Whether you are always looking for ways to be kinder to the environment, like to use eco-friendly, natural products and avoid your exposure to chemicals, or are keen to cut costs, it’s a good idea to think about using green cleaning items in your home.

Handily, while you can buy good options from the shops these days, many of the ingredients you’ll need to make your own natural cleaners are probably already sitting in your pantry, anyhow. To help you get a sparkling kitchen, bathroom and other areas ASAP, read on for some top tips for cleaning your home naturally.

Baking Soda

One of the best natural cleaning products you’ll find is baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate). An odor absorber and therefore natural deodorizer, baking soda is also slightly abrasive, which makes it a good choice for scouring. It works best on grease, proteins, animal messes and the like.

Use it by sprinkling it onto the area you want to clean and then scrub with a damp cloth. When you need some more cleaning power for harder-to-move stains, combine baking soda with vinegar for an effervescent effect. You can also add water to baking soda to create a cleaning paste.

There is a wide variety of things you can clean with baking soda (and other ingredients as required). For example, use it to clean stove burner grates, ovens, garage floors and other concrete areas, scuffed walls, stained cups and mugs, grills and barbecue utensils, garden tools, upholstered furniture and more.

Vinegar

Distilled white vinegar is an acidic wonder that works effectively on alkaline substances. It will help to dissolve scale, tarnish, and mineral deposits; cut soap scum and wax buildup; inhibit mold, mildew and some bacteria; and get rid of stains such as those caused by rust, coffee, tea and so on.

Use it in water as a natural cleaning tool, adding in a drop or two of essential oil to diffuse the vinegar odor if you’re not a fan. If there’s heavy buildup, it pays to soak a cloth in vinegar and lay it over the affected area for an hour or so to let it really soak in. After that time, start scrubbing.

Take advantage of the power of vinegar to clean and disinfect your dishwasher, drains, floors, steam iron, and showerheads, and use it to get things like glassware, coffeemakers, moldy walls, and windows squeaky clean.

Lemon

Lemon is a wonderful natural cleaner not just because it gives your home a lovely fresh scent and is pleasant to work with, but because it also happens to make a very effective cleaner, especially when it is combined with one of the other products mentioned above or below. The acid in lemon juice helps to remove a wide variety of dirt, stains, deposits, scum and other build-up.

You can cut lemons in half and use the wedges in cleaning, or use lemon juice in sprays and other mixes. Sometimes you’ll need to let the lemon sit on an area for up to half an hour or so to really work its magic, but other times it will be effective ASAP.

When you need to do some garbage disposal cleaning, lemon comes in handy as it’s a natural deodorizer. Grind up the peels in your disposal unit, along with some running water, to refresh things in a hurry. Lemon can also be used for soap scum in kitchens and bathrooms, hard-water deposits on glassware, countertops (though avoid using it on marble and other delicate stone as it can sometimes cause discoloration), cupboards, appliances, food stains, rust, cutting boards, faucets, grout, dishes, and even laundry.

Salt

Salt is another great natural cleaning tool that many people don’t realize they could be utilizing more. A real powerhouse because of its abrasive nature, salt is perfectly suited to scouring, whether you use it by itself, with lemon (a combination great for cleaning copper), or as a paste with vinegar. You can use table salt, kosher salt or sea salt, but table salt is obviously the most wallet-friendly option.

Use salt in your home to scrub away grime on stove grates and oven racks, and to get rid of hard-water stains on glassware. It’s also great for cleaning greasy pots and pans, stained cups and mugs, wooden tables and countertops, and artificial flowers.

Utilize some of the natural cleaning items listed here and you will soon have a home that is sparkling clean, smelling fresh, and free from nasty germs. You don’t have to put yourself, your family, your pets, the environment or even your budget at risk to do so, either.

Are you considering selling your home sometime this year? Or perhaps you just want to get your property looking its best, for your own pride or for a particular event, such as a home wedding? Either way, it’s a good idea to regularly take steps to ensure the curb appeal of your home is as strong as possible.

There are many steps you can take to ensure the outside of your property looks just as neat and tidy as the inside. Read on for some cost effective and simple ways you can improve the curb appeal for your home today.

Mow the Lawns and Tidy the Gardens Regularly

First up, you will immediately boost the look of your property by taking care of your lawn and doing some gardening to tidy up the outdoor areas. Overgrown lawns, long weeds, unkempt garden beds and the like give a yard a messy, neglected feel and can be the first thing people notice when they arrive at your property.

To ensure visitors or potential buyers get the right impression, focus on completing regular yard work. Getting a lush, green lawn is a good start. Lawn mowing needs to be done often, particularly during rainy seasons. If you hate this job or simply don’t have the time for it, keep in mind that you can hire someone to do the task for you. Check out these Houston lawn mowing services as an example.

Keep your lawn looking its best by also fertilizing it at least a couple of times per year, and water it as often as it needs it (if grass is curling up or turning a different color this is often indicative that more moisture is required). Aerate the lawn annually too, so that water, sun and air get down to the roots and the soil and help keep the lawn healthy and strong. Also rake up fallen leaves so they don’t end up turning into a suffocating mat once they get wet.

As for your gardens, keep everything trimmed back and especially away from fences and paths. Remove anything which has died, do some weeding as needed, and relocate shrubs or trees which have become too large for their current position. If, however, you have the opposite problem and your yard is looking rather bare, it’s time to add some color and greenery by way of new plants. Choose drought-resistant, easy-to-care-for plants and place mulch around them so you don’t need to worry about too much upkeep.

Repair or Replace Hardware

Hardware items out the front of your home generally need some maintenance and care over time, too. For a comprehensive property exterior facelift, look at the outside of your house with fresh eyes and see what needs painting, repairing or replacing. Paint can peel, things can rust and break, and if they haven’t been updated for many years, older fixtures and fittings can also really date your property.

Check out a variety of hardware on the exterior of your house to see what needs work. This list includes your front door, mail box, windows, roof, garage, door frames, decking, weatherboard, street number, window boxes and the like.

Install Good Lighting

Lighting is another important element when it comes to curb appeal. Keep in mind that you could have buyers or other visitors coming to your home after dark, so you want things to be well lit up, so no one loses their way, trips, or hurt themselves. Good outdoor lighting also does a great job of making a property feel more inviting and homely.

When choosing lights, consider purchasing solar products, as these will be much more economical over time. They also of course are kinder to the environment. While you may find some DIY installation options, often these types of goods have to be properly put in by a qualified, licensed electrician to be safe and up to code.

Fix Up Driveways and Fences

Lastly, if your property is like many others, it’s possible that at the moment your driveway has cracks or other flaws in it, and/or the fences are falling down or otherwise in a state of disrepair. You may consider a faux stone veneer to fix these area up and give them an updated look. Curb appeal will not be complete until you fix these elements.

Get a driveway specialist in to repair or re-lay concrete or other “dressings” on your driveway, and fix falling down fences or those which need to get a fresh coat of paint. If you don’t currently have any fencing out the front of your yard, consider installing one. This will add style, give you privacy, and make your property more appealing if buyers are coming to look at it and need to find a home with secure boundaries to keep children and/or pets safe.