How to (Zero Waste) Spring Clean your Home

Spring is here and there’s nothing better than to start the new season afresh!

I, for once, am not that keen on cleaning the house as I’m getting a little help from my friends from Braussie Cleaning. However, I do appreciate knowing I can clean the house with only simple ingredients and no harmful chemicals.

Cleaning your home doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. Simplifying your routine with ingredients you have at home, will make it easier to spring clean your home and you’ll know for sure that your home will be free from harsh chemicals that would go down the drain, contaminating our grey water system.

How to (Zero Waste) Spring Clean your Home

First off, you should probably have all you need in your pantry to spring clean your home. And I’m going to show you how to clean your home using a few simple ingredients.

BAKING SODA

The humble baking soda is one of the most versatile cleaning agents in your pantry. Being an alkaline substance, it reacts to acids, making it not only good for baking goods but also for cleaning and deodorising. Plus, you can buy it in a cardboard paper box in the supermarket or directly at your bulk store.

Here are some of my favourite uses for baking soda:

• Cleaning stained pots, oven, cooktop and sink
  – Make a pasta with water and baking soda or sprinkle over dirty pots and clean using a scrub/brush/sponge. For stained pots, apply baking soda, add a little white vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes before using a brush to scrub stains.
• Removing carpet and rug stains
  – Add baking soda to the stain. Spray a little vinegar and let it sit until dry. Scrub it loose and vacuum the area.
• Cleaning bathroom tiles, grime, shower, toilet bowl and sink
  – Simply make a paste with baking soda and water and apply to dirty surfaces. For use on the toilet bowl, simply sprinkle and clean as usual with a brush.
• Removing odours
  – To remove odours from the fridge, add baking soda to a jar and place it in the fridge. The baking soda will absorb odours and keep your fridge smell-free.
• Washing your fruit and veggies
  – Fill a bowl or your sink with water and add baking soda (about 1 tbsp) and soak veggies and/fruit for 15 minutes. Rinse to remove excess baking soda.
• Whiten your laundry
  – For some stains, baking soda may be all you need to remove it. Soak the clothes with a mixture of water and baking soda and let it sit for an hour. Wash it as usual.
• Cleaning your silver jewellery or silver cutlery
  – In a ceramic bowl, add a small piece of aluminium foil, baking soda and a dash of white vinegar. Then add the silver pieces and let it sit for 5 minutes. Remove and rinse.

WHITE VINEGAR

As you could see from above, white vinegar has amazing uses to clean your home. But you can up its game making citrus scented vinegar and use it to clean your home, leaving a nice citrus-y smell. Just add orange or lemon peels to white vinegar and let it sit for 2-4 weeks. Once ready, strain and you’ll have a nice smelling vinegar which you can use to clean your whole home.

Since vinegar is acidic, it reacts to baking soda to create a great cleaning agent but vinegar in itself is a great antimicrobial and disinfectant. Here are some other uses:

• Window cleaner
  – Apply white vinegar directly to windows and glass and wipe with a dry and clean cloth or newspaper for streak-free windows.
• Multi-purpose cleaner
  – Dilute your citrus vinegar in a 1:1 ratio with water and use it as a multi-purpose cleaner for the whole house.
• Remove scum from shower/bathtub
  – Simply apply white vinegar using a sponge/soaked cloth to remove the grease from the bathtubs. Don’t rinse the shower once you apply it as it creates a protective layer to reduce grime. Use a squeegee to keep shower dry after use as it reduces scum build-up.
• Wine stains
  – If wine stains are treated within 24 hours, you can remove it by applying white vinegar directly onto stain or using a cloth/sponge soaked in vinegar. Apply until stain disappears, then wash normally.

OTHER PRODUCTS

For some things, I like to use more specific products that I know will get the job done. However, I never sacrifice a few features: sustainability, safety and animal testing. These products I’m recommending are all safe from harmful chemicals, are all grey water safe, effective and vegan.

Happi Earth is a natural laundry liquid which is made from only 6 ingredients which are all organic. You buy a whole 1L bag but you use only 2.5ml per wash (or 2 pumps of their own dispenser). The greatest things about this laundry liquid is that for every purchase, they plant a mangrove tree here in QLD, helping restore our ecosystem. They also receive your pouch back so they can refill it over and over again (yay for less plastic) and their pouch lasts for about 400 washes which is way more than 1 year for us (2 adults). And it works. SO. WELL. Can’t recommend them enough!

PS: Only Happi Earth is a gifted product but I swear by it and love it so much.

Essential oils are a great way to add nice and natural scent and boost properties to your own homemade cleaning products. I buy from different brands but I’m always very careful as to buy from a reputable brand. I’m really happy with all 3 brands I buy from.

The Oxygen Bleach is great for tough yellow stains in my clothing and sheets. It works exactly like bleach but without being harmful to your skin, respiratory system and the environment. Keeps all my whites white.

For my hand wash, dishwashing liquid and dishwashing powder I buy all in bulk at The Source Bulk Foods by taking my own jars and refilling it every time. I feel like I pay just about the same as if I would buy it from the supermarkets and I know that the products are all natural and toxin-free.

Lastly, I bought the Euclove Bathroom to help me keep the mould I have in my shower at bay. Since the house is a little old, I’m just managing it until we renovate…so this little guy is made with clove oil and other essential oils.

And that’s a wrap!

All I use to keep my home clean, mostly zero waste and with low toxic ingredients harming our health and the environment. What do you use to keep your house clean? I’d love to hear your comments!

Peace & Love,

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