Natural cleaning products

[Gemini]

Some of you have mentioned using natural alternatives to all the liquids and sprays we can buy to clean our homes.

Can those of you who use lemon, vinegar, bicarb etc share your tips with us please?

I think the less chemicals we can use the better really, but I'm not that good at knowing what to use where!

[Daisy]

Gem, I have the same problem. I would like to reduce the chemicals we use on a daily basis, but need help and advice on how to use natural products effectively.

[Lizzie48]

I am a lover of cleaning vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, vinegar in the rinse of the machine etc. I never use bleach in the toilet, just the vinegar for the scale.

Clean the leather suite with castor oil, I have done for years. I will think of a few more tips during the day.

The DH of the friend that passed away 2 years ago had a very awful stain on the induction plate, he asked my advice!!! With bicarb and vinegar we managed to clean it, now he tells friends how we did it! They tell him he could have used HG, that is full of chemicals, this worked!

[Nanto2girls]

Sorry ladies, but i'm all for using manufactured cleaning sprays.

[Gemini]

Those definitely do the job Nan2, and sometimes it's all that really works.

I'm keen to try some more natural methods though.
When I squeeze a lemon to make lemon juice for a cold, I always use the left over lemon to clean the sink!

[Oma]

I'm a big user of vinegar and bicarb,
I use a mixture of vinegar water and a dash of washing up liquid to clean my kitchen and bathroom tiles and my hob,
Half vinegar half water a dash of washing liquid in a spray bottle,
Stubborn marks on my hob I use bicarb and lemon made into a past

I also use it to clean my sink and hand basins,
Sometimes smells like a fish shop but that only lasts a little while.

I like sugar soap as well it removes grease very well.
And it's brilliant on plastic frames etc.

I do use Dettol anti bac sprays on my door handles though,

I'm not saying I don't use some chemicals , like zoflora spray I always have a bottle of that in ,
I use that on the toilets

My wooden work tops get washed down every morning with hot water and washing up liquid ,
I don't use vinegar on them it takes the waterproof oil off .

I also use flash on my floors, I have tried eco stuff it just doesn't do the job I think .

I sometimes use bleach in the toilet maybe once a week otherwise it's Harpic

But yes my go to always is bicarb and vinegar ,
Great for doing a clean in the washer once a month too.

[Plantaholic]

Will you come and clean my house Oma.

[Clover]

I use white vinegar which seems just as effective as the chip shop variety and doesn’t smell.

BTW Apparently in a chip shop the condiment isn’t actual vinegar as we know it but a “ non-brewed “ condiment.

[Oma]

I only use white vinegar Clover,😁

My next door neighbour's brother had. A fish & chips shop ,
She told us
It came in huge barrels they would decant, apparently as you say Clover it's not vinegar at all that's why it tastes different .

[Lizzie48]

Here we have special vinegar for cleaning. It is twice the strength of ordinary vinegar, certainly not to be used in foods. At the moment gallons are being sold for the weeds on the driveways.

[Oma]

Lizzie
I saw something similar in the hard wear shop the other day ,
But it. Was huge containers far too much for us and no where to store it,
I might see if DD wants to have half , they. Have a garage of sorts it could go in..

[Plantaholic]

Goodness knows what the cleaner uses, I must have a peek. How much do you Dilute the vinegar? Is it good for window cleaning too?

[Lizzie48]

The one here is much stronger Oma, I read on the ex-pats site that they take it back to family in the UK as it is stronger.

[Oma]

Plant I do half vinegar half water and a dash of washing up liquid ,
It works well on windows too .
You can use more vinegar if you like but that's how I use it, especially on my tiles.

[Daisy]

I'd love to get my head round using more natural products, and I will, one day.

One commercial product I particularly like is Method Daily Clean Shower Spray. A quick squirt round after using the shower leaves it clean and free of limescale, even with our hard water. You don't even have to rinse it off.

If you're trying to find the least damaging commercial products I find Yuka very useful. It's free to use and covers a wide range of household products, beauty products and foods. I think I've mentioned it before, but it does throw up some surprises. I seem to remember children's suncream was one!

https://yuka.io/en/