Eco-friendly cleaning tips

There are certain things everyone has in the cupboards at one time or another - these basic essentials can be made into cleaning products which a) don’t contain any nasty earth-harming chemicals and b) won’t cost you nearly £4 a bottle!

The synthetic cleaning products we all use from the supermarkets are only based on the old-age formulas from years gone by anyway, they’re based on what our great, great grandparents used before nasty chemicals were invented!  So don’t pollute the earth and save money by going back to nature. 

Here’s what most of us will have in your cupboard:

• Baking soda
• Vinegar (white distilled)
• Mustard powder
• Lemon Juice

These all make great cleaning products! 

Baking soda:  

Baking soda is made from Bicarbonate of soda, which bubbles releasing gas when mixed with something acidic.  You can use baking soda to scrub really dirty products like old pans and grease baked on the floor of the oven.  It can also help deodorise stinky containers and foul-smelling refrigerators.  

Vinegar: 

Vinegar is great for de-moulding and eliminating mildew.  Mic with warm water and decant into a spray bottle and use in place of products like Windolene.  I promise your glass will look just as sparkly after!

Mustard powder: 

Mix mustard powder with water to deodorise stinky pans or plastic bottles by swilling the mixture around.  Or use this miracle working powder in place of Cilit Bang and similar products by adding a few teaspoons into a dirty, greasy pan and then watch as you can brush the grease off easily!  

Lemon juice: 

Lemon juice is fab for cutting through grease and disinfecting (and deodorising) products (especially plastic storage containers). 

We need to think about eco-friendly issues to preserve the planet for our children, and for their children.  So getting the kids involved in a must.

If you're fighting the X Box and wanting to get the kids pulling their weight when it comes to recycling, why not channel their natural competitiveness by turning the chore of recycling into a game?

Set up recycling stations for each child where there's space and ask the kids to fill the bins through the week.  Tell them to watch out for tea times in particular (and to monitor if Dad puts a tin in the black bin!) and encourage them to recycle any drinks cartons they use, or yogurt pots they finish off!

Whoever recycles the most within a given timeframe wins. You win, too, because you’ve got them to do a chore and you’ve taught them about items that can be reused rather than just put out for the bin man. 

It's important that you make a clear list of what can be recycled and hang this up above the recycling stations so the children know what can be recycled.

You can choose the winner's prize - it doesn't need to be anything big!  How about some fair trade chocolate? This gives you the chance for another lesson and to reinforce more eco-friendly messages!

Image © - LizMarie_AK

Use the comments section below to share you eco-friendly cleaning tips and tricks with us! 

We may even try out the best ones and publish them with links to your Wizzley pages!