11 Eco Alternatives To Usual Household Cleaning Products

Those cleaning products you use around the house might clean it beautifully, but what is in them?

They are usually filled with toxic chemicals that can be harmful to your health, your family, and your pets.

What harmful chemicals are in cleaning products?

These chemicals include 2-Butoxyethanol, ammonia, and sodium hydroxide, to mention just a few. They can lead to health problems, which makes using them and breathing them in dangerous.

One of the biggest benefits of using eco cleaners instead of chemical ones is that you can make them at home with ingredients you already have.

Let’s look at some eco-friendly alternatives so you can stop using toxic chemicals in your home.

Contents

DIY Ingredients To Clean Your Home

You probably have the following ingredients lying in your kitchen, so make use of them to clean your home quickly and effectively!

Baking Soda

This is a fantastic eco cleaning solution you can use to clean the bathroom.

Baking soda is great at tackling dirty and stained areas because it’s got natural whitening properties, so it’s especially good for when you want to clean the toilet bowl.

Simply mix together half a cup of baking soda and 10 drops of tea tree essential oil. Put it straight into the toilet. Then add a quarter-cup of vinegar and get scrubbing!

Baking soda is a valuable cleaning agent because it also has deodorizing properties, and you can even use it to clean your carpet.

Just mix together 10 drops of your favorite essential oil with a cup of baking soda. Scatter it over your carpet.

Allow it to work into the fabric for a few hours, then vacuum it.

Vinegar

When cleaning your bathroom, you might encounter soap scum. You can effectively clean it away by mixing together one-part water with one-part vinegar.

You can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil if you don’t like the smell of vinegar.

Put the mixture into a handy spray bottle and spray it on areas riddled with soap scum. After letting it work for a few minutes, wipe it away.

Vinegar is also fantastic for cleaning dirty kitchen countertops. Just mix together equal parts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle.

However, be warned that vinegar might be too acidic for countertops that are made of stone, granite, or marble. For these, use rubbing alcohol instead.

If you want to stop using chemical liquid fabric softeners for your clothes, you can make your own DIY version by mixing together 20 drops of essential oil (lavender is a good choice because it smells so lovely) with a gallon of white vinegar.

Mix it well and add about a third of a cup to your next laundry load.

Vinegar is an excellent window cleaner. Mix a quart of warm water with two teaspoons of white vinegar and use it to wash your windows.

Make sure you clean the mixture off the windows with the use of crumpled newspaper.

Lemon

Lemon releases a lovely scent but it’s also acidic so it can work well as a general cleaner. Mix one lemon rind with one-part water, rosemary sprigs, and one part white vinegar.

Put this mixture into a spray bottle and then use it for a variety of purposes around the house, such as to clean hard water stains, wipe the walls, and clean your trash cans.

Sometimes, using lemon essential oil instead of fresh lemon can also be useful around the house. You can make a homemade dusting spray with it.

Combine 15 drops of lemon essential oil with two cups of water and one tablespoon of castile soap.

Mix them together well in a spray bottle and then use them on a surface before drying them with a clean cloth.

DIY Eco Recipes To Clean Your Home

Maybe you use ingredients such as lemon and baking soda to clean your home, but what if you need products such as air fresheners, disinfectants, or dishwashing liquids?

You don’t need to buy chemical ones at the store. Make your own – it’s really easy!

How To Make Your Own Air Fresheners

You can easily eliminate bad odors in the house with a few natural ingredients. Here are some ideas:

Mix vinegar with lemon juice, and put it in a small dish in an area of the house where there is a bad odor. It will help to absorb it.
A tablespoon of vinegar mixed with a cup of water and put on the stove to simmer can help to eliminate odors during cooking. You can also simmer cinnamon in water to release nice scents into the house.
Take a slice of lemon and grind it up then pop it into the garbage disposal to freshen it up.

How To Make Your Own Dishwashing Liquid

There are chemicals in your dishwashing liquid, so make sure you make your own natural one. It’s really easy.

All you need to do is mix together two cups of warm water, three tablespoons of liquid Castile soap, two teaspoons of glycerine, two tablespoons of white vinegar, and 10 drops of lavender essential oil.

The bonus of this is that the lavender not only smells great but it has antibacterial properties.

How To Make Your Own Disinfectant

Disinfecting your home is important to eliminate bacteria.

To make a natural disinfectant, it’s important to note that you’ll need one active ingredient in the recipe in order to remove germs. This can include rubbing alcohol or vinegar.

Here’s an easy disinfectant recipe (via Live Simply) that contains vodka as the active ingredient.

What you’ll need:

1 ½ cups vodka
½ cup white distilled vinegar
50 drops of essential oil, such as tea tree essential oil

How to make it:

Put the vodka and essential oils into a spray bottle. Shake it well.
Add the vinegar and shake it again.

Use the mixture on surfaces you want to disinfect, but avoid using it on marble or granite because the vinegar is too harsh and can damage them.

Five Non-Toxic Eco Cleaners You Can Buy

If you want to purchase eco cleaners instead of making your own, such as because you want a quick and easy option available to you when you go to the store, you have lots of options.

Here are some of the best natural cleaners to consider.

Grove Collaborative

This company has a range of eco cleaning products, from multi-surface cleaners to pet stain removers.

The products are non-toxic and healthy, while also being developed by scientists so you can be assured you’re purchasing effective cleaning solutions for your home.

Their glass cleaning product is even said to work better than Windex, as Wired reports.

Bon Ami Powder Cleanser

This fantastic eco cleaner is a scrub you can use for various cleaning purposes around the house, such as to scrub your bathtub and shower or your kitchen countertops.

It’s a bit stronger than baking soda so it works like a dream, and it’s made with coconut oils and renewable corn.

Better Life All Purpose Cleaner

This is another cleaning solution you can use all around the home. Better Life All Purpose Cleaner is free of harmful chemicals and scented with botanical extracts.

Krud Kutter Original Concentrated Cleaner Degreaser

This product is water-based and non-toxic, but it’s effective at eliminating grease.

You can use it as a full-strength degreaser or dilute it so that you can use it as a gentler all-purpose cleaner around the home.

Ecover Zero Dish Soap

This natural product contains plant ingredients that are biodegradable to clean your dishes effectively. It also makes use of lime zest to keep your dishes smelling fresh and clean.

If you regularly hand-wash your dishes, you’ll love that this dish soap is super gentle on your hands so it won’t irritate your skin.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t use chemical household products in your home anymore.

Not only can they cause unpleasant side effects but they are dangerous to your pets, children, and other family members.

In this article, we’ve looked at some easy DIY cleaning recipes to make your own effective cleaners, as well as featured natural eco cleaners you can buy from the store.