Switch to Green Household Cleaners
There’s no doubt about it – we live in a chemical world.
Tens of thousands of ‘cleaning’ chemicals are manufactured, used and released into the environment every day. Many of these man-made chemicals have never been properly tested for their safety and many have been linked to serious health problems in humans and wildlife. Phosphates in detergents pollute rivers and streams where they can lead to an overgrowth of river plants, ultimately starving fish and other aquatic life of oxygen.
Hazardous chemicals have had a global impact – they have contaminated the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat, and can be found in natural ecosystems from the tropics to once pristine polar regions. So why not switch to biodegradable, phosphate-free, non- petrochemical based household cleaners, such as Ecover or Bio D (now available in many supermarkets).
Want to crank it up a notch? If merely switching products isn’t enough of a challenge, how about making your own household cleaning products. It’s easier than it sounds. Some basic essential ingredients:
- White vinegar: A natural disinfectant, stain remover and reduces mineral and lime deposits. You can use white wine vinegar, but white distilled vinegar is cheaper. Don’t use malt vinegar – your home will end up smelling like a chippie!
- Bicarbonate of Soda (aka baking soda/sodium bicarbonate): A miracle cleaner. When mixed with water it forms a slightly alkaline liquid, which cuts through grease and dirt on almost any surface. Used neat it’s slightly abrasive and can be used to scrub problem stains. Vinegar and soda can be mixed together for maximum cleaning strength. (Baking powder works just as well.)
- Lemons: The citric acid in lemon juice makes it perfect for bleaching, disinfecting, deodorising and cutting grease.
- Olive Oil Great alternative furniture polish. Don’t worry about using the extra-virgin type, the most basic will do.
- Top tip: Combine your ingredients in spray bottles and shake well to dissolve.
Click here for more details, and ‘recipes’.
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Recent Comments
Recent people doing this
Lancaster, GB , 15 Nov 2006
Add half a lemon to your dishwasher for a great shine – and helps keep the dishwasher clean and smelling sweet !
17 Nov 2006
I started to use a few drops of teatree oil in water to clean the mould off my bathroom walls, works brilliantly, and smells pretty good! – much much better than bleach . Also have used Ecover products for long time, they are great.
19 Nov 2006
Had a quick look at the website this action links to – word of caution re using vinegar on mold – avoid using on bathroom tiles as it may take the grout off. Teatree oil in water much better idea, and as Sonia says – works really well.
Leicester, GB , 15 Dec 2006
For cleaning tea stains and the like off the kitchen sink/around the plughole I use white vinegar which smells nasty because of the acidity, but is very effective and the smell doesn’t linger.
22 Dec 2006
Being both vegan and Eco warriors my partner and I have been using animal free, environmentally friendly products for a number of years. The Ecover range is brilliant.
Caerphilly, GB , 03 Feb 2007
I’ve been using white vinegar & bicarb for a while, and also use Ecover products. I buy in bulk now from the internet as I find I can get a much wider range than in the supermarket, and the price is a bit cheaper when you buy the huge size containers. Storage is interesting, though! I also use microfibre cloths as these help to cut down on the amount of product you need to use.
20 Feb 2007
Is it just me, or is the smell of Ecover really nice? I use loads of their products and try to keep half squeezed lemons by the sink to wash up greasy pans – works way better than washing up liquid. Bicarb sprinkled on a carpet stain and then vacuumed up the next day worked pretty well too… until my vacuum cleaner died while trying to eat the fringing from a rug. I should be generous and try to get it fixed I suppose.
03 Mar 2007
Have been using Ecover for a while and also buy in bulk either from internet (goodness direct do bulk packets- ie 10 KGs washing powder/ 5L washing up liquid) or from the wholesalers. Have been exploring white vinegar and bicarb recently. Does anyone know any internet based people that do decent sized bottles of white vinegar WITHOUT the spray nozzle everytime( what a waste)- also looking for supplier of borax??
Newark, GB , 13 Mar 2007
I’ve found Borax at Boyes (which is only in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, but is a similar shop to Wilkos). I think I’ve also seen it at a local hardware shop, so it’s probably worth asking in there if you have one nearby.
Amersham, GB , 15 May 2007
We’ve been comitted to using eco/animal friendly cleaning products for well over ten years now. When I get round to cleaning, they work really well. We have magnetic balls in both the dishwasher and the washing machine to reduce limescale. They also mean you cna use less washing liquid. We’re never without a plentiful supply of bicarb and vinegar. Bicarb is great in the nappy bucket instead of Milton or other nasties.
21 Jun 2007
Ecover stuff is great. Love the smell too. Also been using Enjo cloths which need no chemicals, just cold water, they are quite expensive but do work well. Also using e-cloths from John Lewis which are not quite as high-tech as enjo, but are very good too and only cost £5 each!
18 Jul 2007
I’ve not bought any from them yet but have found http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/ selling cleaning ingredients in bulk.
The book Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan has a lot of handy tips for those interested in non-toxic cleaning.
Caerphilly, GB , 17 Sep 2007
Another place for buying in bulk on the internet is Ecotopia.co.uk. They do quite a lot of liquid cleaners in 25 litre containers. My poor delivery man dreads coming to my house now!
Luton, GB , 09 Jan 2008
Have been using stuff like Ecover for years – mostly because my hands don’t get eczema that way! And Ecover laundry bleach dissolved in boiling water is a good loo-cleaner too without knocking out the sewage works useful bugs! It’s really good in cold water too for getting blood dtains out of clothing etc. Our local Fair Trade shop does refills of Ecover products (saves storing big containers), and white vinegar can be bought in supermarkets – I use it for making chutney too (but only when it’s on offer and cheaper than the brown!)
12 Apr 2008
Hard as half this household is working on this but the other half still prefers bleach and ordinary soap powder.
Reading, GB , 16 Apr 2008
Tesco (boo) actually do Borax and Bicarb in large boxes. I use Ecover most of the time, their limescale remover is the best I’ve found.
19 Apr 2008
You can get large containers of Ecover stuff from wigglywigglers.co.uk to refil you’re little containers of – say washing up liquid, shower gel etc. And then when the big containers are empty you can send those back to wiggly wigglers for a refil – so endlessly reusing the containers rather than recycling them. I’ve just bought the laundry liquid and washing up liquid, and will get the other products I use as funds allow.
Taunton, GB , 14 Nov 2008
I’ve been using eco friendly products on and off for several years now – but took the plunge and purchased some 5lt containers of washing up liquid, washing liquid and conditioner last week. Only just space for them. My problem always comes when there are really bad stains that just won’t come out without heavy doses of Vanish (eek). So I’m not 100% there yet…