May means sunlit, yellow-green buds on willow trees, familiar bird songs, spring peepers in the pond, and an overwhelming desire to make everything clean. I took a slow walk down the cleaning products aisle at the grocery store and found products with labels that promise maximum force, triple power, instant stain removal and ultimate cleaning. Did I want a heavy-duty, commercial, professional or industrial strength cleaners? Was the wisest choice a gel, a cream, a spray, scrubbing bubbles, a cleaning wand, a cleaning pen or a complete cleaning system? What is a complete cleaning system anyhow? And then there were the “magic” sponges and “miracle” cleaners. Is it ethical to buy Mr. Clean or the Janitor in a drum? Would they each need a room of their own? It was confusing! I was tempted to believe that there might be a product that would make everything sparkle with little effort, but after reading labels with long lists of chemicals with unfamiliar names and warnings of danger, I left empty handed.

I had made a cleaning solution when I was eight. … read more