Mastering the tricks of cheap chemical-free cleaning

I'm sure you've noticed that as soon as the first bright spring days set in, you realize it's time to thoroughly clean your home from top to bottom. Windows stained with drops of water or dog noses and children's hands, cobwebs which remained unnoticed in the winter gloom, things to be returned or passed on as a gift, sorting through the kitchen or bathroom, cleaning and tidying – you have the feeling you can't put it off anymore.

But how can I handle all of this?

Yes, I keep asking the same question year after year, but I always realize I can entrust some of the easier tasks to the kids and I'm not tall enough to handle others, or at least my arms aren't long enough. J I also try reminding myself every year that spring cleaning isn't just a task to take care of before Easter, but also an important part of the spring-time mental process of transformation and cleansing and that's why I feel the growing urge to sort, scrub and get rid of things.

So the big question is: what to use and how to do it?

I already wrote a few things for you about this before, but now let's take a look at the most important scented and scent-free ideas:

• Lemon

You can use real lemons (or possibly grapefruit) to make a fragrant and effective cleansing and scrubbing detergent. Cut the fruit in half and sprinkle with salt and before rubbing it over the surfaces to be cleaned!

Lemon juice is a great disinfectant and odour remover which is great for cleaning tea-stained cups, greasy dishes, pans or plastic containers and I warmly recommend it for cleaning the kitchen counter, cutting boards and wooden spoons as well. (Don't use it on delicate, easily damaged or metal surfaces!)

You can even use it to clean the inside of your microwave oven and remove unpleasant odours: add a little lemon juice to a bowl, heat and wait for the juice to start steaming. Let the lemony vapours condense on the inside of the oven and then wipe it off along with the dissolved stains after 15 minutes.

• Real, undiluted essential oils

Apart from vaporisers, you can also use them as a lovely fragrance in washing up liquids and window cleaners (for example, alcohol) or to remove unpleasant odours from the washing machine. You can even add them as a quickly evaporating scented water to wipe surfaces or use them to refresh the air of musty rooms and remove mould, whilst lavender and lemon essential oil are a great way to keep smaller pests away which have the tendency of coming into the room in the spring.

• Baking soda

A great anti-fungal, scrubbing agent for less fragile surfaces as well as the easiest and fastest way to clean brushes and combs. I usually half-fill a tall glass with water, put the comb in the water and add two teaspoons of baking soda. I usually do this in the sink because the bubbly water is sure to spill over the brim. The mixture is actually a great way to remove greasy stains from the kitchen drain, so feel free to pour it down the drain 5-10 minutes after use.

You can even prepare for the upcoming grill season by soaking the grate in some water with baking soda and scrubbing it with the white, crystalline powder.

What's your sure-fire chemical-free cleaning trick?