Now more than ever we are aware of the importance of our cleanliness, both personal hygiene and around our home. Conventional household cleaners tend to use harsh and sometimes toxic chemicals that are abrasive and can irritate. However, there are much simpler natural cleaning alternatives you can use that are gentle yet effective.
We’ve put together a short list of tips and suggestions for cleaning your home naturally, which you can find below. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you try any, or if you have your own tips to share.
Kitchen
Kitchens are naturally a hive of activity, and probably the most important room to keep clean as that’s where you’re preparing meals. For many cleaning tasks, white vinegar will be your best friend. In the kitchen it can be used to thoroughly clean worktops, remove limescale from taps and draining boards, and to clean out your dishwasher among other things.
You can clean your microwave using just water, organic lemons and vinegar. Slice the lemons and add them to a bowl of water with a few tablespoons of white vinegar. Put the microwave on for 5-10 minutes, once it’s finished leave it to stand for an extra 5 minutes. Then remove the bowl of lemons and wipe away the stains with a clean, damp cloth – they should come away easily without any scrubbing.
To give your dishwasher a good detox, place a cup of white vinegar on the top rack and run the hottest setting which will help to remove stains, sanitise and remove any musty odours. You can also sprinkle a cup of baking soda around the bottom of the dishwasher and run a short cycle to freshen it up.
Wash up dishes with a tablespoon of Borax Substitute in a sink full of water, adding Soda Crystals for very greasy dishes, especially if you suffer from allergies. If you prefer to use conventional washing up liquid try something with a plant based formala, like Wilton London. Avaialable in natural Grapefruit or Eucalyptus and fragranced with essential oils, these botanical washing up liquids are a great choice.
For a clean oven, make a paste of baking soda and water. You can use a spray bottle to coat the oven in water, and then sprinkle the baking soda in a thick later at the bottom. Leave the solution for the few hours and when you come back to it just wipe up the paste with a cloth or old towel.
Bathroom
Again in the bathroom you can use white vinegar to descale taps and showerheads, as well as keeping your shower screen sparkling. If you find the limescale on your taps or around your showerhead is too tough to remove with a simple wipe down, use a sandwich bag full of white vinegar to soak for a couple of hours to break down the scale.
For a fresh clean toilet without the use of chemicals, try the minty scented organic toilet cleaner from Greenscents. It is made with pure Exmoor water direct from the source, along with other certified ingredients for a greener toilet clean. Don’t forget to use a plastic free toilet brush.
Living Spaces
Baking soda works as a great odour remover and is perfect for sofas, carpets, mattresses and other soft furnishings that soak up smells. Just sprinkle some over the offending surface, leave for a few hours and then vacuum up. Make sure to test in an inconspicuous spot first.
Dusting blinds can sometimes prove difficult, and you end up just displacing the dust rather than removing it. You can always use a microfibre cloth to trap the dust, but if you’re not a fan of those a great alternative is an old pair of socks. Wear the socks like a glove, dampen one with vinegar and wipe away the dust before drying with the other, it makes cleaning the blind a quick job. Then you can clean your windows with white vinegar to finish off.
Let us know your natural cleaning routine in the comments below!