Meet the Mop That Changed My Life

I want to make clear from the beginning that this is NOT a sponsored post - just sharing something I love!

Sometime last year, I put a plea out to my readers to help me find the perfect steam mop. I HATE mopping with the passion of a thousand fiery suns, and I was willing to pay nearly any amount of money to make the job bearable. Here's some key words to start us out. Black dog. Three kids. Linoleum. Rental. Am I painting a lovely mental image here?

So one dear reader suggested the Hoover Floormate. I have the SpinScrub, but there is now a newer model. The Hoover Floormate is not actually a steam mop, but ended up being exactly what I was looking for. My main issues with mopping were:

1. I would spend all this time mopping, and then afterwards, if I would wipe the floor with a baby wipe, it would still come up brownish/gray.

2. The dog hair. Oh, the dog. How I wish.... never mind. Each time I would mop, it would simply push lines of dog hair into the corners of my floor, and I would have to go back through afterwards with baby wipes and clean all that up.

It was getting to the point where I would vacuum, use a Swiffer, then get on my hands and knees to spot-clean what the Swiffer hadn't gotten, and it STILL wasn't clean enough! Something had to change. Once my reader recommended the Floormate, I read the reviews and knew it was just what I needed.

Here's how it works:
*The Floormate has three functions: Vacuum, Wash, and Dry.
*Vacuum: Not intended to replace a regular vacuum, but nice if you're mopping and come across some crumbs or something. You can easily turn the switch to Vacuum, suction them right up, and then move along.
*Wash: You squeeze the trigger, and it sends out washing solution onto the floor, at which point some little rotating scrubbers under the head scrub the yuckyness, making your floors beautifully clean. At this point, the Floormate is also suctioning up the dirty water into a separate compartment.
*Dry: To decrease the drying time, there is also a Dry setting, which further suctions up the water. I don't use this because to me, the floors dry quickly enough without it.

The day it arrived from Amazon, I was giddy...

The first day I used it, I was converted. Here is my floor's side-by-side last two columns on the far right have not been mopped yet.)

Doesn't that look so nice and sparkling clean?

And then... this is unsettling. Here is some of the water the Floormate had sucked up during its first use. Beware... this is gross... See that bottom inch? Eeeeewwwww!

Thinking of buying one? Here are some Pros and Cons...

The Cons:
*Obviously more expensive than a regular mop.
*I always forget when I go into Dry mode, and I think I'm in Wash mode. I feel like it shouldn't squirt out the cleaning solution unless you're in Wash mode.
*About the same weight/size as a vacuum.

The Pros:
*No nasty water getting mixed into the water you are using for cleaning!
*The head is nice and low, so I can easily mop right against the edge of the floor, under the edges of my cabinets.
*You don't need to use their cleaner - you can use anything, even water and vinegar.
*It can clean lots of different surfaces - tile, grout, sealed hardwood, linoleum, etc.
*Cleans my floors so beautifully that if I take a baby wipe to it after I'm done, it comes up clean! I could NEVER make this happen before!

*And the biggest Pro of all.... now I LOVE mopping! I have gone from avoiding it at all costs, to actually being disappointed if my husband uses it without me. And, the more I love using it, the more frequently I use it, and the cleaner my floors are likely to stay! Can't beat that!

So that's that! Check it out! If you have any similarly wonderful products that have changed your mind about a household chore, I'd love to hear about them!

How to Speak Kid: Magic Trick for Clean-Up Time!

So this is my youngest. She's three. She can do so many things - get dressed, set the table, get on her coat and shoes, write her name, and throw an epic tantrum... it certainly seems like she should be able to clean her room! But I'm facing the fact that she actually still needs my help, and this summer I came up with a way to get it done that she (and my other kids) absolutely love!

We call it "Double Thumbs Up," and here's how it goes: I sit on the floor with two thumbs up. Claire comes up and taps one of the thumbs, and then I say the job that goes with it, like, "Put your clothes in the hamper." When she's done the job, she comes over and pushes my thumb down, then taps the other thumb to listen to the next job. She finishes that one, pushes that thumb down, and then both thumbs pop back up with new jobs. She continues tapping and pushing the thumbs down until her job are all done, and then I sing a little celebration song. Simple and easy, and my other kids love it too. My 6-year-old begs to play Double Thumbs Up when it's time to clean his room, and once I even caught him doing the thumbs for Claire (awwww....).

I think pushing my thumbs down gives them the same sort of satisfaction as I get crossing things off a To-Do list, and incorporating the movement is more effective than them just listening to me blab about what to do next.

I'm sure the novelty of this trick won't last forever, but it's been working for us this summer! Try it out and let me know how it goes!

What Works Wednesday: Stair Bins

When we moved into our new home, I immediately knew I needed something for the stairs. People who are not lazy simply go upstairs or downstairs to put things away. Unfortunately, I'm very lazy and often don't feel like running something all the way up or down the stairs. Hence, more bins, creatively named the "Go Upstairs Bin" and the "Go Downstairs Bin."

Meet Mr. Go Upstairs, sitting right under our handy-dandy can crusher (?!?).

And Mr. Go Downstairs

In a perfect world, I would have the kids empty these bins every night. Sadly, life's not perfect and we're still working on getting homework happening every night. But they do get emptied occasionally, and in the meantime, hey - at least all this clutter isn't all over my living room.

Family Job Jars

A few nights ago on Facebook, I gave you guys a sneak peek of something I've been really excited about! My 4-Week Cleaning Schedule is getting a lot of hits lately, leading me to believe I'm not the only one making New Years' Resolutions about having a cleaner house!

This year I decided I really needed to get my kids more involved with cleaning the house. When I think of having my kids help with chores, I think of torture. Seriously. Buuuuuuut.... I've been thinking ahead to when my kids are a little older, and how I imagine they would react when, after 10 years of being exempt from doing chores, they were suddenly expected to do them. I didn't anticipate that going well. So that led me to....

I decided that each Saturday, we would spend an hour on the house. My husband and I could work for a half hour, and the kids could work for 15 minutes, leaving 15 spare minutes for my 3-year-old singing on the potty, someone throwing a tantrum, me accidentally getting sidetracked by an US Weekly, etc. Hopefully that's not just my house. During that time, we would pull sticks from the jar, complete those jobs, and repeat, repeat, repeat for the allotted time frame. Once the sticks are pulled, they go back in the other direction. The next week we pull the jars out again, start with the sticks that are still not done, and go from there.

I was originally going to have us work in one room at a time, but then I remembered that my house is microscopically tiny and we'd be falling all over each other if we tried that. I decided to separate mine into Upstairs and Downstairs and rotate the buckets each week.

So I sat down and made a list of all the chores in the house that needed to be done, separating them by "kid" jobs and "adult" jobs. My kids are 3, 5, and 7, by the way, and the jobs I picked for them will originally need lots of instruction, but hopefully later will be able to be done independently. Much later, in the case of the 3-year-old.You are welcome to download and use my Family Job List as a starting point.

Then I bought some wooden craft sticks and painted them in happy, fun colors that I love.

After fiddling with my camera and mysteriously disabling its focusing ability, I wrote each job on a stick with Sharpie, making sure to keep most of my writing on one end of the stick so it wouldn't be visible when we were choosing sticks. I then filed the extra specks of paint and paper off the edges of the sticks with a nail file.

 And then I put each group into a cute pail from Target's $1 section. I put them with the job side down so that you can't see the job when you're reaching for a stick. They go back in job-side-up when the job is done (which is how you're mostly seeing them in this photo). It would be good to paint one end of the sticks a contrasting color so it's easier to tell the difference. I may do that in the future, but my episode of The Biggest Loser ended and I had nothing else to watch, so I got bored of painting.

And that's it! Today was our first day starting our Job Jars, and they were a huge hit with the kids. My kids are still little enough that it's really fun for them to help. As I was tucking my kids into bed last night, my 5-year-old told me that the job jars were his favorite time of our day, and my 7-year-old told me, "Mom, thanks for letting us pick out of the job jars today. It's your best invention EVER! Well, except for kisses." So I think it'll be a keeper for our family! And it sure was nice to come home to a clean house after our Saturday errands.

I will say, in closing, that the downside of this system is that you don't get every single chore done every week. It's just not a big deal to me, but if it's a big deal to you, you could do all the sticks each week instead of working for a given time period. Or check out my 4-Week Cleaning Schedule, Daily Cleaning Routine, or Pink's Daily Cleaning Checklist for more comprehensive daily/weekly cleaning plans.

4-Week Cleaning Schedule for Real-Life, Busy Moms!

One thing I love about the new year is the chance to revamp my routines and recommit to a clean house! While I now work full-time, I never felt that I had the time to clean the house, even when I was a stay-at-home mom! I think that putting it off on the excuse that we don't have time to "do it right" is one of the worst things we can do to ourselves! The effect of even 15 minutes a day is powerful, and usually once you get going, you can squeeze in more time than that.

This year, I put together a 4-week Cleaning Schedule for myself. Each day of the week has a part of the house to focus on, and 2 tasks to do weekly, 4 bi-weekly, and 4 monthly. If you only have 15 minutes, do the white section, the tasks for that room that need to be done weekly. These are the most important things, the regular maintenance-type tasks needed to keep the house fairly clean and generally company-ready. If you have 30 minutes, add the yellow section section, the tasks that can be done every other week. And, if you find yourself still going, add the last turquoise section, the tasks that are more deep-cleaning, and don't need to be done quite so frequently.

There's also an additional page with a Daily Cleaning Schedule, Weekly Laundry Schedule, and a Weekly Menu. After I print these out, I am going to laminate them so that I can write my menu in, and cross off items on my Cleaning Schedule as I complete them.

So here it is! Click on the link, and print away! Enjoy! Or, set up your own schedule that works for you! By the way, the font looks a little blurry in Google Docs, but isn't when printed out.

 4-Week Cleaning Schedule

Psst... I don't wanna hear any comments about the types of things I think can go a whole month without being done, okay? I'm a lazy cleaner, I readily admit it. Something is better than nothing!

Kids' Chores and Chorecharts

Photo credit to AbbiesHouse on Etsy.com, link here

What types of chores can kids do? Well, pretty much anything! I don't have my kids on a regular chore routine, although I'd like to. But this year over Spring Break I sweetly offered them the opportunity to do several chores each day for money, and then we went to Target at the end of Spring Break and they bought a toy with the money they earned.

Kids can start doing chores when they're really young. Even our 1-year-old gets into the action! She loves to feed the dog, help unload the dishwasher, put the clean silverware away, and pick up toys.

My other two kids are 4 and 5, and they can sort, fold, and put away laundry, wash the dishes, help with dinner, set the table, help load/unload the dishwasher, wipe down the walls, wipe the baseboards, make their beds, clean the sinks, mirrors, counters, and shower in the bathroom, sweep and swiffer the floors, and vacuum. They are also expected to clear off their dishes after each meal, generally keep their toys cleaned up, and periodically go through their clothes and toys to toss/give away.

I should note that I use pretty kid-friendly cleaning products. If you need some ideas, Anissa posted a great post about Homemade Cleaning Supplies awhile ago. For instance, in the bathroom, they just clean with a mixture of water and vinegar.

This summer I'd love to get them going on some sort of regular routine. Right now I just sort of have them help when I want help, but I think having them on a routine would help me to stay on my routine. What sorts of chores do your kids do regularly? Has anyone made anything fabulous to keep track of their kids' chores? I saw the ones listed above on Etsy and I really love it, but I'd love to find something I can do myself. I'd love to see any links if you've got any!

Chore Chart

So my husband and I have recently switched places, with me returning to work and him staying home with the kids. We're having a hard time finding our footing as far as keeping the house clean, and who's doing what job. He told me the other day that he wants to clean during the day, he just gets overwhelmed and doesn't know what to start with. Well, you all know I love schedules and lists, so he didn't have to ask me twice! When I stayed home, I always did better with a daily chronological schedule, and I've missed having one.

This is made on a whiteboard with strips of laminated paper - purple for me, green for him, and striped for both of us. I need to put these on magnet tape, but right now they're just taped on there with Scotch tape.

Each day we have a room to focus on for 15 minutes, either together or separately, whatever works better in our schedule, and then we'll try to do a deep-clean on one room on Saturday. I'd really like to do our daily room cleaning between 7 and 8pm, after our baby goes to bed but before our other kids go to bed, so that they can be involved, and we haven't yet done our nightly "tired flop," but so far we've done it at 10pm, after we turn off the TV and internet (see below). Then at the top, there's a spot for which load of laundry I start in the morning. My husband flips it to dry, and then we try to both spend time putting it away at the end of the day. And then I left a place for our weekly menu. Made sure to get our exercise in there too, so it's not a nightly decision of who gets to go.

Once you add daily clutter/toy pick-up, this works for us. We've got a small home and neither of us are super-obsessed with cleanliness. I find that if I set my mind to it and work fast, 15 minutes a week in each room is enough to get my chores done and do some decluttering. Adding an additional 15 minutes from my husband and we're good! I know others like to clean more, but if you're having trouble getting started, try one batch of laundry a day, and cleaning/decluttering in one room for 15 minutes a day - you'll be amazed at how much progress you can make!

Cushion Cleaning

I've happened upon a strategy that's working great for getting my kids to pick up their stuff at the end of the day. We try to clean as we go, but invariably, the day ends with odds and ends scattered around the front room. A simple, "Clean up your stuff in here!" has not worked as well as I would like.

What I've been doing is assigning each person a couch cushion, and taking a few minutes to put everything on their cushion. Then my kids (ages 4 and 2) come in and I just tell them to clear off their cushion. I know that for every thing I've put on that cusion, they know where it goes and can reach its spot. Things that go up high, or are theirs but they may not know where to put it, go on my cushion.

This is a little more work up-front, since I technically have to pick up everything in the room first, but the cleaning part goes WAY more smoothly than having them find what's theirs in the room and put it away. I think the important part is for them to learn to take responsibility for their stuff and put it away. Also, embarrassingly, I often realize that way more of the mess is mine! Oops!

But overall, it has been working great! They know where to find their stuff, and they know where to put it away. We're definitely going to keep going with this system.

Also, just wanted to note that posts are going to be pretty scarce the next few weeks. I'm finishing up a huge portfolio for my credential, completing my Master's, and planning a move with my three young kids. So, put me on a blog roll so you don't miss anything, and I'll try to pop in here and there to post the good ideas rattling around in my head!

Setting Cleaning and Organizing Goals

So is anyone else setting goals for cleaning and organization this year? I'm going to shift my routine just a little bit. My routine basically works, it's just a matter of motivation. Here are the sites that motivated my routine this year:

Flylady
Just Mommies Home Organization Plan

Daily, I'll stay basically the same. One load of laundry per day, a paperwork job, dishes, general pick-up and maintenance, and sweeping. Then I'll also be adding one light cleaning job per day (vacuuming, bathrooms, etc.). Then each two-week period I'll focus on one zone of the house. The first week I'll do deep-cleaning, and the second week I'll do decluttering.

I'm starting on this tomorrow, and I'll post my list to work from for the first area!

Is anyone else starting a new routine?

A sanity-saving tip!

I have a 4.5 year old son and an almost 3 year old daughter who both occasionally wet the bed. And of course they both usually wet the bed on the same night. I swear they're out to get me sometimes! Anyway, they both went through a phase a few months ago where they were wetting the bed almost every single night. We'd just come back from a month-long vacation, just moved into our new house, etc, so they were really off schedule. Even so, I was about ready to lose my mind!

The real problem was when I'd strip their bedding and put it in the laundry room, but then I'd get busy and forget to wash or dry it before nap or bedtime. Then I didn't have their mattress protectors for their beds or any of their bedding. I was getting so frustrated because I detest being "forced" to do laundry like that.

Then I had a brilliant idea! It has seriously saved me so much energy and sanity. I bought an extra mattress protector and an extra set of sheets for each of their beds. I make their beds with 2 sets of everything. So it goes like this: mattress protector, fitted sheet, flat sheet, mattress protector, fitted sheet, flat sheet, comforter. When they do have an accident, I just strip the top layer of the bedding off, and their beds are all ready to go again!

Massive Toy Reorg

After the kids birthday party I let them have free reign over the downstairs area of our house with their new toys for a week. At the end of that week I was pulling my hair out and wondering how in the world I was going to get it all organized and back on track. So after some careful thought and discussion with my husband we decided it was time to crack down on the "one thing out at a time" rule and "pick up after your done with it" rule.

Up until this point I had been very lax on the clean up the toys rule. Having three very young kids made it pretty low on my priority list each day. It was faster and easier for me to just do it. I didn't want to fight them on it or take the time to teach them how when it was time for a nap or time to head out the door, so I just let it slide. Yes, I'm terrible, but it was how I survived the day and it worked for me for the first 3 years. That all changed after I did my major toy, book and game reorganization.

First thing I did was sort out all the toys that they have out grown or just didn't play with that often. This had been tough up to this point because I was holding onto all the baby toys for my youngest, but he's old enough now that I could purge them all. All those toys are now off to homes that can use them. This is going to become a new practice of mine at least once a year.

Second I took stock of everything we had left and made a rough list of where I wanted them to "live". I also determined approximately how many totes I'd need to make my dream a reality. My goal was to get all their toys up into the tops of their closets so they would no longer be able to pull down whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. I figure as they get older and are used to the new rules I'll be able to put them back down at their level. For now, no way.

Then it was off to Fred Meyer to take advantage of a tote organization sale they were having. $1 for each of the small totes and $2.50 for the medium ones. I was so excited! I overbought, afraid of running out in the middle of a cleaning streak, and knew I could return the unused ones when I was all done.

The third step was to go from room to room, pulling toys down, putting them into their tote and moving them to the room that was to be their new home. The only time to do a project like this is when the kids are awake, so it made the project a little more tricky with them wanting to play with anything I got down to organize. But I also used it as an opportunity to teach them why I was doing it and how we were going to be changing our toy playing time.

The final thing I did was label all the totes. I color coordinated the labels by room. Addison pink, Ethan Blue, Austin Green, Family Room Closet Orange and Garage Play Area Purple. This way not even my husband could get confused over where things belong. :)

The whole process took an entire week of my "spare time" during the day. But man was it worth it. I felt like a new Mom after it was all done and I'm happy to report that the kids have responded very well to the new rules. We have a cleaner, less chaotic and more structured house now and my kids definitely thrive in that type of environment. I find that they play longer and better with something when it's singled out and only available if they've chosen it as their toy to play with. They've caught on to the "clean up when you're done" idea and although they still need coaching, are doing so great! Goes to show that it was truly my lack of effort that was setting us back this past year or so. Now we're all set!

Here are the final results. And I'm proud to say that if I went and looked in these closets right now they would look exactly as these pictures are. :) YEAH for organization!

Addison's closet and shelving unit. I put labels with little pictures on the drawers of the shelf unit so that she'd know what went in each drawer.


Ethan's closet. I forgot to take a picture of Austin's closet, but it looks very similar to the rest of the pictures. :)

Garage play area. SO nice to get all the toys up off the main floor of this space.
And finally the downstairs hall closet. This took the most work because it has all the kids craft stuff in it. It was overrun and totally chaotic prior to this, so it feels wonderful to have a place for every type of craft supply and to have it all labeled and put away. I'm a lot more motivated to get a craft out for the kids now, and that's a great thing.

Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share

I've been struggling lately with how to get my kids to pick up their toys. I know, I know, it's a battle that's been fought since the beginning of time probably. I'll tell you my ideas and thoughts so far, but I'd appreciate any input from more experienced moms!

The new bins have really helped with my daughter. She's 4, and is perfectly willing to clean up one bin before getting out another. My little boy is another story though. Let me preface this by saying that me cleaning his toys up for him is not an option. I've got a new baby and enough other stuff to do in a day. Anyway, when I tell him it's time to clean up his cars, he replies with a simple, "No." In a very polite tone, it sounds as though he would follow it up with, "I'd really rather not, thank you anyway." But he just refuses. I've threatened to take his bin of cars out to the garage, and he just says, "Okay," and even helps me take them out there. Meanwhile, my daughter is practically sobbing, "No! That's so sad! Don't take all his cars!"

I tried that a few times, but it didn't work at all. I don't know why he won't clean his stuff up. Maybe he doesn't understand yet, maybe it's just overwhelming to him, maybe he just doesn't feel like it. So my new theory is to just not let him have a lot of toys in the house. After a full day of no cars at all (which was miserable for everyone since he just swiped my daughter's toys all day), he was allowed to earn them back two at a time if he cleaned up after himself each day. Right now he's got about 8 in the house, and I think that's where I'm going to draw the line. Most of the rest of his toys are out in the garage as well. If he's not to the point where he can pick up a big mess, then he shouldn't have enough toys to make a big mess. So far, he doesn't really seem to care. Maybe 8 matchbox cars is all a boy really needs to make him happy?

Any great ideas for how to get toddlers to clean up their own stuff?

Catching Up!

Do you ever feel like you can't keep up? Like you're always a step behind? That's how June has been for me. I've been running around like crazy and it seems we're home long enough to make a big mess, but not to clean it up!? So...to get things back in order I like to set my timer. I'll pick a room and set the timer for 10, 20 or 30 minutes (depending on the severity of the situation! :) ) and get busy. I'm able to make each room look "company ready" in a short period of time, even if I have to put the deep cleaning off for a day or two! This trick helps me to stay on top of the house when life gets really busy! And it helps me maintain my sanity! I really hate it when the house is a mess! So...Ready...Set...GO!!

The Seasonal Clothing Swap

For those of you that live in season-neutral states you can either skip over this post, or read it and point and laugh at the rest of us Mom's that suffer through season changes twice a year.

Usually when a season change is in the air you get that kid-like euphoria that an exciting change is around the corner. You are either itching for the warm weather so you can migrate your herd of kids outdoors or you're sick the hot weather and so happy for the cool fall air and upcoming holidays to start. But the euphoria soon wears off when you realize that with this change of seasons comes a nasty little chore I like to call the seasonal swap.

The worst part is the in-between weeks. You know, where it warms up for a few days, you start buying shorts and tank tops and then it's back down to freezing temperatures the next day. So you have to keep your kid's closets stocked with both summer and winter clothes at the same. Such a pain. But then the weather finally makes up it's mind and it's time to do the swap.

I am a tote fanatic. I love those things. So my method for the season swap is to sort all the clothes, shoes, etc. into piles and tote them away. I label the totes with everything that is in them so that I can either use as hand-me-downs later for younger kids, sell them on eBay, donate them, or pass them along to family or friends with kids. I also put a bright colored sticker on the tote if there is more room for clothes in them still.

Another tip for those of you that like to save everything...
I've found that if you pull out the few items of clothing that have some sentimental value (an Easter dress, a hat someone made, a first pair of shoes, etc) that helps you keep from going overboard on saving clothes just because you just can't bear to part with them. Pull them out when you're doing your seasonal swap and put them in a separate tote, labeled as such, and then continue to add to it as needed. That way you've already pulled out the important pieces and you can part with the other stuff a lot easier when the time comes.

I just finished my seasonal swap and took a few pictures of the end result.




All the totes labeled and ready to go up into the attic.





PHEW, closets cleaned out and another project checked off the list.

Tip of the Day

Just a short one from me today, courtesy of Flylady...

If you're looking for something to eat in the fridge/freezer/fruit bowl, and you pass over something because it's "too old," THROW IT AWAY! It will not get any more appetizing to you as the week goes on!

Am I the only one that laughed at that tip because it hits close to home?

Daily Cleaning Routine

Here's my daily cleaning routine. A lot of times it doesn't happen, but this is what I aim for. Some things I do each day, other things I switch up throughout the week.

MORNING
*Make Bed
*Unload Dishwasher
*Put in a load of laundry (Mon: Whites, Tues: Brights, Wed: Kids, Thurs: Darks, Fri: Sheets and Towels, Sat: Catch-up)
*Get self and kids dressed and ready

AFTERNOON
*15 minutes cleaning/organizing (Mon: Master Bed, Tues: Kitchen, Wed: Bathrooms, Thurs: Kids' Rooms, Fri: Living Room/Hall)
*15 minutes office "job" (Mon: Pay Bills, Tues: Tidy Desk, Wed: Make Phone Calls, Thurs: To-Do List, Fri: Filing)
*Dry Laundry

EVENING
*Put away laundry
*Clutter pick-up
*Sweep & mop
*Start dishwasher

Homemade Cleaning Supplies

Lately, I’ve been telling people about some easy ways to save money on household cleaning products. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction finding ways to save money here and there around the home, without having to go out and get a job. It’s my way of “making money”, which is very rewarding. I love the homemade laundry detergent, since it costs only one PENNY per load of wash. WOW. Plus, it’s all natural and safe for babies/kids. I put the link to this recipe at the very bottom.

Just as a disclaimer, I did not create these tips and recipes, but I did do all the research online and compiled the tips from various places and listed those that I found to be the best.

I use this to replace my kitchen and bathroom disinfectant cleaners:
Disinfectant all purpose cleaner: Mix a few drops of natural (Castile) soap, 2 cups water, and 15 drops each of tea tree and lavender essential oil (you can use just the tea tree oil- but 30 drops, which is what I do). You can spray this on all surfaces, like cutting boards, counters, toilets, walls, (except it will streak glass). This stuff disinfects (thanks to the tea tree oil) but is so safe you can actually spray it on your baby - you can’t say that about most commercial household cleaners.

I use this for my All Purpose Cleaner (Like 409) replacement:
All-Purpose Cleaner: Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda (or 2 teaspoons borax) into 2 liters water. Store and keep. Use for bath and kitchen counters, toilet exterior, refrigerator, Laundry Room, Sinks, Microwave, removal of water deposit stains on shower stall panels. This will streak, so not recommended on windows and mirrors.

I use this for my Windex and Hardwood floor cleaner replacement:
1:1 Ratio of water and vinegar. Store and keep in spray and squirt bottles. Use for chrome fixtures, windows, mirrors, appliance fronts, bathroom floors and hardwood floors. I've actually started adding about 15 drops of tea tree oil to this mixture now so that I get that extra disinfecting boost for my floors, since I have a 8 month old that crawls around on them constantly.

I use this to replace my Clorox Soft Scrub:
Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Mix 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar, pour into basin and let it set for a few minutes. Scrub with brush and rinse. A mixture of borax (2 parts) and lemon juice (one part) will also work.
Tub and Tile Cleaner: For simple cleaning, rub in baking soda with a damp sponge and rinse with fresh water. For tougher jobs, wipe surfaces with vinegar first and follow with baking soda as a scouring powder. (Vinegar can break down tile grout, so use sparingly.)

I am using this to replace my wood furniture cleaner:
Mix 1 cup olive oil with cup lemon juice. Furniture polish for your hardwood furniture.

Just some other tips in general:
Vinegar
Bathroom - Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. scrub down the bowl.
Laundry Room - Use vinegar as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add 1/ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively. (A plus when you have a family member whose skin detects every trace of detergent.)

Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is another natural substance that can be used to clean your home. Lemon juice can be used to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Lemon is a great substance to clean and shine brass and copper. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make cleaning pastes. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section. Use the lemon to scrub dishes, surfaces, and stains. Put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal. It freshens the drain and the kitchen. Orange peels can be used with the same results.

Microfiber
Another alternative is microfiber cloths which lift off dirt, grease and dust without the need for cleaning chemicals, because they are formulated to penetrate and trap dirt. There are a number of different brands. A good quality cloth can last for several years.
I am using a microfiber broom and mop that rocks! I highly recommend this. After the laundry detergent, this would be my next best find. (Thanks to my friend Gina for giving me this idea. http://www.microfiber-products-online.com/hmk.html) You can launder the dry and wet microfiber pads so you don’t have to buy new ones over and over like the Swiffer products. Plus it is 10 times faster to sweep and mop with this thing than a traditional broom and mop and cleans 10 times better in my opinion. Add that with the homemade floor cleaner and you'll be saving time and money.

How cool is this?:
Microwave cleaning: Place a bowl of straight vinegar or a bowl of water with 1s drops tea tree oil in the microwave, heat for about 2 minutes. Microwave will steam itself and be easy to wipe out with a wet cloth.

Link to homemade laundry detergent recipe:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
A personal side note about the laundry detergent. I made a batch just as the recipe called for, and it worked out great, but I noticed that my heavy stain loads, like my kids clothes, did not come out like I was wanting. So I just made my second batch of the detergent and this time doubled the Borax and Washing Soda to increase the stain fighting power. This has seemed to do the trick and I'm much happier with the results.