Day 10 : Your challenge for today is to clean up your act! Get rid of the chemical cleaners that you use in your home, and replace them with natural cleaners like vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and soda crystals…
We use Ecover cleaning products in the halfpintpixie household, at least that is, we use them until our current batch runs out, then we look for alternatives. Ecover recently lost their Vegan Society mark due to testing on animals (water fleas) and using rabbit blood in tests, so where does that leave us? Hmmm… we’re trying out Bio-D washing powder at the moment & it seems good!
I have to admit I am not a clean freak, I wipe down surfaces and keep the house generally clean, but products like bleach, antibacterial handwashes, air fresheners or those plug-in room-fragrancers with the annoying tv ads are not welcome in my home!
Unless you have a medical reason, you don’t need antibacterial sponges and handwashes, it is literally overkill!
I keep a pack of Milton anti-bacterial wipes to clean babypixie’s toys if they fall when we’re out walking, otherwise her stuff gets cleaned in hot soapy water or the dishwasher. I strongly believe that babies need to be in a non-sterile environment to allow their immune systems to develop well.
So apart from the Ecover stuff, what else do we do…
* we use teatree, lemon slices, cinnamon sticks or essential oils in a bowl of hot water to fragrance the house if so desired
*a half lemon & sea salt is great for cleaning watermarks in sinks & baths
* we use bicarbonate of soda to scour any really badly tea-stained mugs
* a half onion in the fridge absorbs odours
* we use vinegar & newspaper for cleaning the windows & mirrors
Care2.com have a section on nontoxic house cleaning here, enjoy!
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I didn’t know that about onions, thanks!
We use Ecover (though I didn’t know they lost their vegan rating) Earth Friendly Products, and Seventh Generation. Vinegar and baking soda are fun to clean with too… my niece loves the fizzing action! And it is fabulous for anything greasy or sticky.
Hi Alottaerrata, thanks for visiting!
Just remembered something about the fridge onion.. we don’t drink cow’s milk, but I have heard that it can taste oniony if you have it in the fridge with the onion….