While not so obsessive about cleaning as I was in the past, in fact nowhere close to it, I still like to wipe things down regularly and a cleaning rag of some type is always close at hand. In bygone days, that usually meant a stack of environmentally harsh cleaning fluids were also close by.

One of my favorites was/is Windex. I blame my mother; I think she bottle fed me the stuff ;). If the bottle of Windex was ever missing from the cupboard in our house, it would be found within arms reach of me. It's hard to break the Windex habit - I didn't just use it on glass, but also on surfaces.

Windex wouldn't be what I'd consider a particularly nasty environmental hazard compared to other cleaners, but it's just another product that we probably don't need to use so much of when there are other simple, cheap, effective and environmentally friendly options available.

Half the time these surfaces really didn't warrant a chemical attack, just a wipe; but I wanted - no, needed, to spray it with something and for it to have the smell of clean!

A couple of weeks ago, I found a replacement and it's so quick and easy to make, this post really should have only been one line. Here it is:

- Spray bottle of water
- Vanilla essence to "taste"

That's it! It's enough to move stains that aren't stubborn, and leaves a nice fresh scent! If you're a Windex junkie, give this a go; it might help you to break the habit and will save you a bit of cash too. By the way, this tip isn't for glass cleaning - just surfaces

Don't stop at that, check out a stack of other green cleaner recipes and earth friendly cleaning alternatives