Hello! I'm Marie Savage, co-founder of independent household cleaning product manufacturer, Humblestuff. Now that it's Spring, it's a good time to think about spring cleaning.
Spring cleaning has deep cultural significance in many parts of the world. For example, the Chinese new year takes place later than the Western new year and closer to the start of Spring. The Chinese sweep floors and clean everywhere to rid their homes of any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year.
Nowruz, is the Iranian spring cleaning ritual which translates to 'shaking the house' where all members of the family get involved in washing everything. Yes, I did say all members of the family!
Nowadays, it's easy to forget our industrial past, when Spring offered better light and slightly longer days to see the soot and dirt that had gathered over the winter from coal fires and smog. Homes would be cleaned from top to bottom with traditional ingredients like white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and lemons.
Since then, household cleaning has become big business and according to the British Cleaning Council, contributes around £24m to the economy. That's a lot of cleaning.
At Humblestuff, we believe that the traditional ingredients still work best not only for cleaning, but for the environment too. There is no magic cure for cleaning, but it can be made less harmful by reducing your exposure to synthetic chemicals and fragrances. Whatever product you choose, it's you, the end user that is really doing the hard work.
Do I have any words of wisdom or top tips? Yes, just do it!
