Green Your Cleaning

When most people think of going green, they expect the transition to be an expensive one. Luckily, a common sense approach to eco-friendly cleaning products doesn’t have to be difficult or costly. Here are several tips to green your cleaning that can be easily incorporated into your household cleaning routine.

Simple and inexpensive items, such as soap, water, vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and Borax can take care of the usual cleaning needs of most households. Washing everything that comes in contact with raw meat or eggs with soapy, hot water is the most reliable way of killing Salmonella and E coli. Additionally, white vinegar can kill bacteria, viruses, and mold.

If you want to get rid of soap scum and some stains, instead of grabbing for the Comet or Ajax, make a paste of baking soda and water. If you want a commercially prepared product, try Bon Ami (calcium carbonate); it’s safer than similar products in that it doesn’t contain any chlorine bleach. Sprinkling baking soda in a sink and scrubbing with a damp sponge or rag will work in the same way as Comet or Ajax.

You can also green your cleaning by using the all purpose 20 Mule Team Borax. This product has been around for ages and is still popular. It contains no phosphates or chlorine, and it’s safe for septic tanks. It’s a great laundry booster, stain remover, and clothes deodorizer. Speaking of removing odors, its deodorizing abilities work wherever you need it – in the refrigerator, trash can, and bathroom. It’s also good in removing carpet stains and odors, but make sure you test on a small patch of carpet first to see if your carpet’s dye is colorfast. You can use the Mule Team for cleaning bathroom surfaces, just as you would with baking soda and water. Just sprinkle some on a damp sponge or rag and scrub. If you don’t want to deal with a powder, Ecover makes a plant based cleansing cream that is gentle on the earth. For toilet bowls, just a quarter cup of Mule Team Borax, soaking for at least 30 minutes, will do.

Green your window cleaning by making up your own mixture and placing into a spray bottle. If you want a lemony fragrance, put one tablespoon lemon juice with water inside your spray bottle. If you don’t mind the smell of vinegar, you can use 1/4 cup white vinegar in your spray bottle. In addition to a do-it-yourself window cleaner, a couple reputable eco companies make glass cleaners: Seventh Generation or Ecos.

The average laundry products you find in the store contain petroleum and phthalates, which have been suspected of causing cancer and harm to human’s reproductive system. It’s best to choose products that are fragrance free and not petroleum based; they should be plant based - such as corn oil, coconut oil, or palm kernel oil. If you have a stubborn stain, an eco friendly way of getting rid of it is water mixed with lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, or white vinegar. Non-chlorine bleach, such as Ecover and Seventh Generation are made with safer ingredients, such as hydrogen peroxide. For fabric softeners, a natural way is adding 1/4 cup baking soda or white vinegar to the wash cycle.

As you can see, green your cleaning takes common sense and getting back to the cleaning basics. Much of the going green movement is all about simplicity, and these common household products will have your house looking and smelling clean.