to bleach or not to bleach
March 30, 2007
I am curious… How many of you, dear readers, are into organic versus traditional house cleaning? Is it natural-and-time-tested or hard-core-science-means-progress warfare in your household?
I have been thinking a lot about this and have taken up organic cleaning up pretty hard core… vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and lemons are my arsenal against germs and bacteria and grimy things we won’t talk about. I read this book and now I am obsessed with it. (be quiet mom!)
One problem though… I am not a fan of the smell of vinegar, lovely though it may be. I have tried putting essential oils in the mix to combat it, and lemons fight it just a little, but it’s not enough. The vinegar is still smelly smelly bang bang. Do you know of anything that masks it or you can mix with it to change it? Or is that just how the cookie crumbles?
What are your favorite organic house cleaning tips?
happy weekend, friends!
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p.s. The last episode of my design notes guest blogs is up. Hope you enjoyed it!
March 30th, 2007 at 10:01 am
There are some organic household cleaning products at Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes, if you have any of those stores near you. I’ve heard that there are some citrus (orange) based cleaners that are good. Vinegar is stinky…kinda smells like stinky feet!
March 30th, 2007 at 10:10 am
The Worsted Witch blog has quite a few tips on living green with a whole section devoted to cleaning products, “Green Sweep” (http://www.worstedwitch.com/category/green-sweep).
This is a good article detailing some green products:
http://www.worstedwitch.com/2006/04/12/eulogy-for-swiffer/
Hope that helps!
;D
March 30th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Michele,
I am in the middle of nowhere now… so no trader joes… Boo! I’ll scope out something similar here though… good suggestion!
And thanks for those links Amy! Brilliant!
March 30th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I only use a spritz of bleach in my rinse water for dishes. Otherwise, I’m an avid fan of natural cleaners (like baking soda, vinegar etc.) There are plenty of new cleaning products out there that smell better but remain environmentally friendly. My favorite is Method, but there is also Caldrea, Mrs. Meyers. I must admit, the packaging is awful cute!
March 30th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Linens ‘n things carries an organic spray cleaner that smells decent enough. Not too expensive either! Look near the vacuum cleaners/laundry area.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Hi! Since having my baby a couple of months ago, I decided not to use chemicals anymore to clean my house. For dusting, I use a mix of 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice. It works great! But next time, maybe I’ll change the proportions to a bit more lemon, a little less olive oil. Also, for scrubbing the bathroom and stove, etc. I use hot water and “pure castile soap”. I found it at trader joes, but i’m sure they have it elsewhere (since you’re not near a trader joes).
March 30th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
wow… that’s sooooo wild that you bring this up because I have totally been thinking about the green clean thing this week and just read an article about it in Martha Stewart’s Body and Soul magazine last night. I’ve recently switched to soy candles which are suppose to be less polluting than the regular kind. Method makes some nice ones.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
check this out… you should be able to find Method products fairly easily: http://www.methodhome.com/
March 30th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Penelope, try the microfibre cloths that are everywhere these days. You really can use them with just water for a lot of things. I have ordered cleaning stuff from this company - http://www.thecleanteam.com, and have been really pleased.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
we use a lot of stuff from gaiam.com and since they’re online, you don’t have to worry about being close to one. there’s even something about household cleaners on the home page.
March 31st, 2007 at 4:30 am
hi! I have done the vinegar thing, anything that adds an extra step to clening is a bummer for me! I stumbled across the “Method” line at Target. It is non-toxic, naturally dervied and not tested on animals? ha! But it had nice scents-grapefruit etc. and it still cuts greases and actually does the job! I think some oragic products don’t do “the job” HAve you ever tried organic shampoo? Ick! Anyway that’s my 2 cents…oh! It is inexpensive too!
March 31st, 2007 at 6:11 am
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! I followed all the links and feel more enlightened. I guess I didn’t realize there were so many good options! So great! :)
March 31st, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I’ll just add a couple of items that I missed when skimming the wise comments already added — CitraSolv, very concentrated, love the orange smell and you can mix it with water, and Borax. I use Borax instead of bleach, even used it when I washed cloth diapers, and I use it to clean my porcelain sink, use it to wash walls before painting, very multi-purpose. Happy spring cleaning!
April 1st, 2007 at 8:32 am
hello there, i have another link to add to the list if you need any more, here it is (taken from the site of the british newspaper ‘the Guardian’ - they did an article all about this with lots of tips and comments from experience… here is the link http://environment.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,1994096,00.html
‘hope it can be of added interest. happy healthy cleaning then! ;)
April 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Penny,
I heard that you can use baking soda in your pool, instead of Ph stuff, that’s all it is.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Hey P,
I have been cleanin’ my house without chemicals for a couple of years now. I agree that vinegar stinks.
I use alot of lemons but I’ve also found some great cleaners you can purchase:
My favourite is my TKO orange cleaner: http://www.tkoorange.com/
It has a million uses, comes from a company close to me but you can order online. The site has msds information.
You can also try nature clean (a little pricy): http://www.franktross.com/nature/
and ecover: http://www.ecover.com/
One other thing to fix your smell problem: Put a small pot on the stove with a couple of inches of water, a few slices of lemon and 4-6 whole clovers. Boil it gently for an hour and you’ll have a lovely smell in your whole house!
One last thing: Sew Green (http://sewgreen.blogspot.com/) is a site I’ve found recently that talks about a variety of environmental impact type issues.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:57 pm
hee hee. correction. 4-6 small CLOVES. Not clovers.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I know this sounds like something to avoid…but lye soap is LOVELY! It is an oldfashioned soap made the way my great gramdma might have with THREE ingredients. Lye, Lard and water. My daughter has eczma and it is wonderful for her skin. Also, that thick yucky skin on my heels has gone away. y skin no longer feels streatched taught after washing. You might want to try it. I buy mine at Ace Hardware store.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:23 am
hi penelope!
organic/natural will, inevitably make you broke. :(
i guess (to me…) it seems like wholistic/natural/organic all sounds awesome in theory but it is cost prohibitive (from a naturopathic phisician to organic/recovered/recycled home goods to cleansers). i guess, through trying these things, i’ve come to the conclusion that it all seems incredibly “classist” if that makes any sense. looking at magazines like blueprint and domino will lead you to many options. i often wonder… if something is recycled/reclaimed, how could it possibly cost more than something new? it kind of bugs me… today, is the label “organic” just another selling point?
just recently, searching for flooring alternatives we found many different options, all starting at $10-12 a square foot! i think “industry” markets organic to the young and hip but i don’t know anyone my age who can afford this stuff.
there’s a section in the book apartment therapy that details alternative cleansers. he writes what has worked for him and he is pretty honest in talking about things that he has been unable to find a natural alternative for. he also has a website, apartmenttherapy.com.
sorry for the rant… it is early in the a.m.
good luck with all of it-
maureen
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 am
maureen: I totally hear you! It is so expensive! That’s why I was sticking to vinegar and baking soda… cause you can get a wheelbarrow full for like, 59 cents. :) Maybe the best idea is to use homemade cheap stuff for everything you can and get the organic stuff for things that are hard to make (like air spray)…
April 2nd, 2007 at 7:01 am
I think you’re right on, Maureen; I’m waiting for the day I stand in a grocery aisle and hear a little kid ask Mom what “organic” means, then hear her answer, “costs twice as much.”
On the flooring front, though, have you checked out “lumber liquidators”? We were looking for lower-impact alternatives for a recent room redo and found bamboo flooring there for ~$2 per square foot. Engineered wood is also a good, less wasteful option, and can be had at similar prices.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Hello everyone!
Yes, this whole organic cleaning and eating has me in a tizzy too. The “good” cleaners etc. cost so much (ie. just spent 16 bucks 4 “organic” cleaners)and the “homemade” cleaners sometimes just don’t cut it (ie. Borax to clean toilet etc.)b/c the funk is still there. I have kids n’ pets and sometimes it really does take a good scrubbing with bleach to clean up a mess(ie. pet accident-the organic stuff DOES NOT work on that, grape juice spilt on tile etc.) but then I feel like-Oh my God, I’m poisoning everyone!But I guess,I just think everyone has to do whatever works best for them and try to keep it as good for you and the enviornment as possible.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I love organic cleaning, and have been doing it more lately. Lemon, baking soda and vinegar are my favorite cleaners. I, too hate the smell of the latter… I just usually open up the windows and let some fresh air in and soon the smell is gone. :) I need to go check out that book now…
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:46 am
The air spray is quite cheap in reality. Spring for a small bottle of essential oil (via a health food store, massage supply store or online, especially massage supply online), which will run you approx. $10 per oil. That $10 bottle, however? A little goes a loooong way. For air spray - add a few drops to tap water and a touch of alcohol in a spray bottle. Oils react to heat and light, so keep it in a dark bottle (cobalt blue glass is a favorite) and/or stored in a cool closet. You can also make your own face spray this way.
Citrus is good for bathrooms, as the scent is rather assertive and can cover, er, bathroom smells. Tea tree oil is “a hospital in a bottle” - anti-everything. It even kills dust mites, so a few drops in your bedroom laundry can help with allergies. Plus if fleas are an issue, tea tree is good, too.
Be sure to dilute any essential oils before putting directly on your skin. Lavendar, rose and tea tree oil are about the only ones that are find undiluted, and tea tree is a little rough for even that. If you want to wear the scents, add a few drops to 4-8 oz. of oil or lotion, use the above described spray bottle method.
Lastly - the term “organic” is NOT regulated, anyone can claim it. And choose to charge more based on that term. So, if you’re serious about going organic, do a little research into the company. Even better if you can find out about where the food, etc. was grown AND what has grown there for the past several years or seasons. (If you’re trying to avoid a product that wasn’t used this season, but was the season before - there may be residual left in the soil.)
Hope this helps you make an informed decision about how/if you want to go about this.
~Ann K.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I know you just mentioned and linked to the book you’re all excited about, BUT I’m linking to my favorite book on the topic, Clean House, Clean Planet: http://www.amazon.com/Clean-House-Planet-Karen-Logan/dp/0671535951/ref=sr_1_2/103-6201086-3599844?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175633567&sr=1-2
She’s very specific, very oriented towards cost efficiency as well as cleaning efficacy. I’m actually a vinegar fan, but as I think about what we use around the house, the only places I really use vinegar, it could easily be replaced with dissolved soda or diluted rubbing alcohol or peroxide. I don’t know about the long term effects of using any of those things on, say, wood finish, but it’s worth considering where you really need the vinegar or not. I also find that because mostly what we’re cleaning is dust/dirt/food/drink, mostly all that is needed anywhere is a dry cloth, a barely moistened cloth, or soap + water. For tougher stuff, Clean House, Clean Planet has a fantastic recipe she calls “Alice’s wonder spray” that really is a wonder on walls/tile/etc and she also has a great stain-spray that works better than anything else I’ve ever tried. And a “soft scrub” recipe that’s mostly castile soap (three cheers for Dr. Bronner’s) and baking soda. We’ve used those things to clean house for probably nearly 10 years, and I can’t imagine using the “standard” cleaners at all anymore.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Also, if you need something astringent like vinegar but NOT vinegar, consider diluted cheap-ass vodka. Yes, really.
Ok, I’m shutting up now.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Wow! Your readers have so many great ideas!
April 5th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Not sure if you’ve yet run across the “No Impact Man” blog. But (how fortuitous) today he’s blogging about cleaning… specifically cleaning in an environmentally-friendly way. Good, do-it-yourself recipes and such… http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/04/help_i_need_to_.html
April 13th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Interesting post. I read somewhere if you add some lemon juice to vinegar it neutralises the smell of the vinegar.