Tuesday 9 December 2014

Natural Cleaning Alternatives

I am slowly but surely getting through the mountain of work I have to do and have finally found some free time to sit down and turn on my computer again. Over the past couple of weeks every spare minute has been taken up with assignments, Christmas shopping (eek!), work and my favorite, catching up with friends back for the Christmas hols.

I was out with my good friend Leah today and we were talking about how motherhood has made me more aware of the chemical ingredients in our everyday lives and the alternatives to them. It inspired me to write this post on Natural cleaning remedies. I began looking into natural alternatives after Ollie was born and I found the smell of some cleaning products alone would make my feel ill. On top of that, having a baby who puts everything and anything in his mouth has made me think about the harsh products I used and stored around him.



Pictured above are the main ingredients are Bicarbonate of soda, a real fresh lemon, vinegar, essential oils and blends for the scent. Tea tree or lemongrass is nice in bathrooms (also anti-bacterial). I usually pick between Ylang Ylang, rose extract essential oil, lavender, sweet orange essential oil for the rest of the house or in the car as they are milder scents!


  • Glass/Tile/Surface cleaner:
In the bathroom, to wipe down kitchen surfaces and cleaning glass or mirrors I have a ready made spray solution of 2/3 water, 1/3 apple cider vinegar. I add to this a few drops of washing up liquid and an essential oil of my choice, depending on where I am cleaning. I also use this solution when I am wiping down surfaces in the car. Once the vinegary smell has evaporated it leaves a fresh non-toxic fragrance in the air.


  • Deep cleaning Scrub or Paste:
This is great as an alternative to bleach scrubs used in the kitchen or bathroom. On greasy oven top dirt or bath grime mix a spoonful of bicarb with a few drops of fresh lemon and a tiny splash of vinegar. Mix this all into a paste and use an damp cloth and some elbow grease to scrub at the dirt and simply rinse off to finish. This lifts dirt and grease off so easily and you don't have to worry about any chemical residue left behind.


  • Room and Air freshener
This was one of the main smells that still makes me feel nauseous since having Ollie. It was also the main reason I looked into more natural alternatives. Whenever I got into a car that had the little tree fresheners I found the scent so overpowering. Now instead I use a real pine cone ( perfect time of year to collect them!) and add a few drops of essential oils or essential oil blends. 

  • Insect repellent
This is more of an old wives tale but seems to work in our house anyway. In the winter there is always an influx of those big hairy scary spiders. My grandmother told me to place conkers on your window sills and in the corners of the room and it keeps them away. I would have been a bit skeptical but we haven't seen one inside since we started doing it. I don't know the science behind it but who cares if it keeps those spiders away :)


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