Are you looking to change up your cleaning routine? One of the easiest ways you can make a positive change in your home is by swapping out harsh, toxic chemicals with natural cleaning products. However, you don’t need to go out and buy all the fancy environmentally friendly products you see in the shops! Going all natural is cheaper & easy than you think. With two hero products you can do it all & save coin…
Spray & wipe – vinegar
For multipurpose uses such as surfaces, bathrooms, benchtops. Get a spray bottle and fill it with 1/2 vinegar and the rest with water. If the smell of vinegar is too strong you can add a few drops of an essential oil like orange to mask the smell.
Showers – dish soap, vinegar, tea tree oil
A handy hack is to use a dish wand and fill it with 1 part vinegar & 1 part environmentally friendly dish soap. Dish soap is a degreaser so it will remove build-up of soaps & shampoos. Scrub away and wash down with hot water to remove residue. Tea tree oil is great to combat mould so you can pour this on problem areas first and wait 20 minutes before you scrub.
Degreaser for stove & stove top – baking soda
Baking soda is the queen for lifting stuck on mess & food. Sprinkle the baking soda onto the stove or when the stain is. Mix with water to make a paste or squeeze on dish soap too. If your stove top is warm, this will work better or you can leave a warm damp cloth on top for stubborn stains.
Drain de-clogger – baking soda
Add half a cup of baking soda & vinegar to the clogged drain. Poor boiling water over the drain once it has stopped foaming to rinse it away.
Floors – tea tree oil
Hot water and tea tree oil is one of the easiest ways to clean your floors and leave your house smelling fresh! If you have extra dirty floors, you can add vinegar or dish soap.
Fruit flies – red wine
If you have pesky fruit flies and easy way to get rid of them is to pour some red wine (cheap, not the good stuff!) into a small bowl. Cover with cling wrap and poke lots of holes into the cover. Fruit flies love the sweet smell so they will dive into the red wine and not be able to get back out.
Windows – vinegar & newspaper
The oldest trick in the book! Use your multipurpose vinegar and water spray bottle to wet your windows. Use an old newspaper to wipe down the windows. Newspaper has no materials that will scratch your windows and are tough so you won’t have fibres left on the windows!
Fabric softener – vinegar
Again, vinegar has come to the rescue! Its cheap, you can buy in bulk and it’s so versatile for cleaning. This one may come as a surprise but just ad ¼ of a cup to your washing machine (in the fabric softener section of the draw) and it will soften your towels & fabrics and keep the washing machine fresh. With a small amount like this, your fabrics won’t come out smelling of fish and chips!
So there you have it - safe, affordable and effective!