Cleaning. It never ends, right? You either love it or hate it, there’s no in-between. But no matter on which side of the spectrum you are, choosing which products to use can be a challenge. There are so many options, each promising you the best results. We all want the quick-fix solution, and we probably choose based on the packaging’s bright colours and fancy letters. No one looks at the ingredients list because we don’t even understand what all of those mean, and here lies the problem. Modern cleaning products are full of harsh chemicals that can be bad for your health.
To avoid exposure to toxic nasties, some of us may have even tried DIY cleaning products using basic ingredients we know are safe, such as vinegar, baking soda, cornstarch, etc. You might be thinking, “Yes, these solutions are healthier, but some stains are not so easily removed.”, and you’re right. Not everything can be cleaned with a little baking soda. And this has probably led you to the phrase “eco-friendly products”, but do you know what it means?
Referred to as eco-friendly, environmentally friendly or simply green, these are the products that aren’t dangerous for the environment or any living creature. This means that they don’t contain any harmful toxins and don’t contribute to plastic waste. And with the increased awareness of environmental problems and our health, finding quality eco cleaning products for your home has never been easier!
Begin a life with less plastic by getting rid of all those plastic bottles that your cleaning products come in. Here are some reasons that will convince you to buy eco friendly cleaning products immediately.
Better for Your Health
We all know that natural is always better. Especially if you or someone in your family have respiratory problems, like asthma or allergies, you should be very careful with the kinds of products you use for your home. These conditions make people more sensitive to air pollutants and regular ingredients that are part of ordinary cleaning products, such as bleach, ammonia, chlorine, or benzalkonium chloride. It has been shown that compounds like these aggravate asthmatic symptoms in people after finishing cleaning. What’s even more serious, using cleaning products with harsh chemicals can induce asthma in people with no previous record of the disease.
There’s also a possible connection between toxins in cleaning products and cancer. Carcinogens are substances that can cause the formation of cancer, and they can be found in many commonly used products. Some of them are formaldehyde and 1,4-Dioxane.
The traditional cleaning solutions we use also release chemicals like sulphates, dyes, fragrances and perfumes. They go into the air we breathe and decrease the air quality in our home. They can also be absorbed into the skin and irritate it, or cause allergic reactions such as coughing, eye irritation, sneezing, skin rashes, and even headache. Stronger cleaners can cause serious burns when they come in contact with the skin and are extremely poisonous.
Many accidents happen when children find these products and start playing with them. Poisoning or injury with a house cleaning product is a common occurrence. Instead of living in fear, you can begin using eco cleaning products for your home. They don’t contain any irritants or allergens and are safer if swallowed.
Better Smell
We all know the smell of bleach when cleaning and how hard it is to get rid of it. We tend to keep our windows open but that isn’t always an option. Some cleaning products smell nice but that’s also because of the added scents and perfumes to cover up other strong-smelling fumes. And if you didn’t know, there are many chemicals in fragrance that can be harmful too. Using natural home cleaning products saves you a lot of trouble. They usually have a mild smell or may contain essential oils that aren’t harmful.
Longer Life for Your Belongings
How many furniture pieces have we damaged by cleaning them with different products or accidentally spilling ones? Many chemical products can be too harsh for your household items. They can damage delicate textures, and if various products come into contact, they can have unexpected reactions. Natural cleaning supplies give you the same results as when cleaning with regular cleaners, with the sole difference that they are safe to use on every surface in your home.
Saving Money
You might think that eco cleaning supplies are more expensive than conventional ones, but that is no longer the case. Nowadays, there’s a great choice of eco-friendly products at affordable prices. You can look them up online and choose the ones that work for you. Also, ordinary products are usually made for cleaning a specific surface, so you end up buying ten different ones. Eco supplies are typically versatile, all-purpose products. In this way, you can save more money by buying just one product for all surfaces and avoid cluttering your home with plastic bottles. Moreover, cleaning is easier since you don’t have to change five different products to go over the entire house.
Better for the Environment
Our actions pollute our environment. Using more eco-friendly products is a great way to start living a more sustainable life. They are biodegradable, which means that they decompose faster; They are non-toxic, so they don’t pollute the land, water, and air; And they don’t create unnecessary waste because their packaging is sustainable, or recyclable, unlike chemical products whose packaging needs to be strong enough to store all the chemicals and it’s not advisable to be reused. You can usually buy reusable bottles that you can refill.
Eco-friendly companies are dedicated to protecting the environment which also means that their cleaning products are usually cruelty-free. There are no animal-based ingredients and no testing on animals.
Where to Start?
With so much information, it may be difficult to start. You might want first to look at the products that you use constantly, like dishwashing liquid. Regular dish-washing cleaners can irritate your skin and leave toxic traces on your kitchenware.
There are also many natural cleaners for fruit and vegetables that you can try because water isn’t always effective in removing all the dirt and bacteria, and you can’t use soap for them. With natural cleaning products, you know that you won’t be washing them with chemicals.
If you want to go a step further, switch your cleaning brushes, gloves and cloths with eco and organic ones, which are biodegradable and aren’t a threat to the environment.