Let me share the easiest cleaning recipes, that will surely improve your zero waste home, with you. They are actually all purposes cleaners, but I will let you know what I especially love to use each one of them for.
Vinegar All Purpose Cleaner:
This is the most well known recipe in the zero/low waste community. Vinegar is great for cleaning everything in your home. I use it in the kitchen and the bathroom. I like to add peppermint essential oil because of its anti bacterial properties and the nice fresh smell it gives, but you can naturally use whichever oil you like (or none at all).
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. white distilled vinegar (I usually just fill up the bottom)
500 ml water (boiled and cooled down)
a couple drops of essential oil (optional)
Mix up all the ingredients in a spray bottle and just give it a quick shake.
Citric Acid Bathroom Cleaner:
This can be used as an all purpose cleaner, but I would avoid using it on untreated wood or natural stone surfaces. I highly recommend using this in the bathroom; for toilet and cleaning the shower as well as the sink. Citric acid, just like, vinegar is especially good for removing calcium scale. You can even put this in your kettle to clean all the scale left over from the continued boiling of hard water. The more citric acid you use, the stronger the clean.
Ingredients:
1 Tbs. citric acid (or more if you want a stronger clean)
500 ml water (boiled and cooled down)
a few drops of essential oil (optional)
Mix the ingredients together in a spray bottle and give it a quick shake.
Vodka Lemon Cleaner:
If you can’t get your hands on citric acid or if you don’t like the smell of vinegar, you can use this vodka lemon all purpose cleaner.
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Vodka
half a lemons worth of lemon juice
essential oil (optional)
Wooden Floor Cleaner:
Since we have a wooden floor, a wooden table and all wood kitchen counters, I like to treat our wood with this (floor) cleaner.
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. vegetable oil (olive, rapeseed, sunflower)
lemon juice of half a lemon
essential oil (optional, pine scotch is my favourite)
Dishwashing Liquid:
This is another all purpose cleaner, but I personally love to use this for washing dishing (hence the name). Castile soap, like Aleppo soap (made from 100% olive oil) and baking soda are great cleaning essentials for your zero waste lifestyle.
Ingredients:
10-15g (or 1 Tbs.) Aleppo Soap
1 tsp. baking soda
200 ml boiling water
Add the soap and the baking soda to a soap dispenser bottle and add boiling water so that the soap can dissolve. Let it sit for a while and shake before use.
Blocked drain solution:
If you need a very strong clean for e.g. a blocked drain; which is bound happen especially in the shower, then try this:
2 Tbs. of baking soda
(optional for an even stronger clean: 1 Tbs. of citric acid)
1 cup of white distilled vinegar
1 L boiling water
Add the baking soda and the vinegar and let it sit for a couple minutes. Then pour hot water on top.
Let me know which recipes work the best for you.
