There are many ways to reinvent your home or apartment and spruce things up, especially for the spring. One way to give your dwelling space a boost and promote your health is through doing a home detox as part of your spring cleaning practices.
Now that it is warmer and brighter outside, it is time as part of decluttering and cleaning out winter buildup inside to also address potential toxins in your home with these four steps.
Consider Natural Cleaners
You can complete a thorough spring cleaning without using toxic chemicals. Baking soda, castile soap, vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, essential oils, and borax are all excellent natural, green cleaning products that help you avoid exposure to the poisonous chemicals found in a number of store-bought household cleaners. Check out the different types of essential oils here.
When you’re ready to tackle cleaning up your indoor air quality, a surprising natural remedy to do the job are plants! Certain plants like aloe vera and bamboo are a natural absorber of a number of household toxins. They’ll liven your place up and clean the air all at the same time.
Open Your Windows
It’s tough to believe, but studies show that indoor air is actually two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Once the beautiful weather of spring arrives, open up your windows on a daily basis in order to recycle the air in your house. For clothes that you dry clean, let them air outside if possible for a few hours before bringing them inside. Just be sure you’re regularly cleaning around your windows after leaving them open as this is a prime place where dust collects.
Pay Attention to the Bedroom
Many people neglect deep cleaning their bedroom, but we spend one-third of our lives in this room, so it deserves special attention. Start with the floor, window, and dusting furnishings, then dig deep and give your mattress the deep cleaning it needs.
Strip the sheets and throw them in for a wash, then take to your mattress with a vacuum cleaner to get as much dust and dead skin cells out as possible. After vacuuming, freshen your bed up with a few spritzes of essential oil like lavender to help you sleep better at night.
Clean Out the Dust
No matter how clean you are, dust buildup over the winter months is inevitable. You must dust and vacuum often, as dust bunnies carry chemicals along with them as magnets for toxins. Especially if you have a newborn, dusting and vacuuming becomes paramount, as newborns are at a much greater risk than adults for being exposed to health risks from pollutants in house dust, like exposure to allergens and toxic pathogens.
Dust your house at least once every two weeks – it helps eliminate the chemicals that house themselves in dust. Take this time during spring cleaning to dust your blinds, steam clean your carpets and curtains, as these locations gather the most dust.
Use these tips to help best inform how you tackle your spring cleaning this year. As the season of new beginnings, consider now a time to go all natural with your cleaners and take advantage of other natural remedies like exposure to outdoor air and plants to help detox your home. While you are at it, consider some practical spring DIY projects to give the inside of your house the boost it needs.
Bio: Laurie Larson is a writer on the east coast who enjoys writing on home, health, and lifestyle topics.