Tips for Cleaning Your House the Eco-Friendly Way

Many cleaning items contain hazardous chemicals that may be effective at cleaning your house but are also harmful to your health. Cleaning items have warnings on the packaging about not ingesting the liquid or being in too close proximity to the toxins they contain. There are even some items that need you to put a mask on before using them. This in itself should tell you how dangerous the substances are for your health and why you should seriously consider avoiding them.

Are you looking for alternative cleaning solutions that are both environmentally friendly and less expensive than store-bought products? Maybe you have a stubborn stain that won’t come out with traditional methods. Here are four simple suggestions and tricks that you can use right away.

1. Vinegar & Baking Soda


Yes, the same tools that you use to cook and bake can also be used to clean up spills and dirt that has already settled. A paste can be made by mixing 1 part baking soda with 2 to 3 parts vinegar and applying it generously to stove grease, food and drink stains on carpets, and lime build-up in showers.

Both of these ingredients may also be used on their own. Baking soda is beneficial if your carpets or sheets have a musty odor. Before vacuuming up the baking soda, dust it and let it rest for a few minutes. This miracle powder absorbs a wide range of unpleasant odors and can be used for a variety of household products. However, make sure that no pets or small children are around since ingesting baking soda, while not toxic like ingesting conventional cleaning solutions, can still be dangerous. 

2. Make Your Detergent


Natural fruits can be used as an all-purpose cleaner which can be used on any surface. White vinegar, water, essential oils, shavings of soap and the peels of any citrus fruit you have on hand make up the basic recipe. It might sound too good to be true, but the citrus in the peels, when mixed with vinegar and soap, is just as strong as regular bleach. This simple hack will delight you because you put the ingredients together.

Create a separate batch of only the fruit peels, vinegar, and essential oils as an alternative to air freshener. Fill a spray bottle with the mixture and your home will smell wonderful. Many businesses also offer enviro cleaning products that can be effective for cleaning your home.

3. Use Lemon for Your Dishes


lemons in crate with sign - tips for cleaning your house the eco-friendly way

The heat of the stove can easily tarnish pots and pans. Most of us just live with the burn marks and ignore them, but those stains can be removed with relative ease. Cut a lemon in half and use a circular motion to clean the surface for a few minutes. Add some salt to the lemon first to create a more abrasive solution.

You should be able to brush away the majority of the dirt, or at the very least scrape it away with a hard sponge. The lemon and salt help to lift the dirt from the surface.

4. Buy Green Products that Can Prove They’re Green


If you do not want to go fully natural and make cleaners on your own, there is no reason why you have to, since there are countless green products available on the market right now. Many companies actually sell nontoxic versions of their go-to cleaners. You can thus easily buy premade solutions.

This can make it very simple to make the transition from a traditional cleaning product to a fully green cleaning product. The trick is to do your research and check ingredients, since companies aren’t required to disclose what’s in their products. Don’t get greenwashed!

Since you’re moving to green products, this is a great time to remove those products you no longer plan on using. This step is important to do properly because the way in which you get rid of them is not as straightforward you might imagine. If there’s no hazardous waste depot in your area, the best thing to do is to find out when your community hosts recycling days or find companies that specialize in recycling toxic cleaning products. 

Conclusion


There are numerous other ways to make your cleaning routine more environmentally friendly. Consider putting some indoor plants in your home to help purify the air, and keep your windows open for ventilation during the day. The benefit of following these suggestions is that you can not only save money, but you will also begin to feel healthier physically as your body is no longer exposed to the chemicals that we are all too familiar with.

Keep in mind that there are several other things you could do in order to clean your home in a truly eco-friendly way. Keep searching and you will find several interesting extra steps you could take.

Feature image: Michal Jarmoluk; Image 1: Quintin Gellar

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