3 “Must Have” Natural Cleaning Products for your Bathroom
The lovely Laura from Sustainahome is here today to share with us her natural cleaning tips for the bathroom.
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I distinctly remember cleaning our shower recess with a popular household bleach product while pregnant with my first son. At the time I was using eco products to clean all other areas of my home but I was reluctant to give up this one product because of its stellar performance on shower grime.
This day however, it got the better of me.
Overwhelmed with the smell I had to stop cleaning and get some fresh air. I was giddy, headachy and felt sick. I couldn’t help wonder that if the cleaning product was having this impact on me, what impact was it having on my unborn baby?
Am I anti-chemical? Certainly not!
I just firmly believe that chemicals have a place in our society and that the place is not our homes.
Without a doubt, the ability by humans to extract minerals and indeed, manufacture chemicals, has led to the high standard of living many of us enjoy today.
Whether it is nickel for mobile phones or zinc for skin products, chemicals, or minerals that have been extracted from rock with the assistance of chemicals, are essential for our modern lifestyle.
While chemicals have undeniably improved our standard of living beyond our wildest dreams, their use in a controlled industrial context is significantly different than in our homes.
Strict health and safety policies manage the exposure of industrial workers to chemicals. In a household context, chemicals are often used in and around young children mainly by women, who may be pregnant or breastfeeding. There is a risk that safety precautions may not be taken at a household level to the same degree as an industrial setting.
Our environment is also paying the price for our love affair with chemicals.
Many modern cleaning agents are made from petrochemicals, a non-renewable resource. Each different product we use has been manufactured, transported to market, used, flushed down our drains and then, more often than not, the container disposed to landfill.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Household chemical cleaning products have only been around for about three generations, yet homes were still clean before that time.
Over the past few years I have enjoyed testing many traditional cleaning remedies in my home. I now have a small ‘green cleaning toolkit’ that is a fraction of the size and cost of the chemical alternative and am very happy to say my family enjoys living in a chemical free, yet clean, home.
But what about that trusty bleach product I once used to clean my shower?
It was replaced long ago by the following three “must have” natural cleaning products:
♥ Clove Oil
If you don’t own small bottle of clove essential oil, I suggest you run out and buy some right now. This product is truly amazing.
Clove oil kills mould spores. It doesn’t bleach them white like chemical bathroom cleaners, it kills them.
To apply, simply mix ¼ teaspoon of clove essential oil with 1 litre of water and spray it on the mould. Leave to rest overnight and clean the area with a white vinegar and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mix the following morning. Your shower will look as good as new. Promise.
♥ White Vinegar
White vinegar is an ecoceptionally versatile cleaning agent. Its acidity makes it effective for killing most bacteria and it is fantastic for removing stains from a wide range of surfaces. In fact, white vinegar alone can replace just about every commercial home cleaning product!
In the bathroom, I find white vinegar most effective to shine chrome sink fixtures and showerheads. Lime build-up around taps can be removed by cleaning with a paste of 2 tablespoons salt to 1 teaspoon white vinegar. To remove mineral build-up on your showerhead detach and soak in white vinegar overnight.
♥ Eucalyptus Oil
Made by distilling foliage from Eucalyptus trees, eucalyptus oil is an excellent natural disinfectant, antibacterial cleanser and deodoriser and can be used to clean every room in the house.
My favourite application for this oil is to clean and disinfect the toilet.
To use place two capfuls of undiluted eucalyptus oil into the toilet bowl and scrub with a toilet brush. Wipe the toilet seat (and door handle) using Eucalyptus Oil spray and a clean cloth and you’re done!
By adopting the three natural cleaning products above in your bathroom alone you can replace several commercial chemical cleaners. Even better, these three products have literally countless applications for other cleaning tasks in your home and will prove their value time and time again.
About Laura:
Laura Trotta is an ecoceptionalTM mum, environmental engineer and founder of Sustainahome. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Engineer, Masters of Science degree in Environmental Chemistry and worked as an environmental professional for 11 years prior to starting Sustainababy in 2009. Laura is passionate about helping parents lead a more sustainable lifestyle and lives in regional South Australia with her husband and two young sons
What do YOU use to clean the bathroom?
Great tips. I read a Choice Magazine article a couple of years ago, where a scientific mould cleaning company recommended using a vinegar wash like yours instead of bleach, because vinegar actually kills the spores, whereas bleach is an optical whitener and only cuts the heads off the spores so they grow back a lot quicker.
Because I’m a nerd, I did an experiment where I used a vinegar wash on one wall of my tiled shower and bleach on the other. The mould on the bleach wall grew back in two weeks. It took six weeks on the vinegar wall and since converting to vinegar we hardly get any mould anywhere. I try not to get annoyed that something that is so effective, costs so little and does no damage to the environment is drowned out by expensive, stinky, less effective and ecologically questionable products.
Bele x
yep, I’ve tried it too and it really does work!
I understand that clove oil shouldn’t be used during pregnancy? I clean with Enjo fibres and water, and occasionally a bit of vinegar, bicarb and essential oils – but the grout in my less than two-year-old shower is starting to go a bit brownish pink with mould. Vinegar alone doesn’t really make much difference, so I’m just waiting till I have this baby in July and I can get the clove oil onto it!
My research tells me clove oil is fine for pregnancy, but I would urge people to check with a qualified aromatherapist to be sure. 🙂
I made a toilet spray with eucalyptus and water the other day from your suggestion.
Thanks
I suggested my mom to use eucalyptus oil because as you said it can help for antibacterial. And I will suggest this also to some of my friends. Thank you, Laura!
Love the list! I already make several homemade cleaners (and laundry detergent) but I never thought about using hydrogen peroxide as an air freshener. I’ve used vinegar to remove smells from fabric and carpets.
Hi Laura Trotta,
I am also an environmental engineer and love the post that you have shared with us. But I have never used white vinegar, I will surely try this for cleaning our home bathroom tiles.
Thanx for sharing this post.
So far I have been playing with vinegar most of the time for cleaning tasks. But the clove oil idea is completely new to me. Have to try it if its not too expensive.
Vinegar is brilliant in SA to keep hard water marks off glass shower screens. I’ve got a small green cleaning agency and my new girls can’t believe their eyes. Also we only need gloves to clean our clients’ loos as we aren’t handling (or rinsing or drying off) chem.
Hi Laura, I love natural products I have used the vinegar and eucalyptus but not known about the clove essential oil will find out where to buy it, thanks heaps Tanya from (Queensland)
Hi Tanya, most chemists stock it! 🙂
Hi Laura, so clove oil is in most chemists?.Ok thankyou for that. Have a nice day