Your home is for living NOT for CLEANINGGreen Cleaning | Your home is for living NOT for CLEANING | New York – Manhattan Cleaning Services | Cleaner and Organized Home

How to make your own green soft scrub.

Marzena Ziembicka — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:47:52 +0000

Recently I decided that I am going to make my own cleaning products for my cleaning service in NYC. I use them at home for my cleaning, so why not use them at my clients’ homes.

I was asked to do a deep cleaning for a new client on the Upper West Side. The project was big because we had to wash the walls from top to bottom. The apartment was in good shape.

I made my own soft scrub.

It was very easy and quick to do. I mixed 1/8 cup of Castile oil plus 1/2 cup of baking soda plus 8 drops of tea tree or rosemary essential oil. It makes enough for a couple of bathroom cleanings.

It worked great and smelled great and there were no toxins in it.

After 9 hours of cleaning I didn’t have a headache , dry eyes or a nosebleed which regular store bought products have given me in the past.

By the way, thank you Kim for using my green cleaning service for deep cleaning your apartment.

I am wondering how many of you are using your own homemade products. If you know some good recipes please share them with me.

Does your cleaning service in NYC help you to become green?

Marzena Ziembicka — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:23:02 +0000

Do you often think about taking care of the environment, about being green and how you can reduce your fingerprints?
You often think about it but you are very busy with your work and kids and every day chores. You just do not have time to do research to find out the easiest way to be green.

There are a few simple tips for how you can improve your life and change from toxic to green.
First of all ask your cleaning service to switch the cleaning products. There are many companies making green cleaning products, like Seventh Generation which is my favorite.

This simple switch will help you to improve the quality of the air in your house and the green products are much better for the environment.

The studies show that children’s bodies contain many pesticides and compounds. By asking your cleaning service in NYC to use green cleaning products you are preventing your child from being exposed to toxic chemicals.

If your cleaning service will not agree to change the products to green ones you can simply change your cleaning service to one which offers organic products.
There are a few cleaning services in NYC which are green because they realize how harmful the regular products might be.

Go Green With Your Laundry

Marzena Ziembicka — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:24:14 +0000

Did you realize that you can buy green soaps and detergents? I am sure you did.

You may find that using soap does not work too well with the water that is in your area. If you do find this is so, you can soften water with baking soda. If you add ¼ cup baking soda to the rinse cycle your clothes will come out nice and soft as though you have used a commercial softener. You can increase the amount of soda you use up to ½ cup until you are happy with the results. The health benefits of being green in your laundry are huge. Just think about it. You have clothes on your back 24 hrs a day and for 24 hrs a day we have chemicals touching our bodies when we don’t use a green laundry system.

If you are going to switch from detergents to green soaps it would pay to give your machine a wash through with just water and vinegar to clean out all the soap scum that has accumulated over time. This way, your clothes will be going into a scum free machine for their next wash.

There are many green brands of home products as well so you won’t have to go without if you would rather use a commercial product. Here are some sites you could look at for a chemical free laundry:

• www.ecover.com
• www.oxyboost.com
• www.sunandearth.com
• www.seventhgeneration.com

I would love to hear your feedback about today’s post. So TalkBack to me… I’m listening!

Green Cleaning Recipes for Your Home

How recycling can be friendly for the environment?

Marzena Ziembicka — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:57:51 +0000

The garbage disposal is definitely a serious problem, especially in New York City. Every year we produce more and more garbage which is very hard to decompose. The utilization is becoming more expensive compare to the past. The garbage we produce is far from natural one. In addition, transportation requires trucks which not always are friendly to the environment. Because of that, we should more seriously approach towards garbage disposal and be aware what we put into the bin.

Garbage doesn’t disappear so easily, it needs time. Therefore, in order to make things easy we should recycle our garbage. In many cities recycling became an obligatory duty and New York is not an exception. The main reason for recycling is to reuse materials instead of using new ones. Recently, recycling became a serious issue for many cities. Moreover, private companies also try to be more ecological by using second-hand materials in their products.

By sorting our garbage, we can drastically help to decrease the amount of garbage disposed on landfills. Everything starts in our houses. By correctly sorting materials like glass, paper and plastic we can really make a difference. All these materials could be used again without harming the environment.
Nowadays, recycling became one of the methods used to protect natural resources. Even though, not all materials could be recycled still recycling plays an important role in saving our planet. If you are not sure how to separate materials which could be recycled from materials which are not recyclable here you can find help.

Do you have an extra trash container for recycling?

No related posts.

Why we should use green cleaning products?

Marzena Ziembicka — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:05:15 +0000

I love NYC. This city never sleeps; here always happens something interesting. I even dare to say that everything starts here in New York City. Ok, maybe not everything but at least majority of things.

Recently, I have occasion to hear a live comment spoken by Erin Brockovich who alongside with Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and Dr Greene are leading partners in the Seven Generation’s campaign called “Crawl to Action”.

What do they want to achieve? They want to change the US law in order to get rid of hazardous chemicals in the cleaning products.

I am coming from Poland, and a few days ago I have talked with my friend Monika about the report which I am about to publish. This report tries to convince people why we should use green cleaning products. Each time Monika has visited us, she was surprised how good the local cleaning products are.

In the European Union the standards about permitting chemical products into the market are much higher than in the United States. It is estimated that about 80,000 types of chemicals are used in the production of shampoos, washing powders and other cleaning products whereas only 200 are really safe for people. Of course, the cleaning here is a lot easier at the cost of safety.

As a cleaning expert, I have changed my regular cleaning products into natural ones a long time ago. I am too busy to make my own natural cleaning products. However, thanks to Seven Generation I know that when I clean I don’t harm environment and myself.

And what cleaning products do You like to use?

How Did I Change My Approach Towards Cleaning?

Marzena Ziembicka — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:01:16 +0000

Very often customers ask me questions about differences between traditional cleaning products, which everyone can get in every shop, and natural ones.
It is true that when we are using regular cleaning products the results are much quicker. However, natural products, even though are a little bit less effective at first sight, have much longer list of positive effects than regular detergents.
A few years ago I have started working for a family with an eight-year-old boy. Unfortunately, after a few weeks the boy has got a skin rush. As you can guess the reason was cleaning products which we used at that time.
In our everyday work we use tons of cleaning detergents. Our job is about reaching every spot, every corner and every hole in an apartment. Remember that using traditional cleaning products leave unnecessary toxins in your home. These toxins are invisible for your eyes; however, you are breathing them every time you cross a threshold of your apartment.
A pediatrician doctor ordered to change regular detergents to natural ones. Since then, I have been interested in green cleaning. It was a breakthrough in my understanding of cleaning methods. From that time, I have really seriously started to think about green cleaning. Soon, I will tell you more.

Oh, How Things Have Changed!

Marzena Ziembicka — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:00:05 +0000

Many people have been brought up with the worry of bacteria. “It is on everything, we were always told”, said a client.

But recent research by Dr Dick Irwin of the Texas A & M University (toxicology’s), shows that “chemicals have replaced bacteria and viruses as the main threat to our health.”

In general, people are aware of chemicals in a lot of the products they buy, but most people really do not delve into just how much there is and even more concerning, the type of chemicals that are in the products they buy.

It is not so many years ago that much of the things that we ate or lived with, were organic, not by design, but just because that was the way it was.

How things have changed. Today manufacturers are looking at the end result and ‘the bottom line’ and unless there are laws about what they can put in and on products, they will use any lethal chemical without a second thought, to get the result they want. Every year there are products withdrawn because a company has been found out.

If you are a manufacture of any note in this day and age you are aware of international laws, and laws of the countries that you are sending your products to. But do you think that matters? Not a jot to some manufacturers, if they think they can get away with it and it is going to cost less to make, they will give it a try.

There are many household items that cross this chemical barrier and it is even worse in the household cleaning products. That is why we concentrate on ‘green cleaning’. We believe in it, and we LIVE IT!

Why we should use green cleaning products?

Don’t Forget Cleaning Your Bathroom

Marzena Ziembicka — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:45:22 +0000

Bathrooms can harbor some very dangerous germs. It is absolutely critical that you take extra care in the bathroom. It is important to know the different areas that need to be addressed in order to keep you and/or your family healthy. If cleaning the bathroom is not one of your favorites on your to do list, you could consider hiring a cleaning service. Either way, this room must be cleaned as thoroughly as possible.

Make sure you tackle these areas and here are some ideas to clean the natural way!

Drains – Pour ½ cup of baking soda into the drain, while letting the water run over it for a few minutes to keep your drains in good shape and clog free. Drains can really harbor those nasty germs.
Tub and Shower– You should clean your tub and shower with straight vinegar for that extra cleaning power. Shower curtains should be kept dry to prevent mildew and mold build up. Use white vinegar to remove lime and mineral deposits. Leave a rag that has been soaked in the vinegar on spots for an hour. These spots should wipe right off.
Showerhead – Remove your showerhead from the shower pipe and soak it in straight vinegar.
Reduce mildew by reducing moisture in the bathroom. Run a vent fan or ceiling fan to circulate the moisture particles and prevent them from settling.

You can use a toothbrush to reach those not so easy spots! Good luck and happy cleaning!

Green Cleaning Recipes for Your Home

Marzena Ziembicka — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:34:24 +0000

Green cleaning has become more popular over the years because people are more aware of the hazards of cleaning products to people, pets and the environment. Once you have decided to throw out your old cleaners, you will have to find new and more natural cleaners. There are companies out there that specifically manufacture natural cleaners. However, you could make your own cleaners that are just as effective.

Green cleaning recipes for natural cleaners for your whole house:

Window and mirror cleaner:

Ingredients: white vinegar and water (indoors)/castile soap and water (outdoors)

For indoor mirrors or windows, mix ¼ cup of white vinegar and water (fill up a spray bottle). For outdoor windows, put a few drops of castile soap with warm water and rinse well. Dry your windows with a squeegee.

Tub and sink cleaner:

Ingredients: baking soda and liquid soap

Sprinkle baking soda on the fixtures and rub with a wet rag. Put a few drops of liquid Murphy’s soap or an equivalent cleaner and rinse well.

Linoleum floor cleaner

Ingredients: white vinegar and water

Mix 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water and mop. The odor from the vinegar will disappear after it dries.

Toilet bowl cleaner

Ingredients: baking soda and liquid soap

Sprinkle the baking soda inside the toilet bowl. Add just a couple of drops of liquid soap and scrub. To clean the outside surfaces, sprinkle baking soda and wipe with a rag.

There are many more recipes you can find on the Internet. The idea is to get those harsh chemicals out of your house and bring in the “green”!