Use Natural Household Cleaners for a Greener, Safer Home
- A green home can also be a clean home
Natural household cleaners provide a good safe alternative to chemical cleaners for a clean, greener home. Using natural household cleaners can be an effective addition to your green living strategies.
More and more people are adversely affected by the chemicals in their home environment. Using non-toxic, natural cleaners reduces the burden.
Using non-toxic cleaning products is not really chemical-free cleaning. But the chemicals used in these environmentally-safe cleaning products have fewer effects on our health.
Click here to go straight to the articles.Our modern homes are full of chemicals!
They are in the building materials used, the furniture and fittings and even everyday objects around the house such as the television and magazine covers. Some are harmless or inert and others are really quite toxic.
It’s hard to avoid many of these chemicals.
After all, who wants to live without a TV? Or a sofa?
Not very many people. (Modern sofas are treated with flame retardants.)
But there are ways we can reduce the number of toxic chemicals around us.
The first thing to do is to look at the products we use to clean our homes. We can certainly control which ones we buy.
How do chemical cleaning products affect us?
Many modern cleaning products contain harmful irritants and dyes. Some even contain solvents. Oven cleaners for example commonly contain toxic chemicals. Household bleach is a corrosive irritant and many multi-purpose cleaners contain a cocktail of chemicals, including ones which are thought to act on the central nervous system.
Plug-in air fresheners - the latest advertising executives dream product - have been linked to shortness of breath. Here in the UK, whole supermarket aisles are practically given over to selling these products.
Many of these substances can affect anyone who comes into contact with them. People who are allergic or who have other health problems can be severely affected in some cases. Some perfumes may also cause allergic reactions.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options for anyone who wants to have a clean, fresh house without the use of toxic products.
What are natural household cleaners?
Natural household cleaners are bio-friendly products which do not contain unnecessary chemicals. They are non-toxic or a lot less toxic for us and the environment.
The chemical composition of natural household cleaners is usually simple and many of them have been in use for generations. They don’t harm the environment and they don’t harm us!
By using non-toxic cleaners we can live in a less toxic home environment. This helps us to be healthier. Most of them break down harmlessly in the water and soil, causing no damage to wildlife and plant life or even humans.
The good news is that there are loads of simple, cheap and effective products which can be used for cleaning your home. You can do practically every normal household task using bio-friendly, non-toxic cleaners.
You can wash your clothes, wash and polish your floors, clean the windows, disinfect drains, freshen rooms and much more, all without using any really harmful products.
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Here are some of the best natural household cleaners
Vinegar, and washing soda or sal soda , baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate), borax and the amazing washball or laundry ball for washing clothes. Salt and soap nuts are also useful. Lemons are useful natural cleansers. Citric acid and other derivatives of lemons are used in many proprietary brands of eco-friendly cleaners.
Many of these cleaning agents can still be bought in ordinary shops and supermarkets. Others, such as borax, can be found in some chemists and pharmacies.
Most of these products will not have been tested on animals (or, to be more correct, they are not currently being tested) because they have been in use for generations already.
Natural cleaning - how to begin
Start by giving one or two things a try. Vinegar and washing soda are easy to start with – most people already have these in their cupboards – and washballs are stocked by many health food shops.
As you use up other cleaners, you can gradually replace the contents of your cleaning cupboard with safer, more bio-friendly products.
Below you will find recipes and usage ideas and more details on individual natural household cleaning products. Click the on-page links or use the site map to find what you want.
As well as the health benefits for us and the planet, most natural household cleaners are also cheaper.
Natural household cleaners - some recipes and cleaning methods
An everyday multi-surface cleaner
Take an empty washing-up liquid bottle or similar and fill it about 10th full of washing-up liquid detergent, preferably an environmentally friendly one such as Ecover.
Add a similar amount of white distilled vinegar. Fill up the rest of the bottle with plain water. Use this squirted onto a damp cloth for wiping down surfaces. Dilute further if it seems too foamy.
You can also use brown (malt) vinegar - it does not make much difference but test surfaces for staining before using it.
This cuts through grease very well and deodorises too. I've used it on sealed wood - such as kitchen cupboard doors and the kitchen table with no problems at all. I'm not sure I'd use it on the best polished mahogany table though!
Please see the articles below for more green cleaning ideas.
Natural household cleaners - the articles
Natural products for everyday cleaning
Aromatherapy Air Freshener is a Good Alternative to Sprays
Washing Soda for Safe Effective Home Cleaning
Baking Soda for Cleaning and Other Home Uses
More Baking Soda Uses About the House and Home
Vinegar and Bleach and Other Safety Bleach Facts and Tips
The Borax Information Page - includes notes on safety
Safe Chemical Cleaning Products
Cleaning Product Reviews - you can add your own, too
Cleaning with Microfiber Cloths - How Green are They?
An Anti-limescale Device Could Solve your Limescale Problems Easily
Green Cleaning Products and How to Choose Them
Laundry
Laundry Tips for a Greener Wash Day
Soap Nuts for a Soft Natural Wash
Homemade Detergent for Your Laundry
Recipes for cleaning materials
A Natural Oven Cleaner is Easy to Make
Useful machines
Steam Cleaners for Environmentally Friendly House Cleaning
A Steam Mop Makes Green Cleaning Easy
Product reviews
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Natural Household Cleaners - top of page
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