Not Cleaver, Clever! I decide to make a new alter ego for when the decor and cleaning personality comes out: June Clever!

I have amassed so many ideas, tips and help for around the house I am filling a notebook with it! So I thought I would pass along the most helpful of them with some sort of down-home retro housewife spin!

First off: floors. I love that mine are tile (all the better for lying on when it’s too hot outside to even fry eggs), but man they are a @*^#%*! to scrub clean. I scoured (get it?) all sorts of books, magazines and websites trying to find the simplest and most effective (i.e. most laze-friendly) way to clean them. I stumbled upon the cleanest and greenest way: the magical mix of lemons, baking soda and vinegar!!!

All you need is your trusty box of baking soda (I know you keep a box in the back of your fridge for smells right? Right?), some vinegar, fresh-squeezed lemon juice or a halved lemon, a sturdy scrub brush and some hot water.  If you happen to have a gardening cushion for your knees, it makes it a bit easier to clean for longer periods of time.

See that baking soda blurriness? That’s what we in the biz call an ‘action shot.’

Start by sprinkling some baking soda over a small area. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew, so start small. I like to start with just a square of tile and sprinkle along the grout.

Then pour a small amount of vinegar (not science project amount) and lemon juice, just enough to make a paste.

Then scruuuuuub, and put some elbow grease into it!

It’s really fulfilling to see the dirty black grout turn almost instantly back to white-grey after just a few scrubs. Very encouraging. Rinse the dirties with the hot water.

The only thing is, remember to let it dry, then wipe it down with a damp, not soaking, paper towel to get the leftover baking soda.

Music helps a lot with something like this. I like to put on my super-fast on the go playlist, which has Flight of the Bumblebee type speediness. It keeps your heart rate up and instills a sense of urgency so you don’t get side-tracked. Try it, you’ll see!

Have you ever attempted to scrub your floors Cinderella-style? What worked best?