As I’m sure all people do, my cleaning skills and theories have evolved over time. When I graduated from college, I was the last one to move out of our rental house. You know what that means, right? Yep, I had lots of odds and ends to move out – all the things that my roommates forgot! With that came a large number of cleaning solutions: 409, Windex, Fantastik, etc.
I used to know how long those lasted me. I’ve forgotten now, but it’s in the years range, not months.
When Dan and I moved into our first house, I began looking for ways to be more frugal and discovered homemade cleaning solutions. I found that vinegar and baking soda can clean just about anything, and they’re cheap!
The other perk is that they were chemical free. If my friend’s kids ate it, they would be just fine. No calls to poison control. No emergency room visits. I cook with these ingredients! I was still using these ingredients to clean when my kids were born. The fact that they were edible was as huge relief for me as a new mom.
Fast-forward two years, I have a 2 year old and a newborn, and I just can’t keep my house clean. I was drowning in motherhood alone, forget the housework. I can’t even tell you how long I went between cleanings for the bathroom. The whole house felt so dirty, and I was overwhelmed thinking about cleaning it. It felt like it all needed to be cleaned, all the time. I knew I could never clean all of it at once so I would procrastinate, which never solved the problem.
I had a friend in college who sold Norwex, and I was never interested. I don’t typically like network marketing products (Is that the PC term? I can never remember it!). Well, I was drowning enough summer of 2015, that I decided to give it a try. I bought my first Enviro cloth and window cloth, and I was changed.
Folks, as a skeptical, not-invested-financially, actual-user of Norwex products, I can attest that they truly do work.
The day I got my cloth I cleaned all the interior windows in my house, the face of ALL my kitchen cabinets, the stainless steel appliances, and the exterior windows on the front of my house all in one nap time. I was a crazy, cleaning machine. It was so easy, and it cleaned so well.
The best part of these cloths: they only use water. In fact, the cloths cannot be used with soap. It will ruin the cloth.
Wait, I didn’t tell you the best part yet. The other best part? They keep appliances, toilets, sinks, floors, etc. clean longer! How, you may ask? There’s no soap scum to attract more dirt. The surface is clean. Free of anything. Amazing.
These cloths revolutionized my ability to clean my house. Now I’m not a clean fanatic. Our floors are dirty, and I don’t always get to the bathrooms each week. I’m a real person too. I swear. Here’s the deal, I don’t have to try as hard to get my house clean or to keep it clean.
Today, I want to show you how it cleans glass and, for my sake, I threw in a comparison with my microfiber cloths I purchased from Costco years ago.
Norwex cloths are expensive and require some maintenance. They have to be rinsed and dried thoroughly after use to be free of bacteria, and they have to be washed a certain way to maintain their ability to clean.
The other microfiber cloths have not been cared for with such care (maybe I should have??). So I was curious if they would perform as well on clear glass using only water.
The item I chose was the clear glass pendants in my kitchen. To get a good comparison, I made sure to not clean them for 6 months (a year?). Ha, just kidding. I just don’t clean these very often, and my kitchen is well used. They were very dusty and greasy and have been so for a long time.
You may not think they look too dirty but just keep reading. You will see the difference. They were caked with greasy dust all over but especially where the globe bulges out.
My Norwex cleaning cloths: an Enviro cloth to pick up all the dust, dirt, and grime and a window cloth to dry, polish, and shine.
I decided to clean the right pendant with the Norwex cloths. First, I got the Enviro cloth wet with hot water and wiped all the dust off the pendant, inside and out. I should have taken the bulb out as it was tricky to clean the globe around it. I honestly didn’t think of this until right now as I’m typing this. Doh!
Then I wiped the globe dry with the window cloth. Look at that shine! Now can you see the dust??
For the other pendant, I used two cloths I bought in a microfiber multi-pack from Costco several years ago. The green one is a looser weave that I used like the Enviro cloth to pick up the dirt and grease, and the tan one is a smooth weave that I used to polish and shine like the Window cloth.
I used the same method with these microfiber cloths. I got the green one wet with hot water and carefully wiped the globe clean inside and out, then I dried and polished with the tan cloth. Again, why didn’t I think to take the bulb out???
Voila!
The right pendant is cleaned with Norwex microfiber cloths, and the left pendant is cleaned with generic microfiber cloths. Can you tell a difference?
You might not be able to in these pictures (and truly the difference is small!), so I’ll share!
- The Norwex Enviro picked up dirt much easier than the generic microfiber. It was fast to clean the right pendant because the Norwex Enviro actually picked up the dirt. On the left pendant, I spent a longer time “chasing” dirt around. I did eventually get the dirt off, but it did take longer.
- Although both are WAY cleaner, in person the globe on the left has a slight haze to it. I think this is because the microfiber I used didn’t pick up the dirt well enough.
For me the Norwex is still the winner, but I shared this comparison to suggest something to you, my dear readers:
You don’t have to use chemicals to clean. Try using just water.
This is not a sales pitch for Norwex, though I do love it, but rather to get you thinking about how you clean your house. I’ve found using just water to be more effective, less work, and require less frequent cleaning.
We are trained to think that chemicals must be used to clean our homes. We think we need to disinfect everything, but we don’t. Killing all the germs around us actually makes us more susceptible to getting sick. Your immune system needs a challenge every now and then!
Cleaning my home is one of many areas I am more thoughtful and intentional in how I do it. I want to minimize my family’s exposure to chemicals, and yet, I want an effective cleaning regime that minimized my time and effort. Norwex cloths have done just that. Cleaning the glass in my house is just the beginning.
So even if you don’t have or don’t want to buy Norwex, pick up a microfiber cloth and try cleaning with one wet cloth and wipe it dry with another. Just use water. Leave the chemicals and soap for another day. Try it on your windows! Give it a whirl on your stainless steel appliances! You will be amazed!
Just for kicks and giggles, take a look at this picture. The two pendants are clean and the one above the sink has not been done yet. Yikes! (I did clean that one right after I took this picture. The contrast was so great, I just had to share!)
What have you learned about cleaning over the years? Did you change your strategy or methods once kids arrived? Did they rock your cleaning schedule like they did mine??
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