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Green Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity
A must-have book for the twenty-first-century home..
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
January 8th 2008
by Scribner
(first published 2006)
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I went ahead and bought this book because it is awesome. I tried just making note cards but i had gobs of notes. Everyone must read this book!
I am going to read it again now that I am going to move into a different home with different land..
I am going to read it again now that I am going to move into a different home with different land..
4 likes · like · see review
view all 6 comments
3/18/11 Okay, this is a little creepy, but I totally just reread this, cover to cover! I love that she is a dog person. I love the down to earth cleaning advice. Since reading it the first time, I've started drying my clothes on the line and using baking soda and vinegar for most cleaning, and I'm just as sketched out as ever about all of the chemicals we use everyday.
This book is surprisingly comprehensive - a great reference.
*****
From 6/4/10: I didn't expect to find much of interest here, sin...more
2 likes · like · see review
It's not literature, but I'm very excited and I've got to tell people! The grime-cutting power of hot, plain white vinegar is unequalled by anything on the commercial market. Who knew??!!
My shower stalls and floors, both hardwood and linoleum, have never gleamed as they do now. My mother-in-law's antique walnut table was beginning to resemble a Grauman's Chinese Theater for felines, with the prints of little cat feet seemingly cemented into 12 years' worth of commercial furniture polish build up...more
My shower stalls and floors, both hardwood and linoleum, have never gleamed as they do now. My mother-in-law's antique walnut table was beginning to resemble a Grauman's Chinese Theater for felines, with the prints of little cat feet seemingly cemented into 12 years' worth of commercial furniture polish build up...more
I got this book at the library hoping for some homemade recipes in order to cut down on chemicals I use and also money spent buying the chemicals.
What I found was so much more!
Very helpful tips about organizing your entire house, decluttering, how to clean faster , simpler, and more efficient. Plus, the entire book is written upbeat and is actually entertaining!
I've already renewed it twice because I keep using it as a reference as well. I'm going to have to buy a copy to keep, it's a very well...more
What I found was so much more!
Very helpful tips about organizing your entire house, decluttering, how to clean faster , simpler, and more efficient. Plus, the entire book is written upbeat and is actually entertaining!
I've already renewed it twice because I keep using it as a reference as well. I'm going to have to buy a copy to keep, it's a very well...more
En morsom og romantisk historie med form som en moderne brevroman, en e-postroman. Ved en skrivefeil kommer hovedpersonene i kontakt med hverandre da kvinnen i fortellingen forsøker å si opp et tidsskriftsabonnement via e-post. Mannen som mottar e-posten tenker ikke videre over det med det samme, men etter å ha fått et par meldinger til, leverer han et syrlig svar for å oppklare misforståelsen. Dette utvikler seg til en fast korrespondanse med humor og nerve. Spørsmålet er om det er lurt å møtes...more
This book changed my life. I have implemented many of the easy and simple techniques Ellen Sandbeck taught me. I have gained confidence and control in cleaning my home. It is wonderful that I can literally stick my nose or mouth in the vinegar (or Brooke can) and it's all good. I really love that she says it is completely healthy if you don't change your sheets very often. Ellen Sandbeck is also from Duluth, which is really cool. I am eager to read her gardening books.
The best changes I've made...more
The best changes I've made...more
1 like · like · see review
Jul 13, 2010
Jenn B
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jenn by:
Tanya Anderson
Shelves:
reference
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is actually far more awesome than I anticipated. As a person who has been dabbling in Organic Housekeeping for years, when I dabble in housekeeping at all, I thought this was going to be mind-numbingly basic "vinegar" and "baking soda" kind of book. It's actually a lot more, and even goes to the root of many of our household problems. Cleaning would be easier and require less chemicals if we had less clutter to attract mess, if we took off our shoes at the door like the europeans do, i...more
Oct 10, 2008
jennifer
marked it as half-read
okay, i love this because it is precisely keyed to my new (mostly uninformed) paranoia about plastics and chemicals. and the book is pretty great. but there are small suggestions that maybe the author is mentally ill. exhibit A: she has a rolodex that shows where every item in her house can be found, down to the numbered marked drawer. hmm.
May 19, 2010
Andrea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cleaning-recycle-reuse
I loved this book. Fantastic practical solutions and the approach that supreme tidiness does not equal supreme happiness for most of us. The author describes easy and quick things you can do to keep your home tidy and reasonably clean with the little bits here and there approach. Things like washing out the sink with the washcloths after finishing the dishes, drying the shower walls with a towel after drying off to keep out the mold ... all things that take about a minute when done regularly and...more
I want to follow her advice and use diluted white vinegar for all surface cleaning.
That's pretty much all I got out of the book because I thought this book was about organizing and cleaning. But the book goes into how to select appliances, floorboards, paint, sinks etc. which I didn't care for and also labeling things and such which I had no interest in doing.
I had hoped she would talk more about reducing the amount of stuff you had, but she doesn't get into that at all, in fact, she recommends...more
That's pretty much all I got out of the book because I thought this book was about organizing and cleaning. But the book goes into how to select appliances, floorboards, paint, sinks etc. which I didn't care for and also labeling things and such which I had no interest in doing.
I had hoped she would talk more about reducing the amount of stuff you had, but she doesn't get into that at all, in fact, she recommends...more
I learned a lot from this book. The author goes into great detail on how to clean and maintain a home without using harsh chemicals. There is also a lot of safety information included: avoiding and dealing with fires, how to remove toxins and dangerous bacteria from your home, avoiding dangerous plastics, etc. The author explains how you can disinfect and clean most of your home using simple things like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and natural, plant-based dish soap. She also gives tips on how to...more
Pretty okay book with a few neat cleaning tips and tricks (mostly just using combinations of vinegar, borax and Murphy's oil soap) so nothing really outstanding or original. A little disappointed with the lack of recipes and not always vegan friendly ideas. The author is fond of wool, leather, feather/down filled pillows etc. Also when it came to the section for ridding the home of pests (mice/rats) the author recommended using snap traps because they're the most "humane" option. Actually advise...more
Aug 21, 2007
Ashleigh
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everybody
Organic Housekeeping is a smart, healthy, guide-to-living manual. By no means have I read every page in the book, but it is indexed in such a way that if I have a question about something specific (such as what types of laundry detergent to use), I can find the answer. The writing is clear and often witty, and Sandbeck has a refreshing approach to cleaning and organizing (get organized so that "cleaning" is hardly ever necessary). Some chapters offer fairly scary wake up calls as they spell out...more
Aug 14, 2007
Cheri
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone trying to minimize their impact on the earth
Shelves:
home,
socialissues
I've read several books on greening one's home and this has been the most comprehensive and practical. There are specific cleaning solutions for household tasks as well as adjusting one's cleaning attitudes. I just bought a 100% wool blanket from the Goodwill Outlet (yes, the rejects from the Goodwill Store $1.50/lb.) and can't wait to use her rain washing suggestion. The author also includes recipes for making your own dishwasher detergent and how to clean fruits, vegetables and meat using vine...more
I found this to be a great reference guide to all sorts of household cleaning routines and special problems. Although vinegar, other natural ingredients and their uses are explained in great detail, I was a little disappointed not to find any straightforward cleaning solution "recipes". Maybe this is because they are plentiful on the internet.
While I did find some new ideas to try, it would be impossible to accomplish or switch to an organic method for everything listed in this book. Hence, thi...more
While I did find some new ideas to try, it would be impossible to accomplish or switch to an organic method for everything listed in this book. Hence, thi...more
Did you know that a spray of vinegar followed by a spray hydrogen peroxide disinfects as well as bleach? Very cool. Wooden cutting boards are back, rather than plastic, and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar is the solution --for everything! My husband would say I didn't need to hear that. Why are all the non-fiction books I read lately laced with a political agenda? No mind, I still really liked this book!
I've been trying to adopt more green approaches to cleaning, and I really appreciated this bottom-up look at our houses. Everything from how to clean what we've got or how to think about cleaning (including decluttering) to what to buy when what we've got wears out. I only buy books if I've borrowed them from the library at least twice and want to read them again; I'm considering buying this one.
Wow! I definitely recommend this book to EVERYONE! I cannot believe how smart this lady is about EVERYTHING! She talks about organizing, cleaning, laundry, gardening, lawn care, stain removal, kitchen safety, carpet/wall choices, etc., etc. And being "organic" she talks about caring for all these things in a natural (and usually cheaper) way... as she says no one ever got sick from mud caked clothes but plenty of people are getting sick from chemicals in laundry detergents that are supposed to m...more
The first thing I did after reading this book was chuck my plastic cutting board and buy a jug of distilled white vinegar. This book is more than just a list of recipes, it is a manifesto for green living. It includes quite a bit of research about chemicals and their effect on the environment, and why it is advisable to go for the natural alternatives. And it is very thorough. Ellen Sandbeck covers everything from everyday cleaning in the home, to indoor air quality, to fire safety. It would be...more
This was a good book, but not what I was hoping for. It does talk about a few recipes to make your own cleaning solutions, and some ways to clean your house in a manner that helps decrease the chemicals in your life, but I was also hoping for tips and tricks to keeping a cleaner house and this didn't have those.
Billed as “a must-have for the 21st century home,” Green Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and that of your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and Perhaps Your Sanity is part self-improvement, part green movement, and part homemaking all in one.
So I finally realized I was not going to really read this book (as in cover to cover). It's very interesting and informative, but it is still a manual on housework. So instead I bought it, to have as reference. (Well I actually bought "Green Housekeeping" a newer version by the same author. I do recommend it to others. It's not just about being green, some very practical tips to make cleaning easier and more productive.
I read this a couple of summers ago, and I really liked a lot of the ideas and cleaning tips. I still refer to it when I need help getting a stain out or need to unclog a drain, etc. Then again, I am a bit old fashioned and throughly enjoy and take a lot of pride in my home.
Mar 23, 2010
Diana
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-on-the-environment-and-toxins
I loved this book! I learned a lot and will be buying it to always have as a reference. I highly recommend it to those that would like to know what chemicals to look out for and why. Her recipes and cleaning techniques are very helpful.
Nov 21, 2008
Christina
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction-home,
nonfiction-health
A collection of ideas for doing all kinds of housekeeping ... from cleaning silver, to washing windows, to getting rid of lice ... without any toxic chemicals and with as little impact on the environment as possible.
It is fun to read (fun, relaxed writing style that doesn't feel 'preachy') and has practical advice on a huge variety of subjects (and a pretty good index). She makes it seem so easy.
It is fun to read (fun, relaxed writing style that doesn't feel 'preachy') and has practical advice on a huge variety of subjects (and a pretty good index). She makes it seem so easy.
I picked up this one from the library...glad I didn't buy it. The 4 stars are mainly for one chapter...the one on bathrooms. The others weren't really new information (to me) and some of the stuff was just a little over-the-top. I would say for the book overall, 2 or 2.5 stars.
Amazing ideas. I had to have a copy of my own because I could never remember all the GREAT advice or be able to take enough notes. NEEDED to have it for my own reference!
I was hoping for some more tidbits and creative housekeeping ideas, but most I found were things I already knew. Some of the information on cleaning chemicals was interesting.
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