More and more of us want to reduce our plastic footprint and avoid toxic chemicals in our home, and green cleaning is a great way of doing both whilst also saving money.
Local cleaners Clean Cycle have pledged to go completely eco friendly in 2020 and have shared some of their ideas.
Citrus Scrub
1 Lemon
To de-scale kettles, rub the lemon in the limescale, squeeze a whole lemon into some water in the kettle, let it sit for an hour before boiling and rinse away. You can also use lemon to remove marks of walls, cleaning sinks and basins, and water marks from shower screens
General Purpose Cleaner
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1/4 cup bicarbonate of soda
- 2 litres water
Stir and pour into a spray bottle to make a general purpose cleaner for tiles, windows and hard surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom
Furniture polish
- Lemon oil (essential oil)
- 1/2 cup warm water
Add a few drops of the lemon oil to the water. Spray onto a soft cloth, wipe furniture, and then wipe again with a soft dry cloth.
Air freshener
With the health impacts of synthetic air fresheners increasingly questioned, why not try developing your own.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Essential oils (optional)
Bicarbonate of soda absorbs odours, so it can be used by itself or add essential oils if you want to add scent. Use a mix of 1 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda with 5 drops of oil topped up with distilled water in a small spray bottle for a spray, or a mix of 1/2 cup bicarbonate of soda and 15 drops of oil mixed in a jar, with a breathable cloth lid, for a continuous scent. Just shake it to freshen up the scent.
There are many more recipes available online and we’ll be posting more ideas on our Green Southwell Facebook page in the New Year – do post your own, join us on the 2nd Tuesday of the month for Green Drinks, or let us know if you are a local cleaner going green for 2020.
This article originally appeared in Southwell Life.
