Top Tips For Finding Your Eco-Friendly Mojo

Breaking news! It was reported early this week that the sun had been spotted! It was there for just one tantalising minute before disappearing again behind the grey gloom.

Remember the sun? The warmth on your face; the brightness of a cloudless sky; a golden glow that brings a smile to the faces of everyone it touches. I joke, but you can see people starting to sniff the air like hedgehogs emerging from hibernation. Spring is definitely on its way and I forone am starting to feel energised with the change of season.

Throw open the windows!

I love this time of year. The mornings are lighter (no more need for headlights on the way to work) and the evenings are getting slightly longer. There’s a promise of what spring never fails to deliver – that freshness, the newness of nature as it shakes off winter, and an overall vibrancy that invigorates us all. It makes you want to throw open the windows and let fresh air into your house.

What happened to my house??

And then with the onset of spring comes the ironic illumination of winter for all to see. Daylight equals highlight and when I say highlight, I mean a megawatt spotlight on the effects of winter on my house.

As we welcome sunlight into the house it has an uncanny knack of showing up all the spots and streaks that winter so cleverly hid from us. Walking round my house at the weekend, these were some of the thoughts running through my head:

• Has anyone else noticed the streaks on the windows?
• Surely that spot on the carpet hasn’t always been there!
• Those little spills in the fridge surely can’t be left over from seasonal festivities can they?
• What happened to my house over winter??

Ok; it’s not as bad as all that, but spring does make you want to spruce everything up and refresh our homes after the dimly lit months of winter.

Spring into a new regime

It’s not just our homes that we want to refresh at this time of year – for me, I find that my skincare regime also needs a lift. Those richer moisturisers that we use to protect our skin with during winter months can happily be replaced with a lighter product in spring.

I notice as well that as I spend more time outside in the fresh air, my skin looks revitalised and I can replenish my make up with bright pops of colour for lips and cheeks and move away from the autumn/winter colours of plums and browns.

And so too with our homes. Spring gives us the opportunity to replenish our cleaning supplies and make better choices about what we use. Now is the time to oust those harsh chemical products and start the new season with a cleaning range that benefits the environment and lets you clean with conscience. That’s entirely the basis for Clean Living products: gentle, eco-friendly products that reflect what spring means to us.

Spritz and store

So, as we banish the boots in favour of feeling the grass between our toes, and throw off the winter duvets for a lighter option, why not give them a refreshing spritz before packing them away? Clean Living products are gentle enough to spray on your fur-lined boots or your winter jackets and scarves. I use our products on my winter bedding, footwear and scarves because they smell so fresh, it’s like a little reminder of spring when they come out of storage. And who doesn’t like a reminder of spring?

Start the season with a healthy home

We’re back to those streaky windows and sneaky carpet spots. Don’t worry! I have four brilliant solutions that not only spruce up your house for spring, but also create a healthy environment for you and your family. This is spring cleaning for a better environment.

Let me introduce you to Clean Living’s Home Range: four products that will give your home a thorough top-to-toe spring clean:

1. Glass Cleaner

This is the product for you if you want your glass and glossy surfaces (those most at risk from the sunshine spotlight) left streak free and shiny. It dissolves grease quickly and lifts dirt so you don’t need to spend ages scrubbing and buffing.

• Dry Carpet Cleaner

I have found myself using this a lot lately to remove muddy marks brought in by winter boots. It’s super-effective at removing dirt from carpet fibres and is graded as wool safe, but if you do find a more stubborn stain, you can always pre-treat it with Clean Living Biological Odour and Spot Remover for a spotless finish.

• Biological Multi-Purpose Cleaner

This is my go-to product for so many areas of my house. It’s gentle but powerful enough to clean your fridge with (and rid it of those festive spills) without the use of any chemicals. It’s also great as a spritz and buff to refresh the entire house.

• Biological Spot and Odour Remover

For me this is our best multi-use product! I use this on all of my carpets, rugs and upholstery. It’s brilliant for refreshing your winter woollies before storing them over winter (remember those fur-lined boots?). Another tip is to spritz your mattress, pillows and winter duvet with it before you switch to lighter bedding. The enzymes in our formulations will eat away at any odorous bacteria can sit in your bedding, usually from sweat or oils that transfer onto it as we sleep. Gross but true.