Markets are saturated with user-friendly, efficient and effective cleaning products designed to make house cleaning stress-free. While these products are handy, they are laden with a multitude of chemicals, out of which not all are eco-friendly.
Chemicals like formaldehyde, glycol ethers, parabens, phthalates and many more are known to cause cancer, disrupt hormones, distress respiratory tracts and lead to various other health issues in humans and animals. Furthermore, commercial cleaners, although useful, have an adverse impact on the planet.
You should use them with caution for routine house cleaning or end-of-lease cleaning in Canberra. Whether you use store-bought cleaners daily or weekly, everyone will contain at least 2-3
toxic ingredients.
Therefore, the need of the hour is to understand the environmental impact of cleaning products. Here is your complete guide outlining ingredients to avoid in cleaners, the impact these cleaners have on the planet and how to make natural cleaning solutions.
Don’t Buy Cleaners with Toxic Ingredients
Commercial cleaners with toxic ingredients dominate the markets, and most people end up buying them due to their ready availability. However, many brands manufacture green and natural cleaners without harmful chemicals. Thus, if you want to buy house cleaning products consciously, avoid buying ones with the following ingredients.
- Perchloroethylene or “PERC”
- Triclosan
- Quarternary Ammonium Compounds, or “QUATS”
- Ammonia
- Chlorine
- Sodium hydroxide or hypochlorite
- Triclosan & aerosols
These are just a few common examples of harmful chemicals. Look out for products with minimum ingredients, especially when you will use the cleaners extensively, like when performing
end of lease cleaning in Canberra, spring cleaning, etc.
How Cleaning Products Impact The Environment
Most toxins found in cleaning products are dangerous and non-biodegradable. Therefore, once they leech into water or land, they remain there for months and even years. Cleaning products manufactured with harmful toxins cause air, land and water pollution.
When you use these products to wash household surfaces/fixtures during routine home sanitation or end-of-lease cleaning in Canberra, they are flushed through drains connected to local waterways. Through this introduction, they leech into soil and water in your area. Irresponsible dumping of cleaning chemicals also aggravates this problem.
What’s more, most commercial cleaners contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that permeate the air where they are used. Hence, they pollute
your home’s indoor air and also the outdoor environment when applied in large quantities.
Natural Cleaners You Can Make At Home
You don’t have to use commercial cleaners if you don’t want to, as you can make various cleaners at home with natural and non-toxic ingredients. To get started, try the following recipes for homemade green cleaning products. You can use these products for end-of-lease cleaning in Canberra or general house cleaning.
1. Make A Versatile Home Cleaner
In a spray bottle, mix cleaning vinegar and warm water in equal proportions. To this, add a tablespoon of castile soap liquid and a few drops of lemon, tea tree or lemongrass essential oil. Mix the solution well and spray it on surfaces/fixtures you want to clean. Scrub gently with a sponge if the area has spots, dirt and grime or simply wipe the cleaner with a microfiber cloth. This is an
effective cleaning solution for different surfaces in your home.
2. Use Hydrogen Peroxide As An Alternative To Bleach
Do you have an unexplainable habit of using bleach to clean and sanitise everything in your home? Give up this habit by replacing hydrogen peroxide with bleach. Mix the solution in the same quantity as water and sanitise almost any household surface. To increase its strength, make a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to tackle stubborn and old build-ups or stains especially while
cleaning tiles and grouts.
Caution: Don’t let any solution or paste with hydrogen peroxide stay on a surface longer than 10 minutes, as it can bleach and discolour the surface.
3. Concoct A Soap Nut Concentrate
Do you know soap nuts are perfect for making dishwasher, laundry detergent, surface cleaner and more? Make a simple soap concentrate by putting 10-15 soap nuts in a porous gunny bag. Drop this bag in a litre of water in a pan and boil until the water volume reduces to half. To add fragrance to the concentrate, add a few drops of essential oil and store the liquid soap in a glass jar. Use it to wash and clean any surfaces, fixtures or objects in your home.
4. Squeeze Lemon Juice To Remove Stains And Grime
Lemons contain citric acid, which acts on protein and fat bonds of stains and grime in the kitchen. What’s more, it reacts with different stains to break build-up and makes them easier to wash away. Therefore, squeeze the juice of 10-15 lemons and keep the concentrate handy to spray on kitchen build-up, bathroom stains and general house messes.
5. Scour With Baking Soda
Instead of buying scouring products with dangerous chemicals, simply get baking soda in bulk. Baking soda is
a natural and effective cleaner with fine particles that act as abrasive agents. Apply baking soda on a damp sponge and scrub any surface to clean and shine it instantly. Wipe the surface with a microfibre cloth afterwards.
Wrapping Up
Using cleaning products with dangerous chemicals is bad for the environment, and you must switch to natural cleaners to reduce your carbon footprint. Thus, use this guide to learn which cleaners to avoid, how they impact the environment and what alternatives you can use to sanitise your home naturally.
