By guest writer Izzy Woods

Every Little Bit offers a range of eco-friendly cleaning products which make a real difference in keeping your home clean and free of nasty toxins and chemicals. In addition to their range, there are plenty of cleaning products you can produce at home from simple household items to avoid using dangerous or toxic chemicals.

Whether you need to clean your kitchen floor or refresh your memory foam mattress, there are many natural and organic products you can use to ensure your home remains 100% eco friendly. Many traditional shop-bought household cleaners are full of toxins which can be dangerous to our health and home. Just think, if the bottle advises you to wear protective gloves to use a product, how can it possibly be safe for your home? These chemicals can be harsh and erosive and can be detrimental to your family’s health and your home, furnishings and clothing.

Laundry

To make your own eco-friendly laundry soap, you need to combine 2 cups of natural, organic grated soap, a cup of Borax or a similar product and also a cup of washing soda. Washing soda is a natural product similar to baking soda and should be available in the laundry area in your grocery store. You then need to mix all the ingredients together and store in an air tight container and what’s even more economical is that you should only need two spoons per wash. Also important to note is that over 90% of energy wasted in laundry is due to the heat produced in the washer. Choosing to wash at 30 degrees or even less is the greenest option available to you and conserves energy.

Kitchen and Bathroom Cleaning

Baking soda is a great product for cleaning your bathroom, especially your toilet bowl. Simply sprinkle around 8 spoons of baking soda in your bowl, leave it overnight and it’ll have great results. Additionally, sprinkling soda onto your damp cloth is great for when you’re cleaning the seat and cistern.  For wooden fixtures and fittings in your home, use a combination of 1 part olive oil to 1 part lemon juice and rub and polish with a dry cloth, the results are extremely effective and there’s no dangerous chemicals in sight.

Windows can be cleaned effectively with a combination of vinegar and water. You can either put them together in a spray bottle or apply them directly to the window with a cloth or old newspaper. Newspaper is really good for ensuring your windows are smear free. Lemon is also a great choice for cleaning your kitchen counters and worktops. Simply rub half a lemon across your counters, covering the whole area and wipe clean with a wet sponge or cloth. It smells great too.

If you have any gadgets and appliances such as coffee or smoothie makers, you can also use a vinegar mixture to clean these. Pour equal parts vinegar to equal parts water into the main chamber of the appliance and then switch it on. The vinegar will clean the inside of the machine but remember to run a couple of water cycles through the machine before using again or you’ll have vinegary coffee on your hands.

The Dangers of Traditional Cleaning Products

All cleaners which bear labels with words such as ‘Toxic’ ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Poison’ are not to be trusted. Evidently, these products are a danger and shouldn’t be used in the household, especially when you’re aiming to be as eco friendly as possible. The chemicals contained in these products include dangerous compounds such as hydrochloric acid and phenol. Hydrochloric acid is an irritant which can really cause discomfort if it comes into contact with our clothes or skin, so why is it included in laundry detergents? Equally, phenol is a suspected carcinogen and can be fatal if ingested, so why do we have it in our homes at all?

This is just an example of two of the huge range of chemicals which are found in household cleaning products and as already mentioned, you can do a better, greener job using natural, organic products, in addition to the range available at Every Little Bit.