Green Cleaning Tips

We made some quick eco upgrades here at the Tire House that we just had to share with all of you.  Goodness knows this house gets dirty.  I know: what house doesn’t, right?  The problem with the conventional cleaning products that we’re using in our houses is their major toxicity.  Ever have to run out of the bathroom because your shower scrub is just killing your senses?  The EPA ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five risks to public health.

So here ya go: a golden ticket to a green clean.

1. Ditch products that say “Poison,” “Warning,” or “Danger.”  Cleaners like these shouldn’t be in your house.  If you have a septic system and a well like we do, chances are toxic chemicals that wash down your drain are going to leach into your drinking water.  Plus you’re slowly contaminating your own soil.  So by “ditch”, we don’t mean toss them down the drain.  Take them to a place that would still be interested in using them or find out how to dispose of chemicals safely in your community.

toxic-cleaners

2.  Read the label.  Anything that has ingredients containing the phrase “chlor”, “glycol”, “phenol”, or ends with “-ene” is doing more harm to your body than adding shine to that floor.  Even scarier are the products that don’t even list their ingredients.  It’s almost like they have something to hide.  With our learn something new every day challenge, I’ve already been looking up unfamiliar ingredients and not liking what I’m seeing… and those are from products that reveal what they’re made of!

3. Consider making your own cleaning products.  Glass cleaner is the easiest.  Here’s our recipe inspired by the book, Green Up Your Cleanup:

  • 1 part distilled white vinegar 
  • 1 part water
  • a couple drops of liquid dish soap (optional)

    • Piece of cake, no?  It’s a great comfort to know that the vinegar mist might land on my toothbrush instead of traditional window cleaner when I’m washing the bathroom.  Green Up Your Cleanup offers a slew of other recipes with simple ingredients, and it’s less than 7 beans.  I absolutely recommend it.  Baking soda and vinegar are my best friends now.

    4.  Scoop up some eco-friendly cleaners.  They’re getting easier and easier to find these days, which is a good thing.  Ever notice how much your nose starts to sting in the cleaning aisles at grocery stores?  Here are our favorite cleaners.  They’re all we need to clean this ol’ tire.  Seventh Generation’s dish soap has been a staple at our house forever (I’m so tempted to say “for generations”, but that doesn’t make a lick of sense since we have no other generations at our house).  We’re new to Method’s all purpose spray (love it).  And of course our forever favorites are baking soda, white vinegar, and a whole lot of elbow grease with a scrub brush, rags, and Scotch Brite pads.

    green clean

    So there you have it: the green clean at our house.  With all the toxins in our homes and environment, it’s nice to know there’s one less thing we have to worry about.  

    Don’t suppose you have some green cleaning tips to share, do you?  We’re all ears on everything eco!