Do you like cleaning? my guess is that you don't. But cleaning is one of the things almost everybody does, like it or not, and it's like a Trojan Horse that brings into your home a lot of chemicals you wouldn't really like to be around.So what do you do? you can find the answer/s on our latest book on Monday's green books series.
Our book for today is:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning, 2nd Edition
Author: Mary Findley and Linda FormichelliMary Findley is is a veteran cleaning expert and president of the Mary Moppins Company. A leading cleaning expert in the RV industry, she shares her proven tips at her well-received seminars as well as through magazine and newspaper articles and newsletters. her customers.
Linda Formichelli is the co-author of several books. She's also written for more than 120 magazines, including Family Circle, Woman's Day, Woman's World, USA Weekend, Fitness, and Psychology Today.
Publisher: Alpha Books
Published on: March 2009 (first edition was published on March 2006)
What it is about (from the publisher's website):
Become a green cleaning machine. Fully updated and revised to focus on cleaning the “green” way—naturally, with no chemicals—this guide takes readers room-by- room, teaching them how to clean thoroughly, efficiently, and in an environmentally sound way. New and expanded coverage includes info on making small changes that have a huge impact on cleaning difficult areas, green-ifying personal care products, and more.
The book provides specific cleaning hints and teaches how to clean quickly and efficiently. It uses only common ingredients, but also provides suggestions for alternatives that readers might like better
Why you should get it:
1. Some people believe that green cleaning is a time consuming activity and therefore prefer to skip it, but this book's promise is to teach you how to clean quickly, efficiently and of course in an eco-friendly manner. Could it be better?
2. Actually yes. Usually, when you use natural materials such as baking soda (the queen of green cleaning), lemon juice, vinegar and so on for cleaning, you will find that you also save money. So if you were wondering if there's an added value to these tips versus using green cleaning products (which is a good option as well), this is one of the main ones - you will save a lot of money this way.
3. Stains! This is something I find really annoying (who doesn't), and I need to deal with it on daily basis these days thanks to a cute 9-month baby. Now, this book includes Mary's A-Z stain removal guide that teaches you "not only how to remove each stain from eight different surfaces but also nifty tricks for blotting and handling large liquid spills in carpeting." I can definitely use nifty tricks and I'm sure many parents can find them useful as well.
What others say about the book (its first edition):
"I was looking forward to reading Mary Findley and Linda Formichelli's "Complete Idiot's Guide to Cleaning" in the hopes that it might provide some cleaning solutions that didn't require either serious scrubbing or harsh, toxic chemicals--things that don't go well with my tendonitis and allergies.
That, of course, is a tall order, and one that I didn't really expect the book to fulfill. However, it succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Mary Findley is a huge proponent of safe, non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning solutions using, when possible, everyday easy-to-find supplies. Of course, I figured there'd be a price for this. After all, why would people make and buy expensive, harsh, dangerous chemicals if things you could make out of vinegar, water, and a couple of other everyday ingredients could do as good a job?
That's where the real shock came in. There's one all-purpose solution Mary recommends that involves water with a bit of vinegar and all-natural dish soap that knocks my socks off. Our stovetop was in pretty sad shape and I was sure it was going to take a ton of scrubbing to get it clean. I sprayed this stuff on, let it sit, then wiped it off with a terrycloth towel. And the gunk came right off with it." H. Grove from Maryland (from the book's web page)
Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Plant a tree for every book you read!
