Are these eco-friendly spring cleaning tips hacks or hype?

Veronique Levesque with Molly Maid is sharing cleaning tips to help around the house that are eco-friendly.

Spring is here, which means it’s time for some cleaning. While you may have be looking for some more eco-friendly cleaning options, how do you know which green cleaning tips you can trust?

To help dispel some myths about eco-friendly cleaning, Véronique Levesque, cleaning expert with Molly Maid, joined CTV’s Your Morning Ottawa on Tuesday.

Levesque offered her take on whether five eco-friendly cleaning tips should be trusted or busted.

Using walnuts to remove scratches on hardwood floors

Levesque’s verdict? Trust.

“Not just a good snack,” she says.

According to Levesque, the oil in walnuts is effective at removing small white scratches from hardwood.

Using rice to help clean blades of blenders or grinders

Levesque’s verdict? Trust.

Levesque says rice can work well to absorb dirt or small coffee grains that may be stuck in your blender or coffee grinder, but there are a few caveats.

“You have to make sure you use instant rice, because the other regular rice is a little too course, a little too hard on the blades,” she says.

Levesque also says this tip doesn’t work for burr coffee grinders or other grinders that crush coffee beans.

“You have to make sure they’re blades,” she says.

Using dryer sheets to repel dust on baseboards

Levesque’s verdict? Bust.

According to Levesque, this “hack” may in fact end up causing dust build-up.

“They have a wax film on them, so when you use them on baseboards, the wax goes on the baseboard and it actually doesn’t repel the dust, it attracts the dust,” she said.

As an alternative, Levesque recommends cleaning your baseboards with a micro fibre towel, Dawn dish soap and warm water.

Using cornmeal to help with greasy garage spills

Levesque’s verdict? Trust.

Cornmeal is an eco-friendly option for absorbing up greasy spills, she says.

“They’re a little messy to clean up afterwards cause all those little particles, so you want to make sure you sweep it very well or vacuum it after,” Levesque said.

Using a vinegar and baking soda mix to clean drainpipes

Levesque’s verdict? Bust.

While this solution can be effective cleaner in certain situations, it won’t help to clean your drainpipes of grease.

“If you want an eco-friendly solution to help cleaning your drainpipes, pour a quarter cup of Dawn in your drain, and then hot water — not boiling water — hot water, and that will help break down the grease,” Levesque said.

“It will stay there a little longer with Dawn, so it will be able to help you for a few weeks.”

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