any pillow protectors). Then manually agitate for a few minutes or let your washing machine do its thing.

Rinse thoroughly, and press excess water out of the pillow. Just be sure notto wring or twist the pillow (especially if it’s feather-filled) as doing so will ruin its comfy shape.

Hang to dry, or tumble dry on a low setting. Finally, fluff to reshape, and rest easy.

Annie B. from The True Find also recommends considering a pillow made of natural materials such as wool, down, kapok, and buckwheat. These “active” fibers are antibacterial, fighting off contamination from the get-go. Many are also hypoallergenic, which allows for more restful sleep.

While you’re at it, consider an organic mattress, such as one made from latex, which is also hypoallergenic, antimicrobial, resistant to dust mites, and is even biodegradable.

Living Room

The living room is the room that does it all, so you need things that clean it all. You know how to organize your home, but what else can you do to make the space spotless?

10. Give dryer sheets another chance.

Start with a good, old-fashioned recycling life hack: Reuse dryer sheets.

If you’ve yet to make the jump to using homemade dryer sheets, you’ll still feel good about giving the store-bought ones a second life. Their soft texture is perfect for wiping dust away from delicate surfaces like TVs and computer monitors — without scratching them.

11. Naturally clean and shine floors.

Hardwood floors can get beat up and grimey in high-traffic areas like the living room, but, thanks to Natural Living Ideas, restoring their gleam is easy with a few ingredients you likely already have on hand:

Combine equal parts hot water and vinegar, adding olive or lemon oil for a little shine. Mop as usual, and enjoy the brief period of clean before someone tracks dirty boots across the room.

12. Freshen the air with real scents.

Many commercial air fresheners will simply put “fragrance” on their ingredients list to let you know what’s making up the scent you’re enjoying. That’s it. Just “fragrance.”

Wouldn’t you rather be able to identify what scent is making the room so fragrant? Same.

The Prairie Homestead has a DIY Air Freshener Spray recipe for every eco-friendly olfaction, but our favorite is the Sweet Lavender.

You’ll need:

• 3/4 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of vodka, rubbing alcohol, or pure vanilla extract
• 10 drops of lavender essential oil
• 5 drops of chamomile essential oil

Combine all ingredients in an 8 ounce spray bottle, give it a little shake, and spray all over as often as you like.

Attic, Garage, and Basement

Access to a garage, attic, or basement has its pros and cons.

Pros: You have some extra storage for holiday decorations and the acoustic guitar you’re totally going to learn to play one day.

Cons: You also have pests, must, and dust that can kind of spoil the convenience.

Luckily, all it takes to overcome these obstacles and recapture the advantages of these spaces are a few essential oils, some vinegar, and water.

 Scare spiders out of the attic with citronella oil.

14. Eliminate mice from your garage with peppermint.

Unlike your grandparents, mice find the scent of peppermint overwhelming and offensive. So add 20-30 drops of peppermint essential oil to a few cotton balls and lay them strategically around your home’s rodent-prone areas, especially around your garage.

Refresh every week or so, or whenever your grandparents visit.

15. De-fuzz the attic with DIY dusting spray.

One Good Thing By Jillee

Best for wood surfaces, One Good Thing By Jillee’s homemade dusting spray cuts through grime while shining and protecting the wood. While any essential oil will work, we recommend lemon because it provides a light, fresh scent.

Pour 1 cup water, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 teaspoons olive oil, and 10-15 drops lemon essential oil into a spray bottle. Spray on dusty old furniture or floors and wipe away with a dry rag or mop.

 Remove mustiness, mildew, and mold from the basement with essential oils.

Essential oils are naturally anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial, so