It’s time for a big spring clean! What if you could do it without harming the environment, free from toxic chemicals being released into your home and your surroundings?
Big business took its time, but it is finally noticing that we, the great British public, have been demanding kinder products to use in our homes and on our bodies. It was always possible to find cruelty free and gentle products, but one would have to search and pay over the odds.
Alongside a profusion of new, kinder products now on the market, there are tried and tested homemade ways to ensure your mirrors gleam, your floors are fabulously clean and your bathroom sparkles! Thanks to a rise in social media ‘cleaning stars’, such as Mrs Hinch, who has 4.4 million followers on Instagram, cleaning is big business, and cleaning hacks using easy to source, old fashioned products have taken centre stage in recent years.
Cruelty free
At one time, this wasn’t a consideration for many, but our need to know the provenance of all that surround us – and cleans us – has never been higher.
An easy way to check a product is cruelty free is to look for the leaping bunny. Many products now display the bunny logo on packaging to help us to shop with our conscience. Regarded as the gold standard for cruelty free products, you can be assured that it meets the high standards required for such claims. You can search for products on the Cruelty Free International website.
Supermarket own brands are now in on the action, reducing costs to consumers even further with their ranges of cruelty-free and refillable cleaning products. It’s possible to pick up own brand, cruelty-free cleaning products for under £1. Here’s a handy guide to best natural cleaning products.
Environmentally friendly
One can’t move for claims of kindness to the environment from our products, but a sure fire way to ensure you reduce your impact is to reuse and refill. We now have shops offering nothing but this service, where you can take you, reused, shopping bag, old plastic bottles and refill with a mesmerising array of products. Search for your nearest store.
Elbow grease
Bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar are the stalwarts and verified stars of the DIY cleaning game, unsurpassed in their ability to clean even the most stubborn stains. Throw some vinegar in your washing machine liquid compartment, run on a hot wash, then add some bicarbonate of soda to the drum and run again. I can vouch for the power of this method – used only yesterday!
The same goes for a dishwasher emitting an ominous odour. Add a lemon to proceedings and you can’t go wrong, as noted by Country Life.
Stain removal, banishing odours, cleaning, deodorising, shining and even giving your running shoes a new lease of life - there’s not much that can’t be improved with a little bicarbonate of soda. Find out more about the wonders of this cleaning miracle.
Baby oil or olive oil works wonders on stains for your stainless steel kitchen appliances. Add some to a damp cloth, wipe and voilà. A spot of olive oil on a cloth is also a great way to make sure your granite hearth is gleaming after a clean.
With so many ways to aid you in your spring clean, there are no excuses!
