‘Wait, don’t I need harsh chemicals to kill germs and clean up greasy messes,’ said probably everyone.
That’s certainly what we thought. Growing up we remember the smells of fake pine and bleach as clean. But that’s not how it has to be.
You’ve got a couple options. You can make your own cleaning products or purchase environmentally friendly cleaning products to keep you, your family, and your environment healthy.
Making green cleaning products
Your grandma probably wasn’t running to the store to stock up on different commercially produced cleaners for every room, and you don’t have to either.
Several household products are great for keeping your home clean.
- Baking soda - gritty scrubber, also reacts with acids like lemon and vinegar
- White vinegar - disinfects and loosens dirt
- Lemon juice - disinfects, cuts through grease
- Olive oil - picks up dirt, polishes wood
- Castile soap - all-purpose foaming cleaner
Baking soda can be used to clean your kitchen and bath, carpet, and even your car! Check out some awesome tips here.
Do you hate cleaning your microwave? (We avoid it!) Mix a bowl of water and vinegar, a half cup of each, microwave it for a couple of minutes, then the build up wipes away. It’s almost as easy as blowing up the spaghetti in there! More ways to use vinegar for cleaning here.
How to clean with lemon, olive oil, and castile soap.
Buying green cleaning products
Sometimes it’s easier to pick up products at the store or order online. We get it! And we do it too.
Ms. Meyer’s and Seventh Generation are two brands that we’ve used. Seventh Generation has disinfectant sprays and wipes for killing germs on hard surfaces.
But there are a variety of other brands and products, made with many of the ingredients we already talked about you can try out. Here’s a great article about the best natural cleaning products.
How do you green clean? Drop us a line, we’d love learning from you too!