Many people want to clean their home in an environmentally friendly way. What is the best way to do this? Here are our top 9 natural cleaning tips, suggesting environmentally friendly cleaning products and strategies that will help reduce your carbon footprint.
- Use lower water temperatures — We often think hot water provides a thorough cleansing, but it isn’t always necessary — and a lot of energy goes into heating water. Persil Bio laundry detergents, like Persil small & mighty, are specially designed to wash laundry at lower water temperature settings. On your laundry machine or dishwasher, opt for lower temperature settings. When drawing water from the tap for cleaning, warm water is often just as effective as hot water.
- Conserve water — This is one of the easiest rules to follow for eco friendly cleaning. Always wash your laundry at full loads, or use the half-load button when appropriate. Don’t leave the tap running unnecessarily when cleaning your bathroom or kitchen. Instead, fill up a large bucket of water and use that for soaping and rinsing your household surfaces. Similarly, create a soapy bath for all your dirty dishes, instead of soaping and rinsing each individual dish under a running tap.
- Use fresh air and sunlight by cleaning during the day — Natural cleaning is at its best when you clean on a bright, sunny day. Open the curtains and windows, and the fresh air and sunlight will be great for airing out any dust and smells in your home. If you clean at night, you’ll consume more electricity by turning the lights on.
- Transform old clothes and towels into reusable cleaning rags — Kitchen roll may be handy, but it’s a non-renewable paper product. You’ll be saving trees (and money) by re-using cloth rags instead. Cut up old clothes and towels into rags that you can use again and again. Re-usable sponges and mops are also more eco-friendly than kitchen roll.
- Shine your surfaces with old newspapers — Similarly, old newspapers are the best and most eco-friendly way of polishing some household surfaces. Once you’ve washed your glass and mirrors, buff them with crumpled newspaper and they’ll shine like new. Windows, vases, wine glasses — old newspapers do the trick!
- Lemons are great for natural cleaning — The citric acid in lemons is perfect for zapping smells and crusty residue. Microwave lemon wedges in a bowl of water for 2-3 minutes, and you can help to get rid of any strange microwave smells. Use lemon wedges to polish metals and cooking surfaces. You can even simmer lemon peel in a small pan to create a natural air freshener.
- Clean your indoor air by keeping houseplants — Live houseplants decorate your home, but also keep your household air clean and provide more oxygen. Many believe that plants add a green, calming presence and help to soothe children and pets. Just as our forests play a vital role in renewing the earth’s atmosphere, plants can play that same role in your home, and remind us of our connection to the environment.
- Use cleaning products designed with the environment in mind— Many commercial cleaning products are specially designed with the environment in mind. Concentrated liquids like Persil small & mighty require less packaging and less fuel costs to transport.
- Buy cleaning products in large quantities — If you have the space, buy larger quantities of cleaning products — for example, a package of 45 Persil PowerPro Dishwasher Tablets – instead of a package of 15. By buying larger quantities less frequently, you’ll cut down on the amount of disposable packaging you consume. Not to mention that larger quantities will often be more economical!
With our natural cleaning tips, you can play an important role, too, in helping the environment while keeping your home clean and eco-friendly!