without dirtying the environment
Household Index
Natural Tips
We all like to live in reasonably clean and comfortable homes. Every night
as we sit in front of the television, we are bombarded with advertisements
on the best washing up liquid, the fastest drain cleaner, the most effective
antibacterial spray, the most convenient bathroom cleaner. There are so
many amazing cleaning products available at the supermarket, that with
enough diligence, we should be able to clean our lives away!
But have you ever considered what is really necessary
to keep our homes dirt free? In fact, just how dirt free do we actually
need to be? And furthermore, what is in all of these products which keep
our homes sterile but dirty the world around us?
The Problem
The household cleaning market is dominated by two companies,
Unilever and Proctor & Gamble. Between them, they make most of the
cleaning products on our supermarket shelves, from washing powder to toothpaste
and dishwasher tablets. These two companies are not endorsed by bodies
like Naturewatch and Friends of the Earth for good reason: they use manufacturing
techqniques that involve gross pollution and animal testing.
Everyday cleaners contain substances classified from
toxic to corrosive to poisonous. Manufacturers
are not required to list specific ingredients on labels, so you don't
necessarily know what you're getting - a fact which makes it harder to
protect yourself, your family and the environment from poisons.
Some ingredients used in washing powders contain petrochemical
surfectants and optical brightening agents to make whites look white.
These harm fish and other aquatic life.
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Solutions
As synthetic chemicals and materials are not easily broken
down, the ecosystem can become toxic. It is therefore best to seek out
cleaning products which are biodegradable, non-toxic and vegetable based
(which makes them suitable for septic tanks).
There are a number of eco-friendly household products
and tools available on the market today. Due to new government directives
and consumer trends, more and more companies are jumping on the "green"
bandwagon, which makes it much easier to find these products.
A popular and easily available brand to look out for
is "Ecover" who make everything from washing up liquid, soap
powder, and fabric conditioner to dishwasher tabs and draincleaner. In
some healthfood shops it is possible to either buy Ecover in bulk, or
refill your empty bottles from huge vats.
There are even companies developing cloths which clean
without using chemicals! One such company manufactures the E-Cloth System
which is a whole new way to clean and uses no chemicals at all.
And there are the old fashioned “old wives”
methods of cleaning, which are every bit as effective as the super high
powered cleaners which are peddled by the likes of Proctor and Gamble.
On these pages we have provided home-made alternatives,
and old fashioned tips, along with further weblinks, recommendations and
resources.
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Natural
Tips to Clean Your Home
You probably already have many items in your pantry that
are suitable for keeping your house clean. Here's a short guide on some
basic natural cleaners and how they can be used:
Bicarbonate
of Soda (baking soda)
- naturally abrasive
- absorbs smells
- clearns limescale
- cleans silver without scratching
To absorb odors in the fridge, place a dishful of bicarb
of soda in the fridge.
Using bicarb of soda as an abrasive will remove stains
from enamel baths and crockery.
To clean fiddly silver items, line an empty plastic ice-cream
carton with aluminum foil (shiny side up), add a cup of warm water and
a teaspoon of bicarb of soda. Drop the silver items in the solution. After
a few seconds your dirty silver will be gleaming!
Distilled
White Vinegar
- fantastic for removing limescale
- cleans windows a treat 50/50 with water
- cleans brass, bronze and chrome
If your shower head is all limed up, take it off the
hose, put it headfirst into a pint glass or vase and pour vinegar in to
cover the head. Leave for a few hours. The lime scale will have softened
and can be washed off effortlessly with water.
If you have limescale round your taps, soak kitchen towels
or rags in white vinegar and wrap round your taps covering the offending
lime-scale completely and making sure that the area is saturated. Cover
with a plastic bag in order that the rags stay wet. After a few hours,
you will be able to wash the limescale off.
To clean windows, make a 50/50 solution of white vinegar
and water. Wash windows with this solution, dry, and then buff with scrunched
up newspaper. Your windows will never have been shinier!
To clean brass and bronze, mix half teaspoon of salt
and half a cup of white vinegar, then use flour to make a paste. Apply
thickly, leave for 30 mins, rinse off.
To clean chrome, wipe with vinegar, rinse with water.
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Lemon
Juice
- removes lime scale
- polishes copper
To clean lime scale from cups and glasses, cut a lemon
in half, cover the cut half with salt and rub this into the lime scale.
Rinse the glass and the lime scale will have vanished.
To clean copper, polish with a lemon juice and salt paste.
Borax
- anit-bacterial
- cleansing and stain removing
- fungicidal
- bleaching
- deoderant
Mold and mildew can be tackled with a mix of borax and
water - simply spray on and wipe off. If your shower is prone to mold,
wash down with borax and do not rinse. The borax residue will fight mold
growth.
Make your own spot remover with 1/4 cup of borax dissolved
in 2 cups of water. Sponge on stain and let dry, or pre-treat before washing.
Good for blood, chocolate, mud, coffee, mildew and urine stains.
Add half a cup of borax to your wash load with the usual
amount of washing powder to boost its cleaning power and deodorise the
wash.
Soak delicates in a solution of 1 or 2 tablespoons of
washing powder and a quarter cup of Borax in a bowl of warm water. Rinse
in cool water and dry as appropriate.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon of Borax in a litre of warm water
and use to wipe the fridge clean and deodorise it at the same time.
Mix borax into a paste and rub into carpet stains. Allow
to dry and then vacuum the powder. For wine and other liquid stains dissolve
half a cup of Borax in half a litre of warm water, leave for 30 minutes
and sponge off. For odours, dampen the area sprinkle with Borax and vacuum
when it has dried.
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Tea
Tree Oil
- antibacterial
- antiseptic
- anti-fungal
- healing
Use tea tree oil in a spray bottle (with distilled water)
as a disinfectant for anything at all that needs disinfecting.
Use tea tree oil in a nappy bucket instead of “napisan”
to soak nappies or re-usable sanitary or menstrual products.
Use neat tea tree oil on insect stings – it will
clean them and stop irritation.
Use tea tree oil in a spray bottle to fight mould.
The
E-Cloth System
The E-Cloth is made from millions of tiny, clever fibres
which have such a good natural cleaning effect that only water is needed
to clean absolutely everywhere. Once used the cloths may be washed time
and time again, and with correct use will last for years. The cloths may
be used on all hard surfaces but are especially effective on glass, chrome
and stainless steel. Ideal for cleaning all areas of the home a colour
coded pack of E-cloths provides a useful introduction to cleaning without
chemicals. With four colour-coded general purpose cloths you can keep
different coloured cloths for particular areas of the home. The glass/polishing
cloth is perfect for delicate surfaces and will clean glass, mirrors,
chrome finishes, etc., whereas the thicker general purpose cloths are
ideal for surfaces such as stainless steel, ceramics, marble, etc. Also
in the range are chemical free mops and floor polishers.
http://www.enviroproducts.co.uk/home.asp
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