A house only has to look tidy for it to be tidy. Even if your vacuum cleaner is covered in cobwebs and the shelves haven’t seen a duster in months, you can still easily and quickly give the impression of maintaining a clean and tidy house, between cleans.

If you have visitors dropping by and you need to do a mad dash to tidy, or just if you hate having a messy house but don’t have time or energy to clean just at the moment, there are a few things that you can do to have a presentable home that you’re happy to live in, without spending hours cleaning.

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Making our own laundry detergent, or buying eco brands, seems to be more and more common these days. Making our own saves money, and is better for the environment. But do you ever read the ingredients and think what are all these chemical names? Are they really better for the environment? I’ve been making our own laundry detergent for over a year now, but recently I investigated some of the common ingredients in homemade laundry powder to find out whether they really are a good for the environment.

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This is a topic that is close to my heart. I switched from regular cleaners to vinegar and bicarb a few years ago for no other reason except to save money. My only motivation was financial.

It wasn’t until about a year or so ago, when I started investigating personal care products, that I began reading about the toxicity of the products that we use in our homes. Now with our first child on the way, I’m becoming even more concerned about the safety of our everyday products. Dirt I can live with, after all we seem to have survived dirt now for a couple of hundred thousand years, it is the chemicals that concern me.

As a side note, my eczema disappeared once we stopped using the last of the mainstream products and went totally natural. We’re not having the other allergic responses we used to have either.

I was recently alerted to this Canadian documentary about everyday cleaning products in our homes. Even though I had read a lot about the topic there were still a few things in this video that surprised me. The video is about 20 minutes long, but well worth watching.

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Photo by Arthaey

This may seem like a bit of a strange topic to write about, but if you’re wondering how I get by without commercial cleaners, then let me tell you all about it.

To clean the toilet, firstly, I pour a little undiluted white vinegar in the bowl and let it sit for a while. Then I sprinkle some bicarb soda around the bowl. I have a cheap plastic kitchen shaker that I store the bicarb in. Bicarb is a wonderful cleaning agent and a quick scrub with the brush gets rid of any stains in the toilet bowl.

There’s an ad on television at the moment for toilet cleaner which states that bleach doesn’t get rid of all the germs in the inside of the bowl. While I used to use bleach, I didn’t feel good about washing it into our waterways. I’m not worried about bacteria in the toilet because we don’t put our hands in it!

Once the inside is clean, I use my homemade spray and wipe and a bit of paper for the rim, seat, lid, everywhere else. The spray has tea tree oil in it, which is a strong anti-bacterial, as well as vinegar which also has some anti-bacterial properties.

Finally I add a drop of essential oil in the bowl, the bin and on the inside of the toilet roll for a fresh smell. I like Manuka oil from New Zealand, which is a kind of woody, foresty smell I guess and is also a strong anti-bacterial. I imagine it’s probably not going to be everyone’s favourite smell. With three drops, the scent isn’t too strong and usually lasts almost a week.

As far as toilet spray goes, I do use it although I haven’t always. Of course, I make my own toilet spray. It’s very easy, just fill a spray bottle with water, add a drop or two of biodegradable detergent, and a few drops of your favourite essential oil, shake and use. I estimate it to be about 50c or less a bottle. I assume that the detergent acts as a emulsifier for the oil and water to mix, but I’m just guessing and you can leave it out.

I really enjoy nice smelly stuff, but am allergic to artificial fragrances and to me they all smell like fly spray anyway. The essential oil combination I use for my air freshener is 10 drops each of lime, grapefruit and orange and 5 drops of patchouli which is a woody smell also. The patchouli gives a nice undertone to the citrus. Citrus oils are among the cheapest, so I generally go for them as well as lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus. My absolute favourite is sandalwood, but at $100 for around 10mls, it’s way beyond our budget.

The great thing about making your own though, is that you can customise it to exactly the smell that you like.

The upside to using homemade cleaners is that it’s really cheap, it’s environmentally friendly, it reduces waste, it’s non-toxic and it’s affective. If you use natural cleaners, I’d love to hear your methods for cleaning.

Photo by Cesar R

By household products I’m referring in particular to cleaners, detergents and air freshener, but also cosmetics and other products that are usually manufactured with chemicals like bug spray. I mean bug spray! This is a product designed to kill things. And yet we breath this in, believing that it is safe for human consumption?

For me, this is a no brainer. Many of the people I know smile indulgently and think I’m a bit of a wacko. They think that my concerns and beliefs about synthetic products are unfounded. Do the reading and make your own decision. Below are the reasons why I find making my own household products is a no brainer.

1. Making your own saves you money

It’s been a long time since I’ve bought commercial cleaners so I checked out Coles online to compare costs. The cheapest all purpose cleaner was their home brand cleaner in a spray bottle for $1.99 for 100ml. I estimate the one I use to cost about 10c for 100ml. Cheapest air freshener: home brand $2.11, I use a few pricey essential oils but the cost would be less than 50c per 100ml.

What makes commercial cleaners and other household products really expensive is that they are made up of mostly water. Up to 80-90% water in some cases – then add chemicals. For me, I question the legitimacy of paying $2+ for a bottle of mostly water.

2. Homemade products are effective.

I’ve been using home made cleaners for years and find them to be effective. Bicarb soda is a little miracle cleaner, it will clean anything.

I know that a lot of people are worried about bacteria. Watch a few minutes of TV and this fear is exploited by advertisers pushing their products. While good hygiene is essential, as a society we’ve tended to take this too far. If you’re concerned about using home made products because of bacteria, you may wish to read up on the subject on the net. There is a plethora of information about how this fear of bacteria is not only for the most part misplaced, but is also hazardous to our health. Having said that, I do use tea tree oil in my cleaner. Tea tree oil is a very powerful natural anti bacterial agent. I try aim for a balance between good hygiene and over doing it. Where some people see a bench with bacteria (no thanks to advertising) I see a bench laden with chemicals that comes in contact with the food that I eat. Mmm yum.

3. It’s easy.

To whip up a bottle of cleaner or air freshener takes less than 2 minutes, it’s just a matter of mixing the ingredients in the bottle and away you go. Some cosmetics take longer, although if you’re moisturising with olive oil or exfoliating with sugar, then there is really no effort at all.

4. You reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals you and your family are exposed to.

The average person is exposed to thousands of synthetic chemicals a day, most of which are inside the home. Despite thinking about pollution as being something ‘outside’, the inside of our homes are often more toxic. There are literally tens of thousands of chemicals in everyday products most of which have never been tested for safety. Products are often deemed unsafe only after there have been complaints made by consumers.

Not only have most individual synthetic chemicals never been tested for safety, no chemical has ever been tested over time. There is no understanding of what these chemicals are doing to our health over years of exposure. What we do know is that the population’s health issues are growing worse. Some people believe this is linked to chemical exposure. If you’re interested in reading up on this, a great book to read is Paula Baillie-Hamilton’s Stop the 21st Century Killing You: Toxic Chemicals Have Invaded Our Lives. Fight Back! Eliminate Toxins, Tackle Illness, Get Healthy and Live Longer. Is our worsening health really due in part to exposure to household chemicals? Maybe. Maybe not. But I don’t want to take the chance.

Further to this, the synthetic chemicals in our products are not tested in combination. Remember high school chemistry? You mix two chemicals together and you get an entirely new chemical. So what affect does exposure to the combination of chemicals in our household products have on our health? And not just those in a single product. But what is affect is the chemical combination of my moisturise  in combination with my cleanser? And these products are all absorbed into the body and interact on a cellular level. So what is the affect of the chemicals in the household cleaner  combined with the artificial flavours in the food that we eat?

Just because something is natural, doesn’t mean it is safe. And the same could probably be said for synthetic chemicals – just because it’s synthetic, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s toxic. But our natural products have been used by humans over thousands of years, their safety and effectiveness tested over that period. Synthetic chemicals, on the other hand have only been used for the last 50 years or so. They have not been rigorously tested and their long term safety will not be adequately assessed for many years to come.

5. You reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals going into our environment either air born or down the drain or leaching into the earth at landfill.

Every time we use a spray with synthetic chemicals, it’s air pollution. Every time we wash cleaner down the drain, it’s water pollution. Chemicals leaching out of containers in landfill is pollution of the land and the underlying water table. Environmental awareness is certainly increasing, but I’m not sure we really think about the cumulative impact of such small everyday actions that millions of people make has on the environment. As ‘consumers’ we have a lot of power when it comes to what big business do and don’t do. If we say “no, this is not good enough, the ingredients you put in your products does not conform to my personal values,” then business will be driven to change, because they will do whatever it takes to make a profit.

6. You use the same container over and over reducing the amount that you contribute to landfill and also the environmental impact of producing the container and the product.

Spray and wipe, floor cleaner, shower cleaner, toilet cleaner, washing detergent, air freshener, shampoo…I’m not sure how many bottle of each an average household goes through each year, but they add up. (Most of these cleaning products are almost exactly the same with different labels so that the companies can make more money out of us!) Times that by how many households in Australia. Times that by 10, 20, 30, 100 years. That’s a lot of landfill.

But it’s not just at the landfill end that endlessly consuming these products impacts the environment. There is the pollution from the extraction of resources and the manufacture of the product and the packaging. Plastic is made from petroleum by-product. The impact on the environment for a single bottle of cleaner that we thoughtlessly toss away when it’s finished is huge.

Yes we can recycle the packaging of many products. Recycling is good. We should recycle as much as we can. But recycling pollutes and it’s not an overall, long term solution.

Making your own stops the cycle of waste. Yes, I use a plastic bottle. Not ideal, I know. But I have used the same plastic bottle for all my cleaning purposes for over 5 years now, so our waste is significantly reduced.

7. Essential oils are purported to having medicinal qualities so if this is true, then there is a possible health benefit to making your own.

I love the smell of my toilet spray. It is mostly citrus essential oils because these are the cheapest! But I like citrus, it’s a refreshing smell (and is considered safe during pregnancy!) According to the essential oil book that I have, citrus oils are meant to energise and relieve fatigue. I’m not sure I believe in the therapeutic benefits, but if it’s true, then it’s a bonus. And the smells are enjoyable. I love hanging out the washing with the fresh smell of lavender wafting around the yard. This smell goes away once the clothes dry, but comes back again when you iron them. So even if there are no therapeutic benefits, essential oils still smell good and smell is one of those little things that make a house a home.

I’m sure there are other good reasons for making your own household products. I can’t really think of a downside. Essential oils can be expensive up front, but a little goes a long way and last ages, so the cost is mitigated. You do have to be careful with essential oils, keeping them away from children, not ingesting them etc, so I guess ‘safe’ and ‘non-toxic’ is relative. But overall, the benefits of making your own household products from natural ingredients far outweighs any possible downsides.

Photo from Army.Mil

A couple of years ago, we decided to detoxify our home. By this I mean we stopped using chemicals as much as possible. While it is virtually impossible to eliminate chemicals in the home altogether, you can reduce your exposure to them significantly.

The average person is exposed to hundreds if not thousands of chemicals a day. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside our home can be more polluted than the air outside, even if you live in a busy urban area.

If you think that these chemicals are safe (they wouldn’t be allowed to manufacture and sell them, right?), think again. Many chemicals in our everyday products have been found to be harmful, yet they are still allowed in the products we buy, and tens of thousands of other chemicals that we commonly use everyday have never been tested.

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• A small container of bicarb in the fridge helps absorb odours.
• Sprinkle on a damp cloth and wipe over the inside of crockery cups to remove tea and coffee stains.
• Sprinkle on a damp cloth and use to clean. Wipe over afterwards with the all purpose cleaner.
• Bicarb on a damp cloth removes stains from bench tops, soap scum from showers and rust from sinks.Use in the same way to clean the oven.
• To unblock sinks pour 1 tbsp of bicarb and 3 tbsp of vinegar down the drain. Allwo to fizz and then pour a kettle full of boiling water down the drain.
• Sprinkle bicarb soda over the carpet. Leave for a few hours and vacuum as usual. Deodorises carpet. Add a few drops of essential oil before sprinkling over carpet for a fresh smell.
• Soak porous surfaces such as chopping boards in a mixture of bicarb soda and water to remove strong food odours. Also useful for bottles and jars and food and drink containers.
• Remove tarnish from silverware with a paste of bicarb and water. Apply with a damp cloth and rub clean.
• Soak pot and pans with burnt on food overnight in warm water and 2 tbsp bicarb soda.
• Combine with a small amount of water and use as a paste on acne.
• Sprinkle inside shoes to deodorise.
• Remove liquid stains from carpet by pouring a liberal amount of bicarb on the fresh stain and leaving to dry, before vaccuming off.
• Add 1/2 cup bicarb to your bath to soften your skin.
• Add to your wash to soften clothes
• Add to water and swish as a mouthwash
• Dust bicarb soda under arms as to absorb sweat and odours
• Add to kitty litter to absorb odours

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These are recipes that I use at home and have collected from various sites over the internet or from various books and adjusted to suit.

• Combine. Use about 2 tablespoons or up to a quarter of a cup of powder per wash.
• You can leave out the nappy soaker, it just gives the powder some extra grunt, an eco soaker without optical brightening is best.
• If you are using your washing water as grey water on the garden, leave out the borax.
• The role of the borax is to brighten laundry, soften hard water, remove soap residue, neutralise laundry odours, disinfect, remove stains, you can substitute with bicarbonate soda, which does the same things. It’s not going to be exactly the same, but bicarb is a cheaper, more ecological alternative.

This is the recipe I usually use to do my washing. I wash in cold water and I don’t use any softners. I usually add 1 few drops of essential oil like lavender or tea tree oil to the final rinse especially to towels, for a little extra fresh smell.

• In a saucepan, combine the water and the soap and stir over a medium heat until the soap is dissolved.
• Add the washing soda and borax and stir until thickened.
• Pour the mixture into a 10 litre bucket and then fill with hot tap water. Stir to combine.
• At this point, you could add a few drops of your favourite essential oil for fragrance.
• When cool, store in a plastic container.
• Use approximately 1/4 cup per load
• Add a few drops of essential oil for a fresh scent.

For a fabric softener, add about 1/2 cup of white vinegar (the really cheap stuff) to the final rinse of washing. Once the washing is dry, you don’t smell the vinegar.

For homemade laundry detergent, you need to be a little organised. It’s a bit of a pain trying to put on a load of washing at 6am before work, only to remember you have to grate a bar of soap first!

In a spray bottle, fill nearly to the top with water, add a few drops of your favourite pure essential oil or a combination of oils and a few drops of vegetable based detergent (this helps the oil and water emulsify – apparently). Effective as an air freshener or toilet spray.

Alternatively:

• Add a few drops of oil to your oil burner for a room deoderiser.
• Spray your curtains with the air freshener spray or your windscreens to catch the breeze and disperse throughout the room (test a patch first to check for colourfastness before you spray any curtains or upholstry! Essential oils may bleach fabric.)
• Wipe doorways, windowsill etc with a little essential oil to deoderise a room.
• Add a drop or two of oil to cotton wool and place in a room or in the garbage bin for freshness
• Wipe a drop of essential oil over a light bulb before turning it on. The heat will disperse the fragrance.

This is a recipe that I have been using at home for about 5 years now. I use it for pretty much all my cleaning. The tea tree oil is anti-bacterial without being toxic. It is a bit of an initial outlay, but as you only use a few drops, it lasts for years. It also gives everything a wonderful clean smell.

For tougher marks, sprinkle a damp rag with bicarb soda and wipe over surface until stains and tough grime is gone. Follow with the all purpose cleaner below.

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Use as a spray and wipe on any surface.