An eco-friendly lifestyle can include things as small as donating used clothing and as big as building an eco-friendly home. You can incorporate eco-friendly decorating, eco-conscious eating, and learn sustainable methods of transportation. But have you considered eco-friendly house cleaning?
Cleaning your home in an eco-friendly way is better for the health of your family and gentler on the environment. Not sure where to begin? Here’s your guide to a clean, eco-friendly home.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Essentials
Many commercial household cleaning products are harmful to the environment and to humans, composed of chemicals that pollute the air and waterways. Eco-friendly cleaning tools and products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and reduce environmental impact.
Choose your cleaning tools carefully. Reconsider single-use items like paper towels and single-purpose cleaners. To completely clean your home in an eco-friendly way, collect the following tools:
● Biodegradable broom (like bamboo) & dust pan
● Mop
● Micro-fibre cloths or rags made of old clothing & linens
● Steam cleaner - great for cleaning grout, windows, blinds, and other surfaces without chemicals
● HEPA vacuum
● BONUS: An old toothbrush for scrubbing small crevices
These tools can all be used many times and for various purposes.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Supplement your eco-friendly cleaning tools with eco-friendly cleaning products. Look for all-purpose cleaners made with natural ingredients and store them in reusable containers.
Your kitchen probably already contains essential eco-friendly cleaners. With only 3 cheap natural ingredients that are staples in most households, you can clean almost anything, or make your own all-natural cleaners.
Baking soda
White vinegar
Lemon juice
Baking soda deodorizes, acts as a safe and gentle abrasive, and dissolves grease and dirt. Sprinkle it on smelly carpets or mattresses to absorb the offending scent, or sprinkle some on a damp cleaning cloth to help scrub surfaces clean.
Vinegar mixed 1:1 with water makes a great all-purpose cleaner and glass cleaner. It cuts grease, removes mildew, odours, and some stains, and can prevent or remove wax buildup. If you don’t like the smell of the vinegar solution, add a few drops of citrus essential oil.
Lemon juice is similar to vinegar with the added benefit of smelling better and serving as a sort of natural bleach in some applications. It can also disinfect.
A quick Google search will present you with plenty of homemade all-natural cleaners for any household chore, from cleaning grout, to carpets, to ovens, and everything in between.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tips
Now that you’re equipped with your eco-friendly cleaning supplies, it’s time to get to work! Here are some tips to help you clean your eco-friendly home effectively.
Declutter
A clean home is good, but a clean and tidy home is better. And cleaning is always easier when you don’t have to work around stuff. Get rid of the clutter by removing items you don’t need and having a designated place for everything you keep. Live by the old adage: “A place for everything and everything in its place.”
Start at the top & work your way down
Start your cleaning on the top floor and work your way down to the bottom floor. In each room, start at the top near the ceiling and work your way down to the floor.
Clear cobwebs and dust from the ceiling and high surfaces. Work your way down, dusting and cleaning everything in the room. As you go through this process, dust particles will fall to the floor, so when you clean the floor last, you’ll get rid of all of it.
Make it last
A whole-house deep clean takes a lot of time and energy. It’s not something you want to do every day, every week, or even every month! So develop routines that will help you maintain your clean home with as little effort as possible.
There are some tasks that should be done daily. Simply cleaning all the dishes and wiping your kitchen counters each day, for example. Depending on the size of your family, you might do a single load of laundry each day, so Mount Washmore never gets out of hand.
Other cleaning tasks can be done less regularly - maybe every few days or every week. Laundering bed linens or vacuuming the carpets once a week is typically sufficient, for example.
But there are other things you can do to keep your home cleaner all year long. Change your HVAC filters every few months to keep the air clean and minimize dust. Open your windows to air out your home regularly and bring in some house plants to help filter the air.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Checklist Room by Room
You don’t have to do a big deep clean in one exhausting session. If you do one little cleaning task at a time regularly, you’ll accomplish a lot in a year. Use a cleaning checklist to help you keep track of what you’ve cleaned and what still needs to be taken care of.
Every home and every household is unique, so the schedule that works for you and the tasks that need to be done will differ from someone else’s. You get to choose which tasks are important to you to maintain a clean, eco-friendly home, and you get to choose when and how often to clean everything.
These cleaning checklists can serve as a starting point. We recommend you tackle the biggest jobs or most daunting rooms first.
Kitchen
● Dust cobwebs from ceiling
● Clean light fixtures
● Dust top of cupboards and other high surfaces
● Wash windows & window coverings
● Clean cupboards & drawers inside & out
● Scrub the countertop & backsplash
● Scrub & shine the sink
● Clean microwave
● Clean stove top & oven
● Clean fridge & freezer
● Clean dishwasher
● Clean small appliances
● Wash walls & baseboards
● Clean garbage, recycling & compost receptacles
● Wash floors
Bathroom
● Dust cobwebs from ceiling
● Clean light fixtures
● Vacuum fan
● Clean showerhead
● Launder shower curtain liner
● Clean tub & shower, including grout
● Wash windows & window coverings
● Clean toilet
● Clean vanity including inside & outside of cupboards & drawers
● Wash walls & baseboards
● Clean garbage can
● Launder floor mat
● Wash floors
Living Room
● Dust cobwebs from ceiling
● Clean light fixtures
● Vacuum ceiling fan
● Wash windows & window coverings
● Vacuum furniture
● Launder throw blankets & cushions
● Dust lampshades
● Sanitize remote controls
● Dust and clean other furniture & decor
● Wash walls & baseboards
● Vacuum & mop the floors
Clean Living in an Eco-Friendly Home
An eco-friendly home can be cleaned in an eco-friendly way. By using eco-friendly cleaning tools and products, you can develop an eco-friendly cleaning routine for a home that’s spic and span without harming the environment or your family and pets.