Friday 8 March 2013

Simple, Cheap, Natural, Eco Friendly Cleaning...

I always, always said that when I moved out of Mums I would use all natural cleaning products, and now I have my own little home that's exactly what I do.  I did some heavy duty bleaching when I first started doing the flat up (former inhabitant smoked, had a dog and had had a nervous breakdown, and not cleaned for what looked like several years).  But for the past 3 months this is all I've used...


  • For any cleaning of hard surfaces (bathroom, kitchen, sink) I use lemon juice, I just sprinkle it out of the bottle directly onto the surface, then wipe it up with a cloth.
  • For hard surfaces that need more of a scrub I use bicarbonate of soda, sprinkled on then wiped off with a cloth.  If it's super dirty I use lemon juice and bicarb. and let it fizz a bit before wiping off.
  • To clean the loo I sprinkle bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice in the bowl and let it fizz, before scrubbing it with a toilet brush.  I clean the rest of the loo by wiping it some toilet roll dampened with water and a little lemon juice - I flush this down the toilet so I don't have a toilet-germ cloth to deal with!
  • I clean my drains with soda crystals (washing soda), I pour about a quarter of a pack down each plug hole, then swish it down with a couple of kettle's full of boiling water.  (I have a drain problem in this flat, they get very clogged and the water backs up into sinks/bath...it is slowly getting better now I've started doing this every week though, I think they were probably very clogged before I got here!)
  • For dusting I just use a dry cloth, or a damp cloth if it's been a while!


  • I use Ecover laundry liquid and fabric conditioner.  I only use about half a capful of each per wash, so it lasts for ages.
  • I use Ecover washing up liquid, for washing up and to clean surfaces.  I also squirt a bit into hot water to clean my floors when I mop them.
As well as nor putting all sorts of horrible chemicals into my home and into the environment, using these cleaning products is really cheap...
Bicarbonate of Soda (same as baking soda) 60p - £1 a pack
Soda Crystals 60p - £1 a pack
Lemon Juice 40p-80p a bottle
Ecover Laundry Liquid £4 - £5 a bottle
Ecover Fabric Conditioner £4 - £5 a bottle 
Ecover Washing up Liquid £2 - £3 a bottle (you can usually get all the Ecover stuff on special offer though!) 

I'm really pleased with how well they all work, that I only have a few products that don't take up lots of room and that I don't have to use anything icky  and chemically in my home.

Do you have any more green cleaning tips for me?  What do you use?

Linking up with Frugally Sustainable.

5 comments:

  1. Hello,
    Great tips there! I use soda crystals too all the time, great for cleaning drains and even outside for getting moss/green stains off the patio. Ooh and vinegar is great for so many things, especially windows. Except marble, never use vinegar on marble, lesson learnt by me!
    I do use normal non-bio in the washing machine, I wash so much with kids that it would be too expensive with ecover. I do have the washing balls though which I use in spring/summer instead of powder! Great tips, well done!

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    1. Thanks Maria :) I keep hearing good things about vinegar, I'll have to buy some! (Good job I don't have any marble!)

      Ecover is expensive, if I had to do more washing I might not be able to afford it either, although I have eczema and get hives/rashes, and ecover is the only washing stuff I've found that doesn't make me itch like a crazy person!

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  2. I too love and use vinegar all around the house! I use it in the toilet with baking soda (am guessing that's what your soda crystals are). Let it fizz a while, scrub, and done. Also, I use vinegar instead of fabric softener. Very inexpensive.

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    1. Hi Rene :)

      I might have to try that vinegar instead of fabric conditioner thing...thanks for that idea :)

      The soda crystals are washing soda actually, slightly different to baking soda (I had to google the difference when you said that though!), it's a bit caustic and strong, so possibly not best to be mixed with vinegar!

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  3. Great tips. I just wrote about eco spring cleaning. My 4 favourite products to use are Baking Soda, White Distilled Vinegar, Lemons and Olive Oil

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