There are a lot of instructions to make your own cleaning products online. Making your own cleaning products reminds me of all of the Martha Stewart how-to's where she makes it look so easy but she's got five people in the background doing all the work that we don't see. The truth is that most of us are not going to be making our own cleaning chemicals. Cleaning products can be toxic, can trigger asthma, and contain persistent, bioaccumulative ingredients that can cause a full range of problems. There have been stories of people and pets dying from cleaning products. Yet manufacturers do not need to disclose cleaning product ingredients and their hazards in off-the-shelf consumer products.
So how do we find safer cleaning products that are also better for the environment?
The key is to look for the EPA Safer Choice label, make sure you purchase in concentrate, and use peroxides instead of bleaches for the tougher jobs.
Top Eco Choice All
Purpose Concentrate
Choosing a product that is concentrated means you can use the same refillable spray bottle over and over again to dilute a concentrated product with water. This means that you are eliminating single-use plastic and not paying to transport water, which also saves fuel. Finding one all-purpose cleaner will cut down on the hassle of having many different products, but I find I still need a handful of different products to get the house cleaning job done. A concentrated all-purpose cleaner with some peroxide does the job for kitchen and bathroom surfaces.
Window Cleaner
I keep hearing that a little bit of vinegar and water and some newspaper cleans windows. After trying this, the house smelled sour and the windows were streaky and still dirty. It's bad enough having to do housework but even worse when it doesn't pay off. I quickly switched back to finding an EPA Safer Choice product.
The Seventh Generation products are the OG green cleaners and their window cleaner seems to be the most streak free I've found.
Waste Free Cleaning Kit without the Expensive Subscription
If you want the full package cleaning solution with third party verifications up the
wazoo, go for the Blueland Clean Home Kit. You'll get a bathroom cleaner tablet, a kitchen cleaner tablet, and a hand soap bomb; all of which can be diluted in a reusable container that comes with the kit. This company is EPA Safer Choice Certified, a B Corp, and they won't charge you expensive package subscriptions for products you don't need. Buy only what you need. They also have a toilet cleaner tablet that works pretty well.
Cleaning Cloths and Mops: To Microfiber or Not
Microfibre cleaning cloths and mops are pretty amazing. They catch dirt, are washable and reusable, and allow you to use less cleaning products and sometimes forego the product. However, they are made out of polyester and contribute to micro-plastic in our environment when we wash them. And I'm so bummed about that because I love them. They make my life easier and as I learn they are not great for the environment, I'm looking into alternatives. I've heard that cloth diapers are good to replace microfibre cloths and these organic kitchen cloths seem like a good buy. I'm going to try out a cotton cloth mop head and see if it works as well as microfiber. I have yet to find a good microfibre replacement for a extendable duster.
Let us know if you've found other green cleaning hacks that you've found work extremely well.
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