Review: Getting it right the green way
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2013
Thanks to Martha Green, whose name fits the concept, for helping all of us rid those testy problems without the use of potentially hazardous products. She opens this very helpful book with the following intro: `Your bedrooms and bathrooms are two of the places in your home where you spend a huge percentage of your time. Whether it's getting a good night's sleep, getting cleaned up for work or getting ready for an outing, these two rooms get used a great deal by you and your family members. Because of their high volume of usage, it is necessary to clean them on a regular basis so germs and bacteria can be kept under control, leaving them smelling fresh and clean.'  And once Martha has established her baseline she sets out to inform us that the most popular current cleaning solutions are full of toxins and unhealthy chemicals. And that is why she has so carefully prepared this informed book - Go Green and be cleaner than ever the natural 9and less expensive!) way.She lists the household products - disinfectants, chlorine bleach, ammonia, antibacterials (they contain triclosan - irritants and carcinogens). Toss those and instead welcome in club soda, castile soap, and borax for starters.  Martha then goes through room by room as to how to approach cleaning the Green way (pardon the pun, Martha!). She offers recipes for making green solutions (all purpose cleaner polishing recipe, vinegar and oil cleaner) and then informs us how to use them on furniture, mattresses (get out the baking soda), linens (borax and dishwashing liquid +/- lemon juice for whitening, and a terrific use of a combination of lavender essential oil vodka and filtered water used to spray on the sheets to freshen them.Throughout the book she shares with us the way to clean windows and mirrors, wood floors (wood and ceramic), and sinks, tubs, and showers (toilets are cleaned with a mixture of vinegar and baking soda instead of those VERY costly foaming noxious products that don't last long at all).This indispensible book is full of recipes to help the reader arrive at the Pure Green stage of cleanliness. And it is all presented in such a professional and warm way that you feel like it is your best friend giving you up to date advice.  Highly recommended for every household. Grady Harp, October 13