Save this article
Use this article for free on your own website
Republish this article for free on your own website or blog. Or search or browse for more articles that your audience will appreciate. Huge choice available. Ideal for finding quality, free content. Read our publishers guide.
A Green Look At Cleaning
We all have to clean our houses - it's a task everyone has in common. Each part of the house gets dirty, from the floorboards to the windowsills, and someone has to clean them in order to make sure that we are free of dirt and harmful germs. Unfortunately, many cleaners we use every day are full of danger.
We all have to clean our houses - it’s a task everyone has in common. Each part of the house gets dirty, from the floorboards to the windowsills, and someone has to clean them in order to make sure that we are free of dirt and harmful germs. Unfortunately, many cleaners we use every day are full of danger.
Unfortunately, most household cleaning solutions are made with so many chemicals that it is hard to pronounce the names of all of them. There are cleansers meant to do each specific job in the house - for example, we have bleach - sodium hypochlorite, a caustic and deadly chemical to whiten things.
Then there are detergents - dish detergents and laundry detergents. These are often harmful not necessarily because of what they can do to humans directly, but because of what they can do to the environment. Many detergents contain petroleum based items that do not biodegrade.
There are other cleaning solutions that also have problems that are in our houses. Surface cleaners can be loaded with ammonia, and furniture polishes may have formaldehyde running through their containers. Even air fresheners can contain nerve damaging ingredients that are released with a spray.
Luckily, we have a choice when it comes to household cleaning products - we can go green. We don’t have to buy the chemical laden cleaners that are found in the supermarket cleaning aisle. There’s no way to give up cleaning for good, so there are other options to be had to clean your home.
Household staples like vinegar and baking soda can often take the place of surface cleaners and bleach, as they have whitening power. To kill bacteria, look for one of the approved Earth friendly spray cleaners to do the job, made by brands like Earth Friendly, Seventh Generation or Ecover.
Companies like Seventh Generation also make laundry and dish detergents. These are much better than the typical chemical filled detergents, which are filled with petroleum distillates and can be cancer-causing. Natural detergents use plant and other extracts in order to clean your clothes naturally.
There are other ways to polish your furniture and keep your metal objects shiny as well. Toothpaste can be used for shining up your good silver, for example. To keep your wood furniture looking its best, a combination of olive oil and vinegar works great, or some lemon oil can really make things shine.
Green cleaning products are a little harder to come by than the typical chemical cleaning products that are in most homes, but many stores are starting to carry these alternative cleaners. It is becoming easier and easier to care about how you clean your house and to keep your house chemical free.