Thursday, 10 September 2009

That Little Bit Greener


The theme this week is cleaning products. I bought Clean House, Clean Planet a few years back and tried out many of the ideas that she suggests. Things I did and stuck with...

  • use rags for cleaning and change to microfibre dusters - they can be thrown in the wash
  • use soda water as a window/glass cleaner
  • use baking soda where-ever possible - this is great for cleaning the microwave and the stove top as well as taking away stinky smells. Top tip, if you have a stain on the hob/over that won't come off, sprinkle with baking soda and a drop of water, then rub whilst wearing rubber gloves, works a treat especially on IH stoves.
  • use vinegar, water and essential oils mix as a general surface cleaner
I did try and eliminate all chemicals but ran into some problems.
  • Summer in Japan are very humid and it breeds mold, the only way I have found to keep the bathroom mold free is a weekly clean with bleach, it is my least favourite job but I tried many a different cleaner and bleach is the only one that worked. The toilet gets a once a week bleach treatment too. The rest of the time I use vinegar and baking soda but noticed that it needs a stronger cleaner once in a while.
  • laundry detergent - we used an eco one for a while but it disappeared from the stores and the only one I have found recently is really expensive so we are back to the usual.
  • Dishwasher detergent - I tend to mix in half detergent and half baking soda but would like a more eco way of doing it, any ideas?
  • washing up liquid - again, we used to use the eco one until it disappeared.
Of course, the best way to reduce all these chemical cleaners would be to not do any cleaning! I wish I could pull that one off LOL. So, what are your best eco cleaning tips? I'd like to eliminate the chemicals completely (or at least use a greener version) with the exception of the bath bleach.
Now pop over to A Little Bit Greener and see what else is cleaning with..

5 comments:

  1. This blog has some great advice about living more sustainably (I'm not associated with it at all, but do read it daily and find it full of inspirtation):
    http://www.towards-sustainability.com/
    She has homemade recipes for all sorts of things around the home from dishwasher liquid and powder to toothpaste and shaving gel. Hopefully there'll be something useful for you there!

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  2. I've picked up a lot of tips for cleaning from this site:

    http://lorettawallace.net/clngrn.html

    She also has a page dedicated to home-made cosmetics:

    http://lorettawallace.net/beauty.html

    Sometimes I realise I'm greener than I thought!

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  3. hello there. we used charlie's soap (washing powder)when we lived in japan (can be ordered online from a japanese supplier)...we used it for washing but for all sorts of cleaning too...can highly recommend it!

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  4. There are lots of recipes using castille soap and plant oil based soaps. I use a pre-made spray with coconut soap and lemon oil and lots of vinegar and baking soda. I live in a fairly humid area too and I haven't found an alternative to bleach for the mold/mildew either.

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  5. thanks for all the good tips!

    ReplyDelete

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