Citrus All-Purpose Cleaner

When I lived in Italy, I had an extremely strange fascination with the smell of a particular dishwashing solution. I secretly relished in the smell every day and always offered to do the cleaning up after dinner, if only to be able to openly whiff the scent.

In this light, it's no surprise that I love a clean house, and one that smells good.

Since moving into our apartment, we've made it our mission to take good care of the butcher block and countertops, making our home as much of a calming space as possible. What this translates to is constant surface wipedowns, making our big weekly clean the opposite of a big deal. It also means that if I'm touching cleaning products more frequently, I'd rather it be something that I feel comfortable being around my body as on it.

Many mainstream all-purpose cleaners wade into dangerous territory with the addition of antibacterial agents that have even the FDA up in arms. Whether you're as much of a clean freak or not, it's likely that you spend some time with a towel in one hand and some type of all-purpose cleaner in the other. 

Below is my recipe for a  fresh-scented all natural all-purpose cleaner that you can whip up in five minutes flat, and use to keep your bathroom, kitchen and tables clean. White vinegar is an unbelievably effective and non-toxic all-purpose solution, and when combined with essential oils, lemon and distilled water, won't make your home smell like a salad. Use freely on wood, porcelain and glass surfaces, but steer clear when treating marble or granite as they're more porous in nature.

Citrus All-Purpose Cleaner

3 parts distilled water

1 part organic distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

7-10 drops lemon essential oil

3-5 drops sweet orange essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a glass bottle with a spray top. Shake before use as ingredients may separate, spray surface and wipe down with a warm cloth.

Activated Charcoal

Moving to a new city has it's perks, but it also means inheriting a new set of very old pipes.

No matter where you live, there's a good chance that your water is a bit contaminated. In general, water treatment plants work to combat any local water pollutants, but do so by adding disinfectants like chlorine and similar chemicals. While most of our days are spent drinking filtered office water, I started to search for how to make our home tap water a more palatable experience too.

Water contamination has it's own risks, at varying levels and exposures, and every town is required to mail the local annual water quality report to its citizens. If you're looking to nerd out on what's hanging out in your most privileged resource, the Environmental Working Group has a great guide on how to read your local water report and also on how to choose a water filter accordingly.

At-home water filtration options are plentiful, but not all filters are created equally. There are also some very basic options available, and even the simplest technology that is used to purify water across the world is available for the home.

In our own recent hunt for water filtering, we've selected to try a more sustainable solution: charcoal. Activated charcoal is actually a relatively primitive filtration method, and it's a form of activated carbon, which is used in most modern water filters today. What's even more lovely about these sticks is that after you're done using them, they won't end up in a landfill somewhere for the next hundred years. Instead, you can give them a second life in your garden or use as a kitchen deodorizer .

The most readily available brands of charcoal are made of responsibly harvested Japanese oak, and are renowned for their ability to remove impurities, attract chemical compounds and impart alkalizing benefits in your water. Each stick lasts around four months, and using it is as simple as opening a reusable glass bottle and filling it with water. 

If you're interested in giving this type of water filtering a try, check out Kishu Charcoal and Morihata Binchotan Charcoal.