7 Things My Japanese Mother Used Instead of Cleaning Spray — I'm 63 and Never Bought One

📖 Get Emiko's Cleaning Book, the whole house written down, every mix and every minute: LINK IN BIO OR SCAN QR CODE ON THE SCREEN Carry every spray bottle in your house to the kitchen table tonight and stand them in a row. I am sixty-three years old, and I have never bought one of those bottles, not once, because my mother taught me what she used instead. You bought every bottle in that row for a reason, because a label promised you it was the one for your glass, or your stove, or your pillows. You were not careless, my dear. Nobody ever showed you anything else. Most of the dirt in your house is young, and young dirt asks for very little. WHAT A CLEANING SPRAY IS: Mostly water, often nine parts in ten, with a little soap, a little scent, and something to keep it mixed on the shelf. The soap you never rinse stays behind as a film that holds the next dust. THE SEVEN: 1. A DROP OF DISH SOAP IN WARM WATER (instead of the all-purpose spray). Half a teaspoon of plain dish soap in two cups of warm water, two cloths, one to wash and one to rinse. One drop is enough because your dirt is one day old. NEVER a whole squeeze, because soap left behind is the film. 2. THE KETTLE (instead of the disinfectant spray). After the last dish, pour what is left in the kettle over the empty sink, the drain basket, and the wooden board, and let them dry overnight. NEVER boiling water straight down a plastic drain pipe: run the cold tap at the same time. 3. THE PEEL OF AN ORANGE (instead of the degreaser). Rub the outside of a fresh peel over the splashes on a still-warm stove, then wipe with the soap cloth. NEVER on painted or varnished wood, and test on plastic first. 4. USED TEA LEAVES (instead of the air freshener). Press them out, dry them on a plate in the window for a day or two, and set a spoonful in a saucer wherever a smell lives. Change them after about a month. NEVER leave a pan of warming leaves alone. 5. THE SUN (instead of the fabric spray). Two or three hours on a dry day, turned once at the halfway. Dark cushions in the shade, white things in full sun. NEVER on a humid day. 6. NEWSPAPER (instead of the glass spray). Wash the glass with warm water and a drop of soap, then polish it with a loose ball of crumpled newspaper while it is still a little wet. Keep the ink off white frames. NEVER on a television or a computer screen. 7. RICE BRAN IN A COTTON BAG (instead of the furniture polish). Tie rice bran in a clean cotton sock and rub it dry along the grain, ten minutes a week. Refill it after about a month. NEVER on raw, unfinished wood, and test under a chair first. THE HONEST PART: None of the seven is a disinfectant the way a hospital means it, so after raw chicken or a stomach bug, use a real disinfectant and leave it wet for the minutes on the label. These seven are for young dirt; old buildup needs the powders, a paste, and often two or three rounds the first time. NEVER mix anything with chlorine bleach, and never refill a bottle without washing out what it held before. WHY NOBODY TOLD YOU: All-purpose spray 4.99, glass spray 4.49, degreaser 5.99, air freshener 5.49, fabric spray 6.99, disinfectant 6.29, furniture polish 7.49. That is 41.73 for one row, and most of it is water. Against it: dish soap, a four-dollar bag of rice bran, and things you were throwing away. Tonight: count the spray bottles on your kitchen table, then wipe your counter once with a drop of soap in warm water and once with plain water. Then tell me in the comments one number, how many bottles stood on your table, what your own mother or grandmother used instead, and how old your house is. Not one of them goes unread.