we have windows open all day every day all year. i have to have fresh air in the house. i open the front door when i get up in the morning - and if the dogs/cat hadn't broken in through the fly wire at the back, that would be open too! i hate heating, hate air con (though it's a necessity at the moment with the pg) - i don't use many cleaning products - vanilla essence and water after we wipe things down in the kitchen cos i love the smell, lemon juice in a lot of rooms (constant supply of lemon here - and smells good) - and there are always candles on display that give off a little scent (not a lot unless being burnt). if things are closed up lots, then the candles get burnt to freshen the house (i like fruity smells)
DH is a spray freak, but i've convinced him (kinda) since pg that one it's bad for the environment and that two, i get hayfever from everything at the moment - and i'm sick of headaches cos of his stinky fetishes!
I'd like to be able to use natural cleaners but I always start out that way and end up using chemicals. Nasty habit which I'm trying to break. Though I did successfully clean baked on grime on my stove top using just vinegar & bicarb.
I've heard a few times that vinegar and bicarb is really environmentally unfriendly because when it mixes together and does the fizz thing it's actually releasing a bucketload of CO2?
We have three cats, a dog, a toddler and a teenage brother (in my case, -in-law) so my house usually does have a bit of a musty smell to it. I blame DH for not changing the cat litter as often as he should (I'm pregnant so I won't touch it) and brother-in-law for leaving damp clothes all over the house and generally not tidying up after himself.
But we do leave the windows open almost every day of the year, even at night (the only time they're shut is when it's hot and humid outside and there's no breeze, we use the air-con), so that helps air things out a fair bit. Sunshine and fresh air go a long way towards helping a house feel clean.
We have wooden floors in the lounge/kitchen and hallway, and tiles in the laundry, bathroom and toilet, so I mop them regularly (about three or four times a week, that's how messy it gets around here) with scalding hot water and a little bit of lavender disinfectant to help combat grease and kill the germs from puppy's little accidents. I use a pretty strong toilet cleaner that really knocks the smells and stains out, but I always have a pedestal fan nearby to help dispel any fumes, same for the bathroom because I use some pretty harsh cleansers in there, too.
For the kitchen benches, just a citrus-scented Spray n Wipe, I tried using a Homebrand version once because it was cheap and it reeked so bad I would have preferred to rub rancid chicken meat all over the benches and smell that instead. It didn't smell clean at all, just awful, so I got rid of it quick-smart.
Luckily we have a vacuum that has a wet-vac function or something like that on it so DH gets in every now and then and does the rug in the lounge room and the bedroom carpets because puppy sometimes has an accident on the carpets. It also lifts all that extra dirt out but most of the time we get away with a quick normal vac (whoever invented cream carpets should have been shot!).
I'm not terribly concerned about harsh chemicals etc, I use them only when I feel it's necessary and I think the chances of anything awful happening to any of us are pretty slim (eg I'd never once heard of this 'Kawasaki Syndrome' until Jett Travolta died). I have some friends with kids who are absolute nazis about disinfecting everything in sight six times a day but I feel I'm doing DD a favour by letting her immune system get a workout - 17 months old and only one runny nose in her whole life so far, obviously the germs haven't killed her yet! That's not to say I'm going to let her lick a dirty toilet bowl or eat scraps out of the bin, but she does put some grubby stuff (shoes etc) in her mouth at times and it hasn't done her any harm...
Well, while DH has been away I've had the windows and doors open everytime I've been home to air the house out. (DD's room really needed it as she threw a tantrum which involved vomit because she didn't want to go to bed the other night). I've also noticed that I've not had to turn the a/c on as often because the windows have been open, especially in the evening.
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