Kitchen Cleaning

Happy New Year! It has been bananas around here for the past few weeks. I’ve just wrapped up a top-secret project. I wish I could tell you more about it, but alas, I’ve promised to keep quiet. Instead, I have a handful of recipes to share with you.

One of my favorite things to do after finishing a project is to give the kitchen a deep clean. It’s an important part of the creative process I learned from my mother-in-law, Marla. You might think there are only practical reasons for reorganizing your workspace, but what I’ve come to love most about scrubbing kitchen counters and sharpening knives is the absolute clarity it brings to my mind. It’s almost as if I need to clean the physical space around me in order to file away the many thoughts racing through my head. By the end of all that scrubbing and meditating, I’ve made room for new ideas about future projects.

I like to use natural cleaning products that are free of harsh chemicals. To save some money, I make them at home. Here are simple recipes for the products we use both on a daily basis and during the occasional deep clean:

Glass – great for glass windows on oven doors and also for mirrors

1 cup water

½ cup white vinegar

20 drops tea tree essential oil

All-Purpose – for countertops, dish racks, and pretty much everything else

1 cup water

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons isopropyl alcohol

1 tablespoon cornstarch

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Linen – a lovely smelling spray for aprons, kitchen towels, bedsheets, and closets

1 ounce water

1 ounce vodka

20 drops lavender essential oil

Wood – to both clean and nourish wood dining tables and other wood furniture

½ cup white vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

10 drops grapefruit essential oil

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Tile Scrub –for tile backsplashes, grout around the sink, and even floors

1 cup baking soda

¼ cup liquid soap

2 tablespoons water