DIY Natural Spring Cleaning Ideas

Spring is here, which means the birds have returned, the flowers have bloomed, and your season of chilly indoor stir-craziness is finally over. If you’re like most of us, spring also brings with it an urge to air out your home, purge clutter, and wipe down every surface. This spring cleaning bug can be healthy and helpful, unless of course you do it with chemical-filled products. You don’t have to pollute the air (and the people) inside your home to get a thorough spring cleaning. Keep reading for some tips and learn about a few natural cleaning products to help you tidy your space, naturally.

Freshen Your Mattresses

Your mattress puts up with your sweat, dead skin cells, and a whole lot of grossness. Freshen it up every spring (or every season) to improve the air quality of your bedroom and protect the investment of your mattress. Give your sleeping surfaces a thorough spring cleaning using this recipe! Mix up some baking soda with some essential oils, sprinkle and vacuum away.

Try lavender essential oil by Wyndmere Essential Oils to clean your mattress and add a soothing, natural fragrance.

Remove Winter Carpet Stains

Salt, mud, and party spills are typical leftovers from a successful winter season. After all, you played hard and hosted well. However, you don’t need to save these memories in your carpet – surely you took some pictures. To get rid of carpet stains, mix 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp dish soap in a small bowl with 2 cups of warm water. Sprinkle the stain with baking soda, wait 10 minutes, and sponge the mixture onto stain. Don’t scrub this mixture in, but rather blot the stain until it’s gone!

Looking for a natural dish soap that smells amazing? Mrs. Meyers Clean Day has you covered with all-natural dish soap and a host of other fantastic products.

Easy All Purpose Cleaner Recipe

As you move through your home, you’ll want to wipe down dusty and neglected surfaces to remove grease, dust, and whatever sticky stuff you encounter. You don’t have to spend a fortune, or compromise your health for a hard-working, all-purpose cleaner. This recipe from Wellness Mama is a favorite of ours and uses the power of castile soap, borax, washing soda, and essential oils.

Our absolute favorite castile soap is by Dr Bronner’s Magic Soaps. This versatile, natural product has endless uses across the home, so we always have a bottle on hand!

Get Sparkling Windows, Naturally

If you’re using a spray bottle of something blue and some paper towels to wash your windows, odds are you’re leaving too many streaks and chemicals behind. Swap those tools for natural cloths (prefold cloth diapers work great) and a spray bottle mixed with warm water and vinegar in equal parts. Simply spray down your windows with your vinegar mixture and clean from right to left, top to bottom.

Sparkling Shower Doors, Naturally

If you have glass shower doors, then you know how hard they can be to keep clean. Believe it or not, the best time to clean your shower is when you’re in the shower. After you finish cleaning up yourself, spray your shower doors with a mixture of dish soap and warm vinegar. Allow the mixture to sit for a few, while you towel dry your hair, and then wipe down with a damp cloth or magic sponge. Repeat the rinse process several times to remove the cleaner and enjoy your sparkling clean shower doors!

You can keep your DIY homemade spring cleaning liquids in empty mason jars or coconut oil jars for safety, or use a plastic spray bottle from your local lawn care center.

What are your go-to natural spring cleaning methods? Tell us all about it in the comments section below!

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Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash

Best Spring Flowers to Beautify Your Garden

Spring is upon us, which means soon we will all be flocking to our local garden center to add a little color to our patios, decks and gardens. At any given store or greenhouse, there are hundreds of flower to choose from, but not every plant will be right for the spot you have in mind. Before you go out and drop some dollars you need to do your homework and have a good understanding of what your needs and growing conditions are.

Jot down the answers to the following questions:

●      What is your growing zone?

●      Are you selecting plants for shady or sunny spots?

●      Do you want to invest in plants that will come back every year with proper care or do you want a splash of color now?

●      Consider sketching out an idea or blueprint of what you’ll want your garden to look like when mature. This will help you invest wisely to reach your desired results.

Knowing what you want can save you a lot of time, sweat and money over time, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Keep reading to learn more about the best spring flowers to meet your gardening and landscaping needs and dreams.

Spring Flowers: Annuals Vs. Perennials

There are two main types of flowers; annuals and perennials. Annuals only last for one growing season so you’ll need to refill that spot every spring. Perennials, on the other hand, return year after year with the proper care.

Easy to Grow Annuals

Snapdragons, pansies, violas, and dianthus are all easy to find and easy to care for spring annuals. They’ll add color to garden beds and container gardens and will thrive until temps truly warm up.

Easy to Grow Perennials

Daisies, clematis, and irises are all popular spring perennials that will bring color to your growing spaces year after year. Of course, each plant comes with it’s own set of rules and zone regulations, so do your research before selecting your perfect match.

Bulbs

Some of the most popular spring flowers are bulbs like tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth. These flowers pop up every spring in neighborhoods across the globe, signalling the official end of winter. You may be thinking, you’d like a bit of this spring color in your yard this year. Here’s the problem: you have to plant bulbs in the fall to reap their spring benefits. If you know you want them next spring, add them to your fall calendar now so you won’t forget.

Shade Vs. Sun

A Few Sunny Spring Flowers

The sunnier spots in your yard can be considered prime real-estate for vibrant, colorful blossoms. Peonies, ameria, and geraniums are all relatively easy to grow, full-sun flowers  which come back year after year to add color and whimsy to your garden.

A Few Shady Spring Flowers

No two yards or gardens are the same and while some spots in your yard offer hours of daily sun, others are shadier and closer to your home or treeline. Primrose, bleeding heart, and creeping phlox are all shade plants which may do well in garden beds which offer only part sun. When well cared for, these flowers will bloom all spring and potentially into the summer. 

What are your favorite spring flowers to plant or care for each year? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

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3 Best Plant-Based Multivitamins

No matter how bright the rainbow of fruits and veggies you blend into your diet, most of us are low in certain key vitamins and nutrients. One of the best ways to fill in these nutritional gaps is by taking a quality multivitamin each day. Many of the multivitamins available on the market today are synthetic, meaning that the nutrients contained within the pill or capsule are made artificially, or industrially. On the other hand, some individuals prefer to take only natural, or plant-based multivitamins which are made from whole-food, plant-based sources.

If you prefer natural, plant-based multivitamins, keep reading to learn more about some of the best options on the market!

Plant-Based & Synthetic: What’s the Difference?

Debate is ongoing as to whether it’s better to take plant-based or synthetic supplements and multivitamins. On one side of this argument there are those that believe that the body has an easier time using and absorbing nutrients that are derived from all-natural sources. The other side argues that synthetic multivitamins are able to deliver targeted nutrition not found in nature.

At the end of the day it all comes down to bioavailability, whatever supplement you take must be easy for your body to use and absorb. To ensure your supplement is doing its job, read the labels of your supplements and multivitamins to ensure that they are helping you meet your nutritional goals.

3 Best Plant-Based Multivitamins

When it comes to multivitamins and supplements, quality counts. Whether you take a natural or synthetic product, look for a company that has clear labeling, transparent sourcing, and is highly reviewed. Here are 3 of our favorite plant-based multivitamins.

Super-Earth Iron-Free by BlueBonnet

Super Earth Multinutrient Formula (Iron-Free) from Bluebonnet is a gluten-free, whole-food based multivitamin and multimineral. This supplement is enriched with super whole food concentrates, and plant source nutrients, as well as herbs, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes. This unique, kosher-certified, whole food based multivitamin provides health-supporting phytonutrients from green foods like spirulina, chlorella and chlorophyll, fruits like pomegranate, citrus, papaya and pineapple, vegetables like tomatoes as well as popular herbs like astragalus, ginseng, ginger, garlic and ginkgo.

Raw Vitamins For Her & Him by Sunwarrior

Sunwarrior is a small, growing health food company committed to harnessing powerful plant-based nutrition to boost health and vitality. Their Raw Vitamins for Her and Raw Vitamins for Him line delivers targeted, vegan nutrition designed meet the unique needs of both the male and female body. The nutrients in Raw Vitamins are entirely made from organic plant sources which deliver the vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes you need to live your best life.

Alive! Max by Nature’s Way

Alive! Max Multivitamin by Nature’s Way is a powerful nutritional energy source containing a diverse array of essential nutrients, whole food concentrates, phytonutrients and antioxidants designed to nourish, protect and invigorate your body. These multivitamins are the whole food energizer, made with daily essentials, botanical energizers and system defenders. Each supplement contains 25 vitamins and minerals, 10 amino acids, 12 digestive enzymes, 14 green foods, 12 organically grown mushrooms, and more than 40 antioxidants. Alive! multivitamins are designed to support bone health, daily energy, eye health, digestive health and more.

Do you rely on a plant-based multivitamin to fill in the nutritional gaps in your diet? Tell us about your favorite supplement in the comments section below!

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