Cathartic Cleaning

These next couple of weeks are going to be huge cleaning, organizing and discarding weeks for me, as we prepare to (hopefully) become parents this summer (adoption of a sibling group). In addition, I am doing a thorough cleaning of the whole house, from top to bottom. According to What I Learned at Maid School, "You need to put on your coveralls and clean your house top to bottom so that you know what it is all about,"Then you can tell your housekeeper what you expect.

Housekeepers have been such a dilemma for me, seriously, do you need to use a whole roll of paper towels each time you clean?? And a whole bottle of Windex?? This is why I can't seem to stick with anyone. I want simple cleaners, white towels, and then when all is done, the whole lot goes into the washing machine, on hot! Therefore, I want all natural products (we don't want the dryer to go up in flames or anything). And I want them to smell divine!

So, I love Mrs. Meyers. I thought everyone knew about these products, but 2 times in the last week, I have gotten blank stares when I mentioned them. If you use hand soaps and lotions from Williams-Sonoma, then you are familiar with the parent company of Mrs. Meyer's - Caldrea. I tried to place them in a catalog buying group years ago, which is how I first became aware of the brand. Mrs. Meyers is an actual person, the mother of the company's founder, Monica Nassif. Watch the videos of her mom Thelma, giving motherly advice on cleaning, cooking and more!

Caldrea is the upper end line, Mrs. Meyer's is more mass market. Either way doesn't matter, as all the fragrances are wonderful. 1/4 cup of lavender cleaner in 1 gallon of warm water is what I use to wipe down my counters and appliances weekly. The smell is heavenly, and makes cleaning less of a chore. After I finish lavender, I am going to buy basil!

Here are 2 sets to start. These are so affordable, they would make great hostess gifts, etc. Personally, I love getting gifts that I will use.

Mother's Day Gift Set - $9.99, available in basil, lavender, geranium or lemon verbena
Snap Pea Spring Cleaning Set $14.99

One caveat, shipping is expensive if you only buy one set. So buy multiple sets, or buy locally. You can buy the products at many specialty grocery stores, The Container Store and Target.