One smiley face equals faster drying time and less energy use. Plus, they’re really cute.  

Hand-felted, artisan-crafted, wool dryer balls might not sound exciting, but once you see your energy savings you’ll be wearing a grin as wide as the one on the left. A wool dryer ball works the same as a dryer sheet, in principle. It separates the clothes and promotes the circulation of warm, dry air. The main difference is that these are chemical and odor free. They’ll also shorten your drying time by up to 20-25% and give your laundry a nice fluff.

Balls are sold as a set of 4 for $34.95. From Greenfeet.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Easy tips to simplify spring cleaning.

As of March 2oth, the season has officially changed – spring has sprung. I love the promise of sunshine and knowing summer is just around the corner, but I hate spring cleaning. Hate it. Here’s a guide to minimize the drudgery with efficient and effective spring cleaning tips.

1. Fresh air is Mother Nature’s reward for surviving winter. Turn off your heat and open your windows and doors. Let the crisp breath of spring rejuvenate your space.

2. Clean screens and swap filters. Window screens and screen doors can be cleaned with water and a soft-bristle brush. Gently scrub, then rinse screens (do this in a garden or landscaped area so the water can hydrate thirsty spring bulbs). Replace and/or clean filters throughout your home (vacuum, furnace, vent, etc.). Purchase washable filters when possible.

3. Embrace the light. Wash windows (inside and out) and light fixtures. Dust light bulbs to amplify light sources.

4. Air out rugs and carpets. Simply let your rugs soak in the delight of the outdoors for a handful of hours to naturally sanitize them with the heat of the sun (place rugs in a shaded area to prevent sun damage). Clean your floors before bringing the rugs back inside.

5. Respect the power of water. Plain, simple water can be used to clean most surfaces in the home. Only kitchens and bathrooms demand stronger agents.

6. Go through your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer. Compost (or responsibly dispose of) expired food. Wipe surfaces with a gentle solution (two tablespoons of baking soda for one quart of warm water).

7. Deep clean. Go through everything drawer by drawer and closet by closet this month. If you don’t love it, need it, use it, wear it, or miss it – get rid of it. Donate household items and clothing to local charities and thrift stores.

Now relax with some fresh cut blooms and bask in the anticipation of summer.

Image: Pia Ulin

I can’t believe it’s not toxic! You may not be giving yourself cancer as you scrub shower tile mold with your planet-friendly eco cleaning gel, but you are finding it frustratingly difficult to wipe away the problem – damn you chemicals that irritate my eyes and skin but actually work! Now we aren’t saying that there aren’t other green cleaning products that get the job done (because there are a variety to choose from), but we’ve all had those frustrating experiences too.

Now Scandinavian import Eco Clean makes green cleaning a satisfying experience.

Created by Danish scientist Jens Erik Hansen who is known for developing products with a low eco-toxicological profile, the line uses a natural amino acid derivative to do the dirty work. Eco Clean’s product range includes All Purpose Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, Dish Wash Soap, Glass Cleaner, Kitchen Counter Top Cleaner and Hand Wash, all containing the special formula that helps improve cleaning power, while cutting down skin irritation.

Instead of harsh chemical surfactants, the Eco Clean line uses plant and sugar-based surfactants, specifically sugar beets. And instead of allergy-triggering synthetic fragrances, the products get the fabulous scents of orange, rosemary, spicy lavender and cool mint thanks to essential oils.

What’s more, the line is made in a SWAN certified factory, a Nordic eco label that only responsible manufacturers who prove ingredient integrity and purity get to boast. The PET bottles are also recyclable.

To try the line for yourself you can buy Eco Clean products at Duane Reade or Alice.com for the surprising low price of only $4.49 each.

Summer sunshine and gorgeous weather make for the ideal conditions to get moving – whether hiking, running, biking with your family or simply taking your dog for a walk. But working out in the heat, always comes with a side of sweat, and all too often sweat-stained clothing make laundry a tricky task. How do you get rid of those embarrassing and icky yellow pits without reaching for chemical bleach or another harsh formula?

You can stick it to sweat stains with an easy DIY removal solution. In a spray bottle mix one cup of water with one cup of ammonia. Spray directly onto yellowed areas or dip an old rag into the formula and dab it onto the stains. Let the solution do its sweat-removing magic for 10 minutes.

Then wash your soon-to-be-white-again workout whites as usual. When you take them out of the washer you’ll love how clean they finally look and you can put them back on and start sweating all over again.

Image: ceiling

If you’re creeped out by the loads of chemicals lurking in traditional cleaning products, one of the purest and safest ways to keep your home spotless is by mixing up cleaning solutions yourself. And if you think you’ll need to turn your kitchen into some sort of DIY eco-friendly cleaning lab, you’ve got it all wrong. Distilled white vinegar can do wonders all on its own or with a little water – and the lack of stink will surprise you. Here are seven easy ways to clean with vinegar.

All-Purpose Cleaner: Mix equal parts water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle. It’ll work on tile, countertops, glass and chrome.

Windows: Put 1/4 cup of white vinegar in a spray bottle and fill the rest up with water. Use the solution to wash your windows with reusable towels, or if you have old newspapers, they’ll help you achieve streak-free results.

Garbage Disposal: Make a tray of ice cubes from distilled white vinegar. Once frozen, run them down the disposal followed by cold water.

Fabric Softener: The addition of 1/4 to 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar to the rinse cycle of your washing machine will help dissolve detergent residue and leave your clothes soft and static-free. While this trick is great for heavy and absorbent fabrics like towels, cloth diapers and jeans, don’t use it for linen and other delicate fabrics.

Grills: Spray distilled white vinegar on crumpled up aluminum foil (try to reuse clean foil used for cooking if you can). Use the foil to scrub the grill grates vigorously.

Coffee Maker: Stains and oils go hand-in-hand with our morning brew and if you let the gunk build up in your coffee maker, it can make fresh coffee taste stale. Luckily, cleaning is super easy. Fill the coffee maker’s reservoir with six cups cold water and one cup white distilled vinegar. Skip the filter and turn the coffee maker on, allowing it to run through a full cycle. Empty the pot and refill the reservoir with water. Run the cycle again to flush away the vinegar. This project can smell and if you’re not satisfied with one rinse cycle, feel free to run water through it again before you make a pot of coffee.

Wood Floor: Plagued by streaky wood floors? Add 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar to your water pail for rinsing and take care to keep your mop as dry as possible by ringing it out frequently.

Image: mollypop

If you have a furry pets, keeping wood floors clean can be a serious challenge. When I first got my French bulldog, Leo, I wrongfully assumed his short hair meant minimal shedding. As it turns out, he sheds – a lot. My black knit slippers are now forever covered in white dog hair and there are always dog fur dust bunnies accumulating in the corners.

And so, I confess, I’ve become a Swiffer addict. Since I toss two Swiffer pads every time I de-fur my apartment I know this is an eco sin, but if you’re an animal lover you can’t deny the ease of the dusting mop! That’s why I went on a mission to green my pet hair cleaning addiction and Etsy came to the rescue. Plenty of artisans have created washable, reusable Swiffer covers that work well on pet hair and don’t have to go in the garbage after one use.

Blackbird Studio’s Reusable Swiffer Mop Pads

In fun, colorful fabrics, these sweeper covers are made from chenille to make sure pet hair clings on and feature Velcro strips to stick it to your Swiffer.

Ham and Eggs’ Handmade Eco-Friendly Crochet Swiffer Cover

The designers behind Ham and Eggs have two cats, a dog and hardwood floors so they know the pet hair battle first hand. The rows of yarn in this crocheted cover help trap pet hair in between. Once you’re done cleaning, they’re machine washable.

Craftinator’s Reusable Duster Cover

Typically a fleece scarf designer, Craftinator made use of her scraps by creating duster and sweeper covers. The machine washable fleece material is great for picking up dog and cat hair.

Dog gone it, not again! My gluttonous pug – not satisfied with a veggie burger chew toy - has gone bin diving in my compost bucket and recycling bags. These receptacles for reusable waste are placed securely under the sink and not so securely beside the other trash cans in the kitchen. What a mess it makes on the kitchen floor as I catch him in the dirty deed, flattened face buried in the bag, chewing hardened flakes off a cereal box or licking up the yolk residue and eggshells now pasted to my hardwood floor.

I can visualize the sequel now: Smokey and Me. Now that Marley has been put to sleep, we focus on the next heartwarming saga of a well meaning conservationist and her beloved, mischievous family pet.

No matter how much I try pug-proofing my compost containers, the wrinkly chunk always finds the loopholes and manages to get his flat snout in the waste whenever we ease up on our security – a naughty act that begs answers to the following queries:

1. Is the pug an eating machine akin to the great white shark, propelling robotically through his milieu, jaws opening wide and devouring anything and everything in site – from Bounce sheets to cardboard to whatever foul things are carelessly discarded on the street or Polo Fields at Golden Gate Park?

2. Does the dog think of me as terribly wasteful and shameful for getting rid of perfectly good gristle, chicken skin, pork fat, egg shells, coffee grounds, biodegradable clam shell containers and rotting fruit? Does he eat it to teach me a valuable lesson about sustainability?

3. Am I simply dysfunctional in the temporary storage of  disposables?

“Be compassionate with yourself,” my therapist reminds me when I get frustrated about someone removing the rubber bands we connect to the cabinet knobs to proof them. Who would do such a thing? Was it the kids, neighbors, the cleaning lady?

Fine, I’ll ease up on myself and seek counseling for the dog, who might be undergoing some sort of eco-stress from all the talk about eliminating waste around the house. “I’ll eliminate it for you, you guys, if only you will stop trying to lock me out of the goods.”

I wonder what other green dog owners do that we aren’t doing. I would happily take pointers. Do you keep all your household recycle and compost containers outside of the house in a hidden spot, so they can be dumped in the bins collected on trash days? Do you maintain counter buckets that tenacious animals cannot reach? Do time outs? Take away treats. Tell me. I want to know!

Maybe I should resort to threatening no dessert or taking away the privilege of peeing in the doctor’s carport across the street. In the meantime, I’m trying to talk some sense into Smokey, hoping that those scoldings make an impression.

How does it make you feel when your family is doing its part to reduce and reuse, and you go and tip over the containers and cause a lot of angst? Look at the cat. She doesn’t behave like that. She also poops neatly in a box and never begged for food at the table until you came along and corrupted her.

He seems to think I’m speaking in a foreign language, like how some disbelievers glare at us when we talk about climate change and plastic poisons. He cocks his little head and seems to be saying, “When you can get the girls to pick up their wet towels off the floor and un-glue their Power Bars from the car seats, I will resist burrowing in your trash. Otherwise, talk to the paw!”

Guess I’ll have to rely on the blessings of the skinned knee. One day he will suffer a bad case of  diarrhea and projectile vomiting from consuming something nasty and disturbing my waste. He will learn from the pain of his mistakes and only eat kibble at meal time and be a more obedient pug-child. And if he won’t, there is always college.

Images:Mavis, Wickenden, Luanne Bradley

When The Eco Luxe Life sent me SKOY Cloth as part of my quarterly packet of goodies, I was initially skeptical. Really? A paper towel that’s meant to be reused? Is that sanitary? Or perhaps slightly insane?

But then I tested it out and discovered that for most cleaning needs, it works just as well as – if not better than – a regular paper towel. It’s sturdy enough for repeated use and it came out squeaky clean when I ran it through the dishwasher – not a trace of dirt or residue! But if you don’t have a dishwasher (or choose not to use it), you can also throw it in the clothes washer or microwave it for 1-2 minutes while damp.

I use my SKOY Cloth for cleaning up light messes around my apartment, since the company’s website discourages using it with chlorine (I assume other harsh cleaning products are a no-go). Seeing how it’s reduced my paper towel usage also inspired me to add a few old t-shirts to my rotation as rags so I can reduce my paper towel consumption even further. Unfortunately, my old t-shirts aren’t quite as absorbent.

According to the SKOY Cloth website, Europeans have been using a similar product for years. In fact, SKOY draws its name from Skoj, which is a Swedish word meaning “just for fun.” That attitude shines through in the whimsical colors and patterns of their product, too.

Since paper towels account for 3,000 tons of landfill waste every single day, it would have an incredible environmental impact if more of us reduced our dependence on disposable paper products.

We all know that baking soda can be used to clean everything from your counter tops to your teeth. But did you know that there are plenty of other eco-friendly cleaners that you can whip up with a few common kitchen ingredients? Here are five of our favorites.

1. Vodka laundry freshener

   The smarties over at Webecoist say a spritz or two of vodka on your clothes will freshen them up between washes. They swear that the booze scent evaporates quickly, along with the noxious odors you’re trying to kill. This isn’t technically a “recipe” since you’re not combining any ingredients with the vodka, but it’s too clever an idea to pass up. And, no, we don’t recommend mixing orange juice into your vodka-filled spray bottle.

2. Creamy soft scrubber

   Sure, those goopy white creamy cleansers do a great job of removing gunk from sinks and showers, but we can do without the fumes and chemicals. Care2 has a terrific idea for making a similar cleanser that won’t leave you gasping for air every time you use it. Put about 1/2 a cup of baking soda in a bowl, then add a little liquid detergent until the mixture resembles cake frosting. Scrub to your heart’s content without unleashing a cadre of chemicals into your home.

3. Glass cleaner

   To make your widows and mirrors sparkle, try the approach recommended by Green Homes. Add two tablespoons of white vinegar to a gallon of water, put some in a spray bottle and go nuts. If the smell of vinegar bothers you or evokes memories of that bad egg-dyeing session you’re trying to forget, use club soda or lemon juice instead.

4. Drain cleaner

   Oh, this one is fun! Eco-Friendly Cleaning says forget the caustic drain cleaner from the hardware store, grab a box of baking soda, a cup of vinegar, lemon juice and a gallon of hot water instead. Call the kids in to watch while you create your own little homemade volcano. First pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain and follow it up with the vinegar, then about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Let it foam and fizz for a while, then rinse the drain with the bucket of hot water.

5. Furniture polish

   Lighter Footstep nails down a great homemade recipe for making your wood furniture glow. Fill a spray bottle with a cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Your furniture (and lungs) will thank you for not rubbing chemical-laden spray all over the place. As an added bonus, if all that house cleaning leaves you famished, spritz a plate of pasta with your new furniture polish, toss in a handful of basil, and there’s lunch!

Image by alancleaver_2000

I never thought I would spend so much time worrying about what I clean my floor with until I had to deal with housebreaking a puppy. The guilty fur ball left puddles of pee everywhere. Not only did the amount of necessary floor cleaning increase by about 1,000 percent, but also with a dog constantly licking the floor and eating the rug, I had extra reason to find a highly functional, non-toxic, eco-friendly solution. If only the stubborn pup would’ve stuck to his wee-wee pad! Here are my top three cleaners for tackling pet accidents.

Clean + Green Dog Urine Odor and Stain Remover

Clean + Green’s line couldn’t be easier to use. They have an array of products designed for every scenario from Furniture Refresher for Cats to Concrete Grout Cleaner for Dogs. And while a lot of stain removers require a long soaking and rinsing ritual, the Carpet Upholstery formula needs no attention – just spray it and leave it. The same goes for the Wood and Tile solution, however I always wipe my wood floors dry anyway.

ECOS Earth Friendly Products Pet Stain Odor Remover

If you have something to clean and need an eco-friendly solution, chances are ECOS has the product you need. Their Pet Stain Odor Remover works on any kind of surface your furry friend decides to mark as his territory, from upholstery to wood floors. You’ll need to let the cleaner sit on fabric spills for five minutes and you can let it soak for up to two weeks if you have really tough odors hanging on.

Simply Neutral All-Purpose Cleaner

While this green cleaner (made with only three ingredients) isn’t specifically for pets, it’s my top choice for a fresh scent. While the other two formulas do the job, this all-purpose cleaner leaves behind a lovely citrus scent, which makes me forget about the stink that got me down on my hands and knees in the first place! The formula also has tea tree essential oil inside, which has natural antibacterial and anti-fungal effects.

Image: Tonystl