It can be argued that commercial drain cleaners are some of the nastier chemicals in your home cleaning arsenal – laced with warnings and accompanied by a host of horror stories, there’s plenty of reason to worry when stashing a bottle of the stuff under your sink. Obviously, these chemicals can’t be any easier on the environment than they are on our plumbing, so using them not only comes with worry but a healthy heap of eco-related guilt. Tell the old stand bys to shove off with some great eco-friendly methods that will keep your drains clean without all the worry.

Rely On Yourself

While the household cleaning industry wants us convinced that the only way to remove a clog is to burn through it, the truth is that a lot of simple, everyday items can remove the gunk. Before investing in high priced options, try a plunger. Often effective on more than just toilets, they can push out a clog with just a little bit of elbow grease. Plumber’s snakes are certainly an option, though only professionals should attempt to work them. Instead, look on the shelves of your local health food store for some bacteria-based enzyme cleaners that will eat the clog free of your pipe without eating everything else.

Make It Yourself

Of course, a lot of people don’t realize that the best eco friendly drain cleaner might simply be a cup of baking soda down the drain. Chase it with three cups of boiling water and you’ve got an all natural alkaline solution that will loosen a lot of grime. If the drain is already completely clogged, try this same method with washing soda first. Washing soda, or sodium carbonate, is in the same family as baking soda, but is even more alkaline. There are no fumes to worry about, but wearing gloves isn’t optional. It will remove wax from floors, cut grease, and yes, unclog drains without too many problems. If none of that works, try the old science experiment route of vinegar and baking soda.

Congratulate Yourself

These eco friendly cleaning methods, when done properly and combined with regular drain maintenance, can keep your drains as clear as any over the counter household cleaner – without all the nasty additives. Be good to your environment and have some added peace of mind – steer clear of the traditional products and try to fight plumbing woes with a bit more time and some standard baking soda.

Cleaning your oven is probably something that you dread for some time before you finally get around to it. Why is this? Well, first you need to spend pretty good money on those expensive chemical cleaners… then you need to spray them on, being careful not to get sick from the powerful fumes they give off. Then you need to scrub your oven down and cook with it again, often tasting oven cleaner for several meals until it gets ‘baked off’ of the inside of your oven. If this situation describes you, then you are ready to hear that conventional oven cleaning methods, that is, where you use powerful chemicals to clean your oven, are not only bad for you, but bad for the environment as well. How? Well, here are a few reasons.

Eco Friendly Oven Cleaning

First, look at the container that your chemical oven cleaner came in. It is most likely a pressurized metal can that you will toss into the garbage can when you are done. Well, when this can goes to the landfill, it is going to sit underground for YEARS before it starts to decompose. And even then, it is going to seep harmful, deadly toxins into the ground, and potentially into the water supply. Many of the popular chemical oven cleaners contain chemicals that are known to be toxic to marine life, and a lot contain butane, which is a fossil fuel! This might clean off old grease, but do you have any idea what this does to the earth?

Second, look at what these chemicals do to you! The fumes are so strong that you often need to go outside for breaks just so you won’t get lung pain! And the fumes linger in smaller amounts long afterwards, exposing you and your family to chemicals that were never meant to enter your body. Then, you cook in that oven, meaning that the chemicals are getting into your food. And if you can taste it, you can bet that the chemicals are pretty strong!

There are a lot of eco friendly ways to clean your oven that do not require you to use these dangerous chemicals. These are better for your planet, and are better for you, so why not give them a try? For one, you could make a paste of water and baking soda and coat your oven surface with it. If you let this stand overnight and scrub it off the next day, you will be amazed at how clean your oven will be! Or, you can try putting a couple of tablespoons of liquid soap with the same amount of borax. Put this in some warm water, put this into a spray bottle, spray it on, and then scrub it off after it has sat for awhile. Also, citrus and tea tree oil are great for baked on grease!

Eco friendly toilet cleaners such as this one from EcoStore, are made using natural, plant based, non-toxic ingredients which are less damaging to our waterways and the environment.

Regular toilet cleaning products use toxic petrochemicals as well as synthetic perfumes and dyes, all of which can pollute our waterways when flushed away with toilet water. As well as damaging the environment, these chemicals have the potential to harm your health, especially when used regularly over many years.

There is no need to use such harsh chemicals when cleaning your home. There are many natural alternatives which are just as effective. You can safely clean your toilet using baking soda or vinegar and this works well for many people.

If you prefer to buy a ready made, natural product then EcoStore Toilet Cleaner is a good option. It is made in New Zealand with natural ingredients such as:

• citrus oil
• sassafras
• pine oil

The product cleans well and, as the ingredients are biodegradable, it is safe for septic tanks and grey water systems.

EcoStore is a well known environmentally friendly cleaning brand and as well as getting excellent reviews has been nominated for numerous awards. They take pride in their products which they ensure are not tested on animals. They are sold in as little packaging as possible and, where possible, the packaging is recyclable.

EcoStore Toilet Cleaner is available online at Thexton. Delivery generally takes 2 to 3 days to addresses in Australia and they also deliver internationally.

Using eco friendly cleaning products results in less damage to the environment, especially to our precious waterways. However, you don’t want to use an environmentally friendly product at the expense of your clothes. Clothing labels suggest that certain items must be dry cleaned but this requires the use of many toxic chemicals and is often not necessary. Many wool products can be hand washed using Wool Wash or even washed in the washing machine, although it’s worth noting that front loaders are much gentler on clothes.

EcoStore’s Wool Wash is both good for the environment and gentle on your clothes. It can be used to wash most wool products and anything that you would normally hand wash.

How to Wash Wool

• Hand wash or machine wash on the wool cycle.
• Roll gently in a towel to remove as much water as possible.
• Dry flat, in a warm place, but out of direct sunlight.

When hand washing, use wool wash in lukewarm water. You may want to dissolve the detergent in hot water and then add cool water to get the desired temperature. Be very gentle when washing as wool is especially fragile when wet. Never rub or wring the fabric.

Why Use Eco Friendly Wool Wash?

EcoStore Wool Wash is made using natural, plant based ingredients derived from citrus and coconut. It does not contain toxic chemicals which can irritate skin and damage the environment. Its concentrated formula means you don’t need to use a lot for an effective wash. It contains certified organic eucalyptus oil which is produced without the use of pesticides. It is biodegradable and has not been tested on animals.

EcoStore Wool Wash is available online at Thexton.

Eco friendly cleaning products such as this concentrated laundry powder are beneficial to both your health and the environment. They are made using natural, non-toxic, plant based ingredients which are biodegradable, breaking down into mineral salts, oxygen, and water.

EcoStore is an award winning New Zealand based company producing environmentally friendly cleaning products. Their products are:

• natural
• free of toxic chemicals
• concentrated
• biodegradable
• sold in recyclable packaging
• not tested on animals

They are made using natural ingredients derived from:

• vegetable oils
• fibre and grain crops
• citrus
• nuts
• trees

Using eco friendly laundry powder can help prevent or reduce health problems caused by the toxic chemicals found in regular laundry cleaners such as:

• asthma
• dermatitis
• eczema

This eco laundry powder from EcoStore is super concentrated so you only need to use a small amount of detergent to get a clean wash. You can generally clean your clothes effectively by using less powder than with your regular laundry powder, making this product great value for money.

This environmentally friendly washing powder is made from mineral salts and plant based ingredients. It has a light lemon fragrance, leaving your clothes smelling fresh and clean.

It is suitable for both front and top loading washing machines. Although EcoStore recommends washing your clothes in 40 degree water, we suggest that by washing in 30 degree water, you’ll get a good wash as well as save energy. This small change, made by many people, can have a significant positive effect on the environment.

EcoStore Laundry Powder is available online at Thexton.

There are lots of ways to save energy around the home. My favourite energy saving tip is to replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. The next best energy tip I found is to wash your clothes at a maximum of 30 degrees. I’ve always washed my clothes at hotter temperatures but for no particular reason. Your clothes will come out just as clean when washed at 30 degrees.

New Consumer writes about the UK’s biggest supermarket (owned by Walmart in the US) Asda. Asda will be changing the labels on the clothes they produce and sell to read that the recommended washing temperature be 30 degrees rather than the current 40:

As Asda points out, if all the 237 million garments George sells every year were washed at 30 degrees celsius, £200,000 would be saved in electricity and – according to the Energy Saving Trust – ‘enough CO2 to fill 4,600 double decker buses’ in carbon.

The ‘wash cooler’ advice reminds me of Ariel’s Wash-at-30 degrees campaign last September. Like Asda, it flagged up the eneryg-saving merits of turning the dial on your machine, suggesting 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of energy are being wasted annually by washing at the traditional 40 degrees.

The potential savings by doing this are incredible, especially if thousands or preferably millions of people made this simple change. I will most definitely be washing my clothes at lower temperatures from now on. As mentioned above, Ariel (one of the top washing detergent brands in the UK) had a campaign to educate people about washing in cooler water. Some of their energy saving tips include:

1. Wash your clothes at 30°C. This could save you up to 40% on energy usage.
2. Buy energy efficient appliances. When old appliances need replacing choose appliances with A or A+ energy ratings.
3. Switch to energy efficient light bulbs.
4. Turn off TVs, DVD players etc completely rather than leaving them on standby which uses considerable energy. This is not very practical but something I do when going on holiday.
5. Switch the oven off 10 minutes before your food is cooked. Not a bad idea but you might want to set the timer as a reminder.

These are simple things which we can all do. What do you do to save energy?

A few years back, I tried using laundry balls to clean my clothes. A laundry ball is a product whose sellers claim that when placed in a washing machine, will clean clothes without detergent.

The idea is to protect the environment, by using no detergent, while still getting your clothes clean. Some people swear by them while others believe they are a scam. I found that after washing with a laundry ball, my clothes came out fairly clean but I’m not sure the ball actually did anything. My clothes weren’t really that dirty to start with, it’s not like I work outdoors or in a physical job.

Melanie from Bean Sprouts did a simple test and she couldn’t tell the difference between washing with a laundry ball and washing with plain water:

I found that the wash with the laundry balls came out nice and clean as usual. I examined it closely and it looked and smelled clean, just as I expect. However a yellow pair of shorts which Sam had been wearing whilst digging the allotment were pretty muddy. After washing with the laundry ball they were still dingy-looking around the hems. This matches my usual experience of washing with the balls (and also of washing with detergent) – some really grubby things need a second pass.

To my surprise, the wash with just plain water also came out nice and clean. It looked and smelled just as clean as the laundry ball load. Believe me I examined it carefully, but it seemed absolutely fine. Without having a more accurate way of measuring cleanliness, the best I can say is that I would be happy if every wash came out like that.

This result is similar to that conducted by Choice magazine:

When we tested the balls — in a fully loaded front-loading washing machine on its warm (40°C) and hot (60°C) water programs — they achieved very similar soil removal scores to the same load washed in plain water at the same temperatures – below 45% on average.

However, when compared to washing with detergent:

In comparison, the average soil removal score for an equally dirty load washed in the same machine with our standard detergent was around 80%.

So washing with a laundry ball is more or less equivalent with washing with just plain water. I guess if your clothes are not heavily soiled and you want to reduce your detergent levels to protect the environment, then you could wash in plain water without detergent. I think you wouldn’t notice much difference after a few washes but in the long run it would become obvious. If you really want you could try alternating between using detergent and going without but I think the best option is to use detergent but to use less than you normally would.

Polishing any kind of cutlery, serving dishes, or jewellery can be a messy and toxic business. There are, however, eco friendly ways to clean and polish silver, copper, gold, brass, chrome, and stainless steel using non-toxic products found around your home.

Clean and Polish Silver

To polish silver without using harmful chemicals you can try any of the following methods. The method you choose may vary on the level of tarnish and the value of the object. Be gentle with expensive objects.

1. Make a paste of baking soda and water. Apply with a soft, damp sponge. Rinse with hot water and polish using a clean cloth, or
2. Polish silver using white toothpaste. Rub a little toothpaste on tarnished silver and polish, or
3. Put aluminium foil in a pot and fill with water. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil. Add silver pieces and boil for a couple of minutes. Rinse and polish with a soft cloth.

Clean and Polish Copper

There are a number of different ways to clean and polish copper without using chemicals. Most involve using lemon or vinegar and salt. Either of these methods will work it just depends on which you find to be the easiest or most convenient.

1. Polish copper using a paste made from lemon and salt, or
2. Cut a lemon in half, dip into a course salt and polish and rinse, or
3. Place a lot of salt in a bowl with a little water. Add enough vinegar to cover the salt. Place the copper item in the bowl and rinse after 5 minutes.

Clean and Polish Gold

Be gentle when cleaning any precious items such as gold. The following method generally works well.

1. Gold can be cleaned using white toothpaste. Only use a little and polish well with a soft cloth.

Clean and Polish Brass

Most people seem to agree that cleaning brass with tomato sauce works well but there are other options.

1. Polish brass using tomato sauce. Rinse with water and it should be clean and shiny, or
2. Make a lemon and baking soda solution and use to polish brass, or
3. Make a vinegar and salt solution and use to polish with a soft cloth.
4. Rub polished brass with a little olive oil to help prevent tarnishing.

Clean and Polish Chrome

Chrome is generally easy to clean and polish.

1. Wipe over chrome with a soft cloth moistened with vinegar, or
2. Clean with a mixture of baking soda and water, or
3. Clean with baby oil.

Clean and Polish Stainless Steel

As with chrome, stainless steel is also particularly easy to clean.

1. Clean stainless steel with undiluted vinegar and rinse.

Make your own eco friendly toilet cleaner with this easy recipe. In fact, it’s not even a recipe, just put a little baking soda around the toilet bowl, brush, and your done. You could also try using white vinegar or a mixture of lemon juice and borax. These are such easy ways to clean your toilet (and inexpensive) it’s surprising more people don’t use it.

So the top 3 ways to clean your toilet without nasty bleach or other highly toxic chemicals are:

1. Baking soda
2. White vinegar
3. Lemon juice and borax

Simple, quick, and environmentally friendly.

Avoid the many toxic chemicals found in regular household cleaners by making your own eco friendly window cleaner. This is very easy to make and can be kept indefinitely in a plastic spray bottle. Thanks to CHECBlog for the recipe:

• 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
• 1/2 tsp liquid soap
• 2 cups water

Place all the ingredients in a plastic spray bottle, shake until well mixed, and you’re ready to clean your windows and mirrors.

Naturally, if you want an organic window cleaner just use organic vinegar and organic liquid soap.