I started off by buying eco-friendly cleaning products like ecover in an attempt to reduce the amount of chemical nastiness that I was putting down the drains and exposing my family to. Unfortunately I found that they just didn't do the job as well as the stronger products, which meant far too much scrubbing for my liking!
So I started to look around for the old fashioned natural cleaning tips on the internet and found that these natural remedies were not only more effective than the eco-friendly products, but also more effective than the chemical based ones!
Arm your cleaning box with a few simple and cheap tools and your scrubbing days are over! Of course the laziest thing to do would be to employ a cleaner to use them for you, but for those of us who are full-time Mums and housekeepers and don't have this option, this new old-fashioned way of cleaning is the next best thing.
There are a few things that I recommend keeping in your cleaning cupboard, all of which I have managed to find in various supermarkets. Sometimes they're under the "natural household cleaning" section, as in Tescos, but often they're just food items that can also be used for cleaning.
- White Vinegar - I've yet to find a supermarket that has big enough bottles for my liking
- Olive oil - just cheap, light stuff, the extra-virgin has too much colour in it
- Bicarbonate of soda - in the baking section, but Tesco also do bigger packs in the cleaning section
- Borax - Spent quite a while looking for this until I found it in Tesco amongst the natural household cleaning products
- Lavender essential oil - I got this from Holland & Barrett but I think it's cheaper online
- Tea-tree essential oil - you can get this in the medicine section of most supermarkets or in Boots or Holland & Barrett or online from aromatherapy retailers.
You don't have to have all of these things to get started on your eco-cleaning. This is all stuff I've collected over about a year. You can do loads with just the white vinegar & bicarb, so I recommend starting with that and see how you get on.
This is the first in a series of posts about eco-cleaning for lazy people. The rest will have recipes and tips for how to manage day to day cleaning tasks. I hope you find them useful!
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Great post Catherine! I went through the same process a year ago and we've been using white vinegar, lemon oil, lavender, and tea tree oils exclusively and it's been fantastic. The cleaning power of vinegar is so amazing! We cleared our house of ALL other cleaners (we even make our own laundry detergent!) and now I don't have to worry about the kids finding something poisonous like windex and accidentally getting into it. I fill a spray bottle with white vinegar, water and a few drops of an essential oil and spray down surfaces, clean mirrors, glass, appliances, you name it! :) Was so glad to see a post like this because I think more people would use these home made cleaners if they realized how easy and effective they are!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it! I wanted to spread the word a bit as I'm sure you're right, more people would use natural cleaners if they knew about them.
ReplyDeleteI swear by white vinegar now, I've also been using it diluted in a spray bottle but without the essential oils. I'm going to start adding lavender though as before it dries the vinegar does make the place smell a bit like a chip shop! It's odourless once it is dry though.
I've not got as far as making my own laundry detergent though, would you share the recipe?! And I think Stephen said you were also using cloth nappies, does it cope ok with them?