Cleaning my home with my children has always been my number one priority. When they were babies this looked like using cleaning supplies that would be safe while they were in a baby carrier on me. As they were toddlers, it meant they could clean with me, and I wasn't worried about what they were touching. As they get older it means having materials I'm confident they can use safely by themselves.
But knowing that this is what I wanted and executing it were two different things. In this week's episode, I'm sharing all the things I've tried and what worked, what didn't work, and what we are doing now that has been the right fit for us.
I tried many things over the years. The first was to walk through the cleaning aisle at the store to find the products we needed. But due to overwhelm (the number of options, not knowing which products were actually safe, and calculating the expense of it all), I always walked out of there with nothing. This also meant that for years, the actual cleaning in our home was minimal because I was so worried about picking the wrong thing.
My friend Hannah (we were neighbors in grad student housing - true friendship is formed in not ideal living conditions) created a course called Simple Green Cleaning (not available right now) that taught me how to clean the majority of my house with a few basic ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap. I thoroughly enjoyed feeling confident cleaning my house and mixing up what I needed when I needed it. But when I started teaching my kids how to do it, they were so inspired by the process that they created their own cleaning supplies by mixing soaps, shampoo, conditioner, and lotions, and it made a pretty big mess. This didn't quite work with my purpose of cleaning with my kids.
A few years ago, we decided to try Force of Nature, which is completely safe for skin, disinfects, and can be used on all surfaces. It has been a game-changer. We have ONE cleaning product we use on EVERYTHING.
It makes it simple to teach our children how to use it (plus they LOVE the process of making it and never complain when I ask them to clean) and I never have to worry about what they are breathing in or is touching their skin.
While I haven't done a petri dish test to confirm how well it disinfects surfaces, but it cleans well enough to remove all smells and clean surfaces, so that is good for me! When it comes to my main priority of cleaning with my kids, this one checks all of the boxes.
If you want to try Force of Nature yourself, you can get a discount with this link:
Force of Nature
Get 40% off bundles in April with code: PLANET40
Get 60% off Cleaning and Laundry Duo Bundles with PLANET60
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How to Design Your Homeschool Space [Episode 257]
Making 1% Better Changes instead of setting big goals | Atomic Habits [Episode 256]
What to Do When You Feel Stuck [Episode 255]
The Three Levels of Overwhelm in Motherhood [Episode 254]
What to do when you survived your goal but are miserable along the way [Episode 253]
How I Involve Kids in Cleaning Our Home [Episode 252]
How to Use Your Word For The Year [Episode 251]
How to Use Your Planner in Different Seasons of Motherhood [Episode 250]
Why You Don't Need to Feel Pressure to Complete Your Goals [Episode 249]
The Evolution and Joy of Rest and Read Time [Episode 248]
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The Power of Baby Steps with Soaring Mothers Society Members [Episode 246]
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Bored, Busy but not Fulfilled, or Bummed by not Making Progress - What to do About It [Episode 244]
The Big Picture Of What It Actually Takes to Have a Home That Supports You [Episode 243]
What to Do When You Feel Like You Aren't Making Progress [Episode 242]
Building My Second Brain [Episode 241]
My 12 Favorite Books I Read In 2022 [Episode 240]
Lessons and Questions from Mothering with Chronic Pain [Episode 239]
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