You can keep your home clean and fresh while making safer, less toxic, green cleaning choices. New green cleaning strategies range from healthier products to natural or even homemade options. Green choices work as well as comparable products, without the risk to your family, pets and the planet. It's time to try new and not-so-new green solutions to all your home cleaning needs.
Commercial Products
You can make greener choices for all of your cleaning needs, ranging from mildew removal to kitchen clean up. Major companies, like S.C. Johnson and Dow, offer greener alternatives with the Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment seal. These products use ingredients ranked as the safest option, with a low environmental risk and high safety ratings. You can find these green cleaners at your local grocery store, alongside your usual cleaning products.
Natural Cleaning Products
Companies like Seventh Generation and Caldera produce a variety of natural cleaning products, available in some major stores and many health food stores. These products opt for more natural or naturally derived cleaning agents and use essential oils as opposed to artificial fragrances. These natural and organic green cleaners do come with higher price tags, but they may be ideal if you are sensitive to fragrances or would like to reduce the chemicals you use in your home.
Homemade Cleaners
You can handle many household messes with inexpensive and practical homemade cleaning products, reports Organized Home. Use vinegar, baking soda, pure castile soap and lemon juice to replace a variety of commercial products. Mix equal parts of vinegar and water for a good all-purpose cleaning spray, or add a few drops of liquid castile soap to amp up the cleaning power. Mop your floors by adding 1/4 cup of white vinegar to 1 gallon of hot water. Straight vinegar can clean dirty toilets, soap scum or mold and mildew. Clean tough spots or your dirty oven with a paste of baking soda and water. While homemade solutions may occasionally require a bit more elbow grease, you can be sure that you're cleaning with the safest and greenest products around.
Steam
You can skip the chemicals or natural cleaning solutions altogether if you opt for a steam cleaner designed for floors and hard surfaces. While steam cleaners do require electricity, they offer a quick, convenient option for green cleaning, according to Planet Green. Steam cleaning can also be ideal if you or someone in the household is particularly sensitive to chemicals or fragrances, as you can clean and sanitize with only pure water.
Drawbacks
While greener cleaning products can handle most messes, they cannot provide the whitening of chlorine bleach-based products. You may find that stains or discoloration require additional effort. Lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide or baking soda may remove most stains with a bit of extra work and scrubbing, according to Eartheasy.
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