Closing of a Chapter

So I found out pretty quickly that being a Crunchy Mom doesn't always work out the way you plan.  Head on over to my new blog, The Crumbly Mama, so we can start this next chapter of this thing we call motherhood.  I promise it will be an interesting ride, so follow along here, at the Crumbly Mama blog

Preparing for the big move

If you haven't heard the news on the Crunchy Wife WV Facebook page, Crunchy Husband and I got the "clear to close" on our house.  So Feb 21, we will be signing all the paperwork.  Because of a post-occupancy agreement between us and the seller, we won't be moving in until Feb 27th or so, which means I have exactly 22 days to pack, unless she moves out early.

So I need some help from you guys.  Although I have moved many many many times, I want to do it more efficiently and greener this time.  What are your suggestions for making our move as green and as clean as possible?

Over 1000 Crunchy Views! Thank you!

Over the weekend, the blog hit over 1000 views!  After analyzing all the data, I can see there is a real following here on the blog.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read, and I hope that I provide some useful information for making the transformation into green living.

I hope you continue to come by to browse the blog, and hope to hear from you soon on your thoughts and ideas.  If you are new to the blog, welcome!  Thank you so much, and Green Appetit and Happy Greening!

Getting Clean and Going Green (without cleaning out your wallet): "Swiffering" and alternatives

I remember when Swiffer products first came out.  The first product my mom ever bought was the refillable  Swiffer Sweeper Mop that came with those baby wipe-like pad wet refill cloths.  Eventually, Swiffer progressed to a whole line of cleaning products, including the WetJet, Swiffer Dusters, and my college dorm room favorite, the Swiffer Carpet Flick (no longer sold, but you can still get the refills).

After the novelty of it all wore off, I remember thinking that it was ridiculous to keep spending massive amounts of money on all the refills and cleaning solutions.  It seemed like I needed at least 2 bottles of cleaning solution to get through cleaning all of my hard flooring surfaces, and that was just way too much money.  This was not including how costly the refill pads were.  I also was hooked on the Swiffer Duster because it was amazing at getting dust off my electronics and bookshelves. With two cats, I have a lot of nasty dust, but again, the refill duster cloths were a little pricey for my liking.

Luckily, other cleaning product companies began to catch on.  They made eco-friendly alternatives to Swiffer products.  In addition to switching to better alternatives, I began to figure out how to prolong the life of the Swiffer products.  So here are my "Swiffering" Alternatives for Cleaner, Greener Living.

Swiffer Dusters

• Don't use them at all.  I talked about my investment in reusable microfiber cloths in the Getting Clean and Going Green series installment regarding paper towels.  These cloths are great for dusting because the microfiber traps the dirt and dust in the cloth until you wash it out.  These cloths are the best thing ever made, and yes, they are better than cutting up an old towel.  Seriously, one of the best cleaning investments I have ever made.

If you must use the Swiffer Duster, or if you're like me and already own one and want to get the most out of it while you've still got refills:

• Use the vacuum hose to clean dust of your disposable Swiffer Duster and reuse.  While this won't necessarily make your disposable duster cloth "as good as new", it will prolong the usable lifespan of your duster.  I literally insert the duster, stick and all, into an attachment-free vaccum hose to suck out all the dirt and dust.  Just make sure you hold onto the base of the duster cloth!  Otherwise, you'll be trying to figure how to get it out of your vacuum hose.
• Wash the duster pad in a delicate bag in your washer.   Although I haven't tried this one myself, I have seen others tout this as a way to extend the life of your duster.  I could see how this would work for a couple of times and then render the refill completely useless.

Swiffer Mops/Cleaning Solution Bottles

• Refill the Swiffer Cleaner Bottle.   There are a few ways to do this.  Most of them are dangerous and not recommended.  There is a way to pry the stupid cap off, and it is similar to how I get the caps off my usually non-reusable lysol hands-free dispenser refills.  More on that, later.  This one is tricky, though.  Another way is to soften up the plastic by dunking it in very hot water.  Once the cap is more pliable, you can pull it off.  There are locking tabs on the inside of the cap.  You can either clip them off so that the bottle can now be easily unscrewed, or if you're generally a bad parent and leave things like this laying around, you should probably leave the locking tabs on to prevent junior from drinking your cleaning solution.  Or invest in and use some cabinet locks.  Just saying.  
• When you get your bottle open, refill it with your own cleaning solution.  My favorite solution for my vinyl floors is a diluted borax solution.  I use a couple of tablespoons per quart of HOT water.  I pour it into my wet mop bottle and go to town.  You can also scent this solution up if you want.  A few drops of tea tree oil or lavender is good because they have antibacterial/antiseptic properties.  I have also used a mixture of 50/50 vinegar and water mixed with about a tsp of dish soap per quart.  This is for those really grimy jobs. It will get month-old dried on marinara off of any surface. Don't judge me.  I'm busy and forget to clean under the stove sometimes.  
• Wash the Swiffer WetJet Pads (see above).  Same concept as with the duster refills, but don't see how this would be useful for very long.
• Use a microfiber towel or cleaning pad in place of the disposables. The Swiffer WetJet has velcro-like areas to which the cleaning pads stick.  Sometimes, these are sticky enough to hold a reusable mopping cloth.  If it isn't, you can go buy some heavy-duty adhesive Velcro online or from your local craft or superstore.  If you already have some binder clips laying around the house and your microfiber cloth is big enough, you can also pin the cloth up around the cleaning pad area.   

Example of how to attach a microfiber cloth on your  Swiffer or other mop with binder clips.   

• Make your own disposable wet pad refills.  This one doesn't necessarily save the environment, unless you count using an eco-friendly cleaner, but it will save some money.  If you still want the disposable feature of the clothes, place paper towels and enough of your favorite cleaning solution to wet all the towels in a reusable, seal-able container of your choice.  Make sure you use purified distilled water for diluting your cleaning solution, or you may grow some mold in there.  Also, do not use the "select-a-size" type of paper towels.  They aren't big enough to fit over the end of the cleaning pad area on your mop and lock in. An even better idea is to use a microfiber cloth dampened with cleaning solution. Here, you may run into the problem of being able to get it to stay on with the locking tabs on your mop.  If this is the case, use the binder clip tip shown above.  

• Buy a fully reusable version of the Swiffer dust or wet mop.    I like the O'Cedar Pro Mist Dry or Wet Cleaning System I have owned it for a year or so now and LOVE it.  I also bought some extra  microfiber replacement pads so that I can keep cleaning instead of stopping to rinse out my pad after a particularly dirty spot on the floor.  You just toss the pads into the wash when you're done, and they come out super clean, especially with my homemade laundry detergent.  I recommend using hot water to help disinfect them and get them a little cleaner.  I also own the  Microfiber Flip Mop Damp/Dry All-Surface Mop.  It is great to pick up what the vacuum cleaner left behind on my kitchen and bathroom floors.  Sometimes I use it alone, or I spray a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar on the areas I am cleaning to use it as a wet mop.  When one side of the mop cloth is dirty, I can just flip it over and use the other side.  Just like the ProMist, I can toss the pad in the washer when I'm done.  

My O'Cedar Flip Mop and Pro Mist Dry or Wet Cleaning System.  Love them!

So far, those are my tips for maximizing or replacing your Swiffer products.  Nothing against Swiffer, but I'd rather "start saving, start greening" instead of "stop cleaning, start Swiffering" any day.  

Getting Clean and Going Green: Salt, not just a seasoning

With all the buzz on natural cleaning products, I thought I would share one that I haven't really discussed so far, but has been getting a lot of attention from fellow home economists and green cleaning ladies.

Salt, or sodium chloride, is not just something delicious to sprinkle on your food, but it can also be a great cleaning product.  

Part of this is due to salt's neutral pH in water.  When added to water, salt breaks up into sodium and chloride ions.  Water is naturally in balance with it's acid (H3O+) and base (OH-) forms.  That's what gives water a neutral pH.  Salt, likewise, can combine with water to give the base, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and the acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl).  Having both acid and base properties gives the salt water the ability to dissolve all kinds of substances by using its polarity, and we'll cover that later.

Another reason salt is great as a cleaning product, is that it is quite abrasive when used by itself or as a paste.  It also is able to absorb water to dry out things.  A great example of this is when you get clumps in your salt shaker because water from the air is being absorbed by the salt.  This is why some people add rice to their salt shakers to keep clumps from forming.  Rice is better at water absorption than salt.   

So, without further ado, I give you my Top 10 Reasons Salt is a Great Natural Cleaning Product 

(1)  Mix with vinegar to clean stinky hands.  This tip is great if you are like my husband and I.  We love to eat onions and garlic in almost every meal.  Great for our health and our immune systems.  Not so great for fresh-smelling hands.  To get rid of the tell-tale stench of sulfurous veggies, sprinkle some salt in one hand and drizzle some vinegar on top of it.  Rub hands well with salt and vinegar mixture; then rinse with warm water.  Some people say this works so well that they have used a spray version of this mixture to get rid of the smell when their animals get skunked.  

(2)  Put on spills in the oven to prevent smoking and make clean-up easier.  I don't know how many times I have set off a smoke alarm because something leaked in the oven and is burning.  If I had learned this tip several years ago, I would have save us a lot of running around frantically trying to air out our apartment before the whole building's alarms went off.  I also really wish my apartment neighbors would learn this one.  It also works if you're baking something and the juices start to smoke.  Just don't get it on the item you're actually cooking.  Nothing quite like over-salted chicken.

(3)  Use as a "soft scrub" to scour off grime.  I use a mixture of salt and baking soda all the time to clean my solid glass cook top.  I usually just make a paste out of it with a wet sponge, but for tough grime, I spray on a 50/50 mix of vinegar that I use as a general purpose cleaner.  You can also use the salt alone.  This works especially well on stainless steel sinks and certain types of counter tops.  If you have granite, baking soda and salt will work, but don't use the vinegar because anything you use on natural stone should be pH-balanced.  You can also mix salt and baking soda together with dish soap to make a true homemade "soft scrub".  I hear this works well on tubs, although I haven't had any soap scum nasty enough to try this one out, yet.

(4)  Removing laundry stains.  Salt is pretty good at removing blood and grease stains from clothing.  This has to do with that polarity (positive and negative charge) of salt that I was talking out.  The salt essentially attracts the stain and pulls it out of the fabric.  Another use for your laundry....

(5) Use as a laundry additive/fabric softener.  Although I haven't tried this one myself yet, it makes sense, given number 4.  Some people add about 1/2 cup or more of salt to the wash to help get rid of stains and to soften the fibers in their clothes.  Although true homemade crystal fabric softener is made from Epsom salt, which is actually a magnesium sulfate salt, the same acid/base rules apply to this compound as table salt.  Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4)  breaks up into Mg+2 and SO4-2 and binds with water in a similar fashion as sodium chloride.  Based on this property, assume it is this acid/base action that acts as a water and fabric softener and helps removes stains.

(6)  Use to get rid of ants.  Back when Crunchy Husband and I lived in a first floor one bedroom apartment, we had a terrible time getting rid of bugs from the previous tenant.  At the time, we were poor and couldn't afford to call out pest control, and my DIY natural conscious wouldn't let me bomb the place with toxic chemicals.  The biggest problems we had were with ants and fleas (see number 7 for the flea issue).  Ants don't like to cross salt, and being creatures of habit, they tend to follow a pheromone trail left by the ants before them.  To keep them from coming into the house, I sprinkled salt around all of the possible entrances.  This included our doors and windows, as well as around the pipes under the sinks, and along any areas that weren't caulked around the countertops, baseboards, etc.  After I got them to stop coming in, I found a really great natural lemongrass bug killer and finally got the ant problem under control.  

(7) Kill fleas in your carpets and furniture.  Along with the ants from number 6, the previous tenant of our old apartment had gifted us with a nasty flea infestation.  Not to mention, the apartment being on the first floor with tons of air leaks around doors and windows didn't help the bug problem.  Once I treated the cats, I was at wits end trying to get the fleas to stop biting us until we could kill them off once and for all.  After tons of research, I found I could get rid of them with not only vacuuming every day, but sprinkling salt over all of your carpets, rugs, couches, and other fabrics that can't be washed and are near the ground.  The dehydration property of salt works to kill the fleas.  I also used salt in a mixture with borax to kill the little bastards.  The borax punctures holes in their exoskeleton, killing them but also making it easier to dehydrate them until there's not a drop of life left in the little life-suckers.  It also punctures and dries out the eggs, so there's no little baby ants repopulating after all your hard cleaning work.  Along these same lines, salt can help you get rid of a slug problem on your flowers or vegetables, although it's kind of cruel, and extremely disgusting.  

(8)  Freshen your sponges.    While I don't use sponges very often anymore (I found dish rags last longer and are easier to clean), I still use this tip from time to time.  Sponges tend to get pretty funky pretty darn fast, so to keep them fresher longer, sprinkle them with salt.  It kills off bacteria lurking within and deodorizes.  Again, a mixture of salt and vinegar and/or baking soda doubles your deodorizing, funk-killing power.  If you have a really funky sponge, throw it in the dishwasher with a load of dishes to sanitize it and keep it around a little longer.

(9)  Keep your kitchen sink and drains clean and clog-free.  Along with number 8, I like to wipe my sink down with a salty sponge.  The abrasive power of the salt helps get rid of stains, and in turn helps keep the sponge fresh.  Also, as salt is good for getting rid of grease stains in clothes, it also can help cut that grease in your garage disposal and drain that can cause a pretty disgusting clog.  Just pour some salt in your sink and wash it down with some hot water.  The salt helps pick up the grease and the hot water carries it away.

(10) Kill mildew.  If you have some mildewy funk growing in the corner of your shower, you can kill it with a paste made out of salt and either vinegar or lemon juice.  The salt can kill the mold, and the abrasive power of salt and the acid action of the lemon juice or vinegar can help slough it away. The acid of the lemon juice or vinegar can also help whiten back up your tile or grout.  Just be careful with leaving it on too long or it can eat away at certain glazes that are on your fiberglass tub. 

So that pretty much sums up why I think salt is another great green cleaning agent.  Do you know any more uses for salt that you would like to share?  If so, please share them in the comments! 

The Crunchy Couple Buys a House, Part 2: The Process

For a little bit of background on how our household operates, I'll tell you that I handle most of the house/money stuff, while we call Crunchy Husband the "bread-winner" because he works more hours than I do, even though we're about halfsies on income.  I am usually the one who makes sure the bills are paid, does all the paperwork for property taxes and DMV-related issues, and does all the negotiating and paperwork on purchasing vehicles and houses, but CH is always there to sign away his rights.  As an added bonus, he is kind enough to do our state and federal taxes every year.  God bless Crunchy Husband. That is the best part of this whole marriage thing.  Someone else does my taxes, and I don't have to pay them.  I cannot stress how much I hate taxes.  Who doesn't?  Except a crack-head crazy CPA?

Anyway, the best responsibility CH has is to fix things that I have broken.

Like when I ran over a deer that the person in front of me killed and ended up with a rib in my tire.  Needless to say, it deflated almost immediately, and I was stranded on the side of the highway because neither myself or my brother-in-law had the upper body strength (or jumping-up-and-down-on-the-four-way strength)  to break loose the nuts on the tire bolts.  CH ended up having to drive from work with is impact gun to help us.  The next morning, I woke up, and CH had already gone to the tire shop and gotten my tire replaced and was in the process of putting it on my car.

Then, there was that time I forgot to check for steel wall studs in our apartment before I tried to install curtain rods and found out that not only can you not drill a screw in them, but they aren't spaced the same distance from the window, and I really should have used a stud-finder instead of drilling about 19 different holes between the 9 holes that I actually needed for the 3 curtain rods.  Okay, so he didn't help me that time, but CH had a good time making fun of me and telling me I should have asked him to at least borrow his stud-finder.

TL;DR:  Unless I need him to fix something I've broken, I don't have too much help on this whole buying a house thing, and it's a little overwhelming.

For anyone who has bought a home, you know the immense amount of paperwork that involves.  It seems as though there is always something else the bank needs you to provide, another artifact that the underwriter forgot to mention the last time.  For those of us who haven't ever completed the process before, it can be confusing, and to say the least, aggravating.

Part of me wonders why they don't just tell you from the beginning every single document they may or may not need from the get-go.  Just so that you can get it all together at once and provide it, and there are no more questions asked.  Then, the process is as smooth as possible.  I have found, this is certainly not the case.

So how did I do it all so far?  I will tell you.

(1)  I sat down and figured out our debt-to-income ratio (DTI).  I actually do this every month in an Excel worksheet, to keep track of our progress on paying down our debt, and where we need to cut back.  I took all of our loan and credit card payments (even those nasty student loans that will be coming due soon), and added them up and got a number for our debt every month.  Then, I took this number and divided by what we make monthly before taxes.  (Debt/income=%DTI)

(2) Once I figured out the DTI, I figured out what house payment (monthly mortgage, property tax, and homeowners insurance) we could make and be within conventional, FHA, and VA loan limits.  These limits include the maximum percentage DTI your housing payment can be (%A) and then the maximum percentage DTI both your housing payment and all other debt can be (%B).   The limits are expressed as (%A)/(%B).  For conventional loans, it is 28/36, for FHA, it is 31/43, and for VA it is 41/41.

For example:  CH and I make a combined income before taxes of about $70,000.  This is a monthly income of approximately $5800 (it's $5833, but for simplicity's sake, let's round down).  For our DTI to be within conventional loan limits, we would have to have a housing payment less than 28% of our income every month, which would be $1624.  Then, our total debt, including a house payment, would have to be less than $2088.

(3)  Once I found houses within our price range, I went to the bank and got us pre-qualified.  That was the easiest part, but also nerve-wracking.  I am definitely one of those people that flips out every time I have to wait on a loan approval decision (usually, for no reason). It required a lot of paperwork.  Bank statements, W-2s, 1040s, pay stubs, and essentially a lot of forms that have federal identifying numbers.

(4)  We made offers on houses we liked, one at a time.  The purchase contract was a fair amount of paperwork as well.  First, we made an offer on a home that was a foreclosure.  Unfortunately, our offer was about to be accepted when someone swooped in and offered $30,000 more than us in CASH.  You can't beat that.  No inspections required, no loan paperwork   Offer rejected, and no trying to play ball.  You can't compete with a cash offer like that.  The second house we made an offer on, we negotiated back and forth with the seller on.  In the end, his asking price was way too high for the area because he had relocated and was upside down on the house.  He wouldn't come down the extra $5000 to accept what the house would probably appraise for.  Essentially, he wanted to make enough money to cover his fees so he wouldn't be more in the hole, not offering, that letting it sit on the market for another year was going to cost him even more money.  Offer withdrawn.  Although it hurt to walk away from a house we really liked, I was not willing to go through this whole process to be denied because the loan-to-value ratio was too high.  I may be a naive first time home-buyer, but I'm not an idiot.  I've been through this process before.  The third house, and the one we are actively pursuing, the offer was accepted after we negotiated with the seller.  We are getting the house for $39,000 less than what the house was originally listed at several months ago, but only about $4,000 less than what it is currently listed at. So far, so good.  We're happy, and the seller is happy that we accepted her counter-offer.

Also a side complaint, our bank had to provide several prequalification letters because we needed a new one every time we made an offer on a house that was a different amount.  This was frustrating that we couldn't just get a general prequalification letter without an amount listed.  Then, we could have kept in mind the top limit of our prequalification, and could negotiate until a final offer was accepted, and then provide a specific pre-qualification letter with the amount of the offer listed.  Two letters instead of 10.

(5)  Once the contract was accepted, we filled out the actual loan application.  It was a mountain of paperwork like you couldn't imagine.  Let's put it this way.  When the bank mailed us a copy of all of the documents, it was so large that the mailman could not fit into the mail box.  Because there are two of us, we got two copies.  Two huge envelopes packed 'til near explosion with papers.  I didn't even know they made envelopes that big.  I think they would have saved money if they had just mailed them both in a flat-rate box.  I'm sure the mail carrier loved us that day.

(6)  Good news!  Appraisal ordered, fees paid.

(7)  We waited, and waited, and waited.  In the meantime, ordered a personal home inspection.  Worth the $350.  Some things needed fixed, some of which, we're sure the appraiser is going to mention.  Wrote a letter requesting repairs from the seller.

(8)  The underwriter wanted more paperwork.  More forms with federal numbers.

(9)  We chose a closing attorney, and decided to get both the bank title insurance (required) and owner's insurance (optional, but recommended).  Saved a bunch by shopping for our own lawyer, and probably ended up with the same lawyer that the bank would have chosen anyway.  Read a bunch of horror stories online about all the things that can go wrong if you don't get owner's title insurance.  It cost $200-300 and is worth every penny because it covers any lawyer/court fees associated with your title for the entire length of your buying process AND ownership of the home.  Why spend all that money to buy a home only to find out nothing is truly legal?

(10) We waited, and waited, and waited.  

(11)  More good news!  Seller agreed to repairs, and the appraiser somehow magically made the trip out to inspect way before the bank's estimate of his timeline.  Good news, but hoping he didn't mark down things that the seller will be in the process of fixing.  Or anything out of the blue that we weren't expecting.

(12)  Waiting on the appraiser's report, and waiting, and waiting.

(13)  Then, we'll have to wait on the underwriter's review.  I'm sure there will be more waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

TL;DR:  In essence, it is a lot of anxious waiting.  As long as everything is good with the appraisal, and the underwriter is satisfied, we are estimated to close in early to mid February.  I am hopeful, but not going to go overboard with expecting everything to go through with no problems.  For example, we will need to buy a washer and dryer.  Although they are currently on sale and go off sale at the end of the month, I don't want to take a chance on not being to close and have no where to put them.  I could take a chance on buying them and returning them if things didn't work out, but where would I store them in the mean time?

Our deadline for closing is at the beginning of March, so we still have some time, even if things slow down a bit.  We're fortunate enough to not have been still waiting on the appraiser to actually show up to the house to inspect it.  From what I understand, it could have been 30 days from the date of order, and instead it was about 5 days.  We are currently about 2 weeks from the date on which we actually completed the full-length loan application.  Looking back, it seemed like a lot longer with all the paperwork, bank visits, and phone calls, but it looks like we'll have a pretty quick closing if everything continues to go smoothly.  Of course, that could be because we have been in the middle of this house-buying process with all three of the homes since early November.  Maybe this time, we will end up with our first home.  Wish us luck!

Have you ever bought a house?  How was the process?  Did it go pretty well or was it a nightmare?  Share your story!

Getting Clean and Going Green: Not-so-Crunchy cleaning

So, as you can tell by reading this blog,  I am a huge advocate of natural, non-toxic cleaning products.  In fact, my "Getting Clean and Going Clean (without cleaning out your wallet)" series is going to take off again in the Spring with the advent of spring cleaning.  But, I have to say, although 98% of the time, I use all natural cleaning products.  The other 2% of the time... well, I have to say that I cheat a little.

My insanity is not without reason, and I'll tell you why.

Before I get started, a few definitions.  A cleaner is used to wipe away surface grime, like food splatters and dust.  It visibly cleans the area.  A disinfectant is used to kill harmful things on the surface you are cleaning, such as viruses, mold, and bacteria.  A sanitizer goes a step above a disinfectant and must have an efficacy of killing at least 99.9999% of tested offenders.

Vinegar is an awesome household cleaner and disinfecant and doubles as a delicious dressing ingredient.  Vinegar will make spotless almost any surface, although its acidity may not be safe for all surfaces.  The best part?  It is non-toxic.  Although I don't recommend breathing in acetic acid fumes as it could possibly cause some damage, getting a whiff of it isn't going to kill your lungs.

Chlorine bleach, on the other hand, is not only a cleaner and disinfectant, but it can also be a sanitizer at higher concentrations than what is normally recommended for cleaning (3/4 to 1 cup in a gallon of hot water).  However, it is also known as a horribly toxic chemical.  You should wear gloves when you use it to prevent it from soaking into your skin and allowing its highly basic activity to essentially make your skin lipids into soap.    Always use it in a well-ventilated area.  Never mix it with any other household chemical.  Never ingest it.  Don't use it around your children or pets.  I'm not even going to touch on what it can do to the eco-system.  You get the idea...

I am not going to touch on hydrogen peroxide, because from a scientific standpoint, the 3% solution you can buy at the grocery store, is not as effective at killing all bacteria, viruses, and molds than stronger solutions that are not usually available to consumers.  Although 3% hydrogen peroxide is touted as the amazing bleach-replacement, I haven't done enough of my own research to be able to vouch for it, and therefore won't be discussing it in this post.

Environmental scientists say bleach might not be as bad for the environment as we once thought.  As long as it is used correctly.  Due to the incredible chemical instability and reactivity of bleach, it actually degrades quickly enough when used according to manufacturer directions, it has very little impact on the environment.  Way less than driving a car or leaving your lights in your house on for hours at a time. Who knew?  Environmentalists have been urging us to go bleach-free for years!  However, this is not to say, that its toxicity isn't potent enough that you should use caution when actually using it.

Both of these cleaners and disinfectants, vinegar and bleach, can disinfect.  However, the spectrum of bacteria and viruses vinegar kills is quite narrow compared to chlorine bleach.  Although vinegar can kill 99% of bacteria.  It can only kill around 80-85% of molds and viruses.  Bad news if you need to disinfect your bathroom or if you somehow ended up with black mold growing in that dank corner in the basement.  Bleach, unfortunately, is one of the few things we have that will kill almost everything.  In fact, in the science world, we say it is the ONLY known substance that will kill everything.  And by everything, we mean 99.9999%.  Although, to our knowledge it probably kills 100% of the things we've tested it against, there is always something in that 0.0001% that will evolve to survive even the harshest conditions.

This is why I use bleach to disinfect my toilets and my refrigerator/freezers.  Any other time, I would use vinegar, or an eco-safe homemade cleaner to clean and disinfect my surfaces.  However, I'm not just worried about bacteria in my fridge or in my bathroom.  Where there is moisture, you can usually find its buddy, mold.  Where food lingers, there is almost always bacteria, mold, and even viruses.  Where there is  unsavory human activities, there will almost always be bacteria, mold, and viruses.  Especially, where there are schoolchildren, there are all kinds of nasty bugs.  Especially if someone in your household is actually presenting with virus symptoms.  My point is, it is not just bacteria that we have to worry about, and vinegar may not always clean as well as we want it to.  Therefore, total disinfection is absolutely necessary in these areas, especially if your family chooses not to participate in vaccination.  (The vaccination issue is an entirely separate issue that I may not cover ever, or for a very long time, as it is an extremely touchy and personal subject).

Exposure to some bacteria, viruses, and mold, can be beneficial for health.  It can promote immunity.  It can evolve us to overcome disease and allergies.  However, some types of exposure are extremely risky, and can result in your entire family becoming extreme ill or can even cause death.

The point of this post is that being a Crunchy Wife in every way is not 100% possible.  I will have my faults in cleaning, cooking, family care, finances, and activities, that are not agreeable to most environmentalists.  If you live in a modern environment, it is very difficult to go above and beyond eco-friendly standards every second of your life.  However, as a scientist, I see both sides of the issue.  To my knowledge there is not another natural product on this earth that can kill everything that bleach can and is safe for most of your surfaces (besides fire, and even that is debatable). If used correctly, bleach is actually not that bad for the environment.  Using non-phosphate-free dish or laundry soap probably has a bigger environmental impact. So, if you choose to use bleach, and I recommend that you do in these specific areas, please use it sparingly.  Please follow the safety and manufacturer directions.  This is one Crunchy Wife that won't judge you.

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So, I have my own ideas for how to get clean while going green.  What steps have you taken to reduce the environmental impact of your cleaning activities?  Are there "non-environmentally-friendly" cleaners you still use?  If so, what are they, and why won't you give them up?  Let me know in the comments!  Happy green cleaning!