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I’m ex-Amish & the women clean the whole house from top to bottom – our 3 main ingredients for making floors shine
A common wood cleaner costs $9 on Amazon
AN ex-Amish author may have left her former way of life behind, but their cleaning methods left an impact.
She shared the top ingredients many women in the community used to keep floors shiny and spotless in their homes.
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Naomi Swartzentruber, 43, is an ex-Amish author who grew up in the strictest of the Amish sects, the Swartzentruber Amish.
She ran away in 1997 when she was 17 years old from her small community in Michigan and now resides in Arizona.
She has always been a fan of cleaning, but she doesn't like to use chemicals.
Instead, she prefers more natural alternatives derived from her upbringing and environment, like rainwater for washing dishes.
Swartzentruber shared some hacks Amish use to combat dirt and grime on floors with The U.S. Sun.
She revealed that in her childhood home, they did "spot cleaning" throughout the week, and just made sure to clean up after themselves.
"Every morning after breakfast, we sweep the kitchen and the living room floor because we have wooden floors, and then even after lunch sometimes we have to sweep under the table," she explained.
Saturday was the designated "cleaning day" for all of the women.
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"We wash. We clean from top to bottom," she added.
While the women are indoors, Swartzentruber said that the men tidy up the barns and sheds and take all of the manure out.
She described it as everyone had their "roles" for the day.
Amish women used several cheap buys to clean their wooden floors that both disinfected and left a scent distinct scent behind.
I’m ex-Amish & our special cleaning ingredient makes dishes shine and works on laundry, just use it with the right water
VINEGAR
One item that Swartzentruber still uses in her own home is vinegar.
The multi-purpose natural solution tackles many problem areas that can build up gunk and can be effective on some stains and surfaces.
Vinegar is frequently used as a household cleanser in both non-Amish and Amish homes.
She agreed that it was what Amish women "primarily" cleaned with all over.
As a bonus, it's relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and eco-friendly.
OIL IT UP
Another useful Amish product that she suggested for polishing floors was oil, specifically linseed oil and sometimes Murphy's oil.
Swartzentruber explained that it worked well on the hardwood oak or pine flooring.
Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil, comes from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant.
Sometimes it's colorless and other times it has a yellowish tint.
Experts at The Natural Handyman called it a preservative for wood, and concrete, and a common ingredient in paint.
Cleaning hacks and tips
Here are some tips to help you when you clean your home next:
- How to clean your shower to ensure it's always sparkling
- What to do to get rid of nasty odors in your home
- Here's how to get your home smelling like fresh laundry
- You're cleaning your pots and pans all wrong - here's a trick to remove the residue
- These are five hacks to ensure your kitchen is spotless
- What you need to know when cleaning your bathroom
- This trick will ensure your washing machine is clean and smells great
- This cheap, easy trick will remove your mold from grout without scrubbing
- These simple items will make your carpet clean and look brand new
- This 'lazy' hack will ensure your oven is clean for pennies
BUDGET BUYS
Amish women sometimes also used store-bought brands to keep their floors sparkling.
Murphy's Oil Soap Wood Cleaner, $8.50 at Amazon, was commonly seen around the land.
They also occasionally pulled out Pine-Sol, which left behind a fresh lemon scent and killed germs.
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The all-purpose cleaner has many purposes, and several TikTok users have different hacks for it around their property.
Swartzentruber recently released her debut novel The Amazing Adventures of an Amish Stripper: An Erotic Memoir, which depicted what led her to her spicy career path that helped shape her today.
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