{Mommy Monday} Outdoor Cleaning Superstar

Today I’ve got some more great tips from Jill

who recently wrote about the amazing cleaning power of Baking Soda.

He is kissing her because she is full of so many AWESOME tips! Photo Credit: Hibben Photography

This week she gives us tips on cleaning up the outdoors space—

Just in time for SUMMER!

Lawn chairs. The must have of any summer, right? Our outdoor furniture takes a beating in the spring storm season, sometimes developing a moldy looking film. I’ve found the best way to get rid of it is a solution of Borax and water. You’ll hear me tout the benefits of Borax on almost any problem, but I’m telling you, it’s great. Borax can be found in the laundry detergent aisle, generally near the powdered detergent. It’s an oldie but a goodie, but I will admit I haven’t used it for laundry yet. A church member suggested it to me at a previous congregation, and it hasn’t failed me yet. You can scrub a little with the wash rag dampened in the Borax solution and then rinse clean with the water hose.

Photo Credit: 20 MuleTeamLaundry

I usually purchase a window cleanser that hooks on to the water hose. To prepare the house for the summer barbecues, I use the window cleanser on all the windows. Then I rinse the bottle several times with fresh water. After that, I mix fresh Borax/water solution in the bottle and pop it back on the water hose. When you make the solution, you’ll want it to be more Borax than water, so maybe a 70/30 solution.

The bottle I got this summer offers a dial that you can select fresh water or cleanser solution, which is perfect! You can use this to clean the kid’s outdoor toys, swing set, vinyl siding, you name it! The swing set has a rubbery plastic tube covering the swing chains, and they are perpetually mildewed. We also get the moldy looking film on the north side of our home. We use the Borax sprayer to wash most of it off. For stubborn spots, you can wipe with a towel or use your household sponge mop for hard to reach areas of the siding.

My last “summer and Borax” tip is for spiders. After the spring storms have passed, spiders come from all over. We shake powder Borax around the foundation of our home, right up next to the house. We repurpose an empty parmesan cheese container just for this project. My daughter made a construction paper label for it, so we are sure not to think it’s a new container of cheese on spaghetti night. This is a great tip that I promise works; tips from older church ladies always work. Almost always. We had those Daddy long legs things, the little spiders that look like a ball with whisper thin legs, when our daughter was little. The church member suggested this, and they were gone within the month.

(P.S. Check out 20 Mule Team Laundry‘s website for more Borax cleaning tips!)

Thank you Jill for more great tips! She is certainly helping me prepare for life with the soon-to-be kiddo!

Do you have any outdoor cleaning tricks that you use?