I love cleaning day! My home smells wonderful and everything is tidied up and thoroughly clean naturally, the non-toxic (minimal VOC -Volatile organic compounds) way.
Many supermarket brands of household cleaners are laden with toxic ingredients such as Triclosan, SLS, SLES, MPEs, DEA, Ammonia, and many more synthetic chemicals. Sure some of these synthetic chemicals clean well (or rather too well), some are anti-bacterial, and many uses artificial fragrances. We want to clean our home but not have to worry about little hands and legs crawling on the floor, licking or chewing furnitures with all the toxic residues from the cleaning agents.
We have been so obsessed with cleanliness that we must have anti-bacterial this and anti-bacterial that. We are certainly overdoing it. What we have been doing for so long have many impacts in our immune system. We get sick easily, take a longer time to recover and then we fall sick again after recovering. Then we wonder why. We are taking too much bacteria away. We want to reduce it to an acceptable level where we can build immunity against it. Yeap, you heard me right. We need bacteria. The good ones. Like those Lactobacillus acidophilus that are found in probiotic foods which aids in digestion and maintain a healthy environment in our gut system. When we remove 99.999999999% of bacteria, we are also clearing away the good ones which help to build up our immune system. So according to some reseachers reported on NBC News, being too clean is bad for us especially our children.
So, what do I clean my home with, you may ask. The answer is simple. In fact, it has always been simple to clean. Our ancestors have been using baking soda, vinegar, hot water, lemon juice, soap nuts, among other natural stuff to clean. I will share with you a natural and simple cleaning method that your body will thank you for it.
Things you need:
- Vinegar (white or apple cider)
- Plant based dish detergent
- Essential oil of your choice (e.g. lemon, orange, lavender, tea tree)
Method:
For cleaning the floor.
- Fill your regular pail 3/4 high with hot or cold water.
- Add a teaspoon of vinegar or two to it (depending on your floor area).
- Add two teaspoon or a tablespoon of the plant based dish detergent (same depending on your floor area).
- Add 20 - 40 drops of essential oil to the mixture.
- Start mopping away!
For cleaning of surfaces.
- Take a small pail and fill with a litre of warm or cold water.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of the plant based dish detergent.
- Add 10 - 20 drops of essential oil to the mixture.
- Start cleaning away!
Vinegar is a great cleaning ingredient. It is natural and biodegradable. It has great antimicrobial properties making it a perfect choice for natural cleaning the non-toxic way. You don't have to worry too much about the smell of the vinegar. Once the floor or surface has dried, the smell would have dissipated by then. The essential oil in the cleaning mixture helps to scent the room too!
Have fun cleaning, the natural way of course!
