Chemical cleaning agents pollute the environment and, if handled incorrectly, are also harmful to health. Even with just a few natural household products, the entire apartment from inside and out (through building rope access) can be cleaned sustainably and ecologically.
Everyday washing, cleaning and cleaning in private households places a heavy burden on the environment. Due to the ubiquity of chemical cleaning agents, the pollution of the waste water is significantly underestimated. 630,000 tons of detergents pollute Germany’s waste water from private households alone every year. In the long term, cleaning is easier than you think and in addition it is even cheaper.
Benefits – Why sustainable cleaning?
Cleaning with ecological cleaning agents and a sustainable cleaning behavior has several advantages:
- Less harmful to health: The inhalation of vapors or spray mists of cleaning agents during cleaning cannot be avoided. Studies have now shown that this can have consequences.
- Environmental resources are saved: Sustainable cleaning agents are more resource-efficient, as the raw material petroleum plays an important basis for the production of most chemical cleaning agents. This also applies to the surfactants contained in detergents and cleaning agents. These bind or dissolve substances and are therefore an essential component of detergents.
- Less of a burden on the environment: In addition to surfactants, waste water is also heavily polluted by many other synthetic substances, such as fragrances, dyes and preservatives. Often, a large proportion of these substances are not biodegradable.
- Many sustainable cleaning agents are even cheaper than their chemical relatives. Soda, soda, vinegar or citric acid, for example, are also sold in very large quantities for less than 10 euros.
- Better for allergy sufferers, as especially fragrances and dyes in chemical cleaning agents often contain allergens.
Many natural home remedies have strong cleansing effects in certain areas. If you have these basic home remedies in your household and know the effects, you should even be able to do without chemical cleaning agents completely when cleaning in your home. The following sustainable home funds should therefore not be missing in any household:
Soda
Soda (sodium carbonate) is a naturally occurring salt that is closely related to soda. It is available in retail, usually in powder form, as “washing soda” or “pure soda”. The application possibilities are manifold, because soda has above all a fat-dissolving effect and thus also greasy surfaces get clean. In combination with other household products, even effective detergents and detergents can be produced themselves.
Vinegar or citric acid
Especially in combination with warm water, vinegar or citric acid even dissolve stubborn calcifications in no time and are therefore ideal as a sustainable alternative for chemical cleaning agents. Particularly in the bathroom, vinegar and citric acid are a great help, as both tiles and windows and mirrors can be cleaned here. If you put calcified objects in warm water with some vinegar or citric acid, you can literally watch the lime dissolve by itself.
Lubricating Soap (Green Soap)
The lubricating soap (or green soap) consists of animal or vegetable fats and is therefore a sustainable cleaning agent. Dirt and greases are better bound in the rinsing water with lubricating soap, which makes the agent versatile. Mixed with soda and water, it replaces the detergent very well, for example. In addition to core soap, lubricating soap is also ideal for use in washing machines, depending on textiles and combination with other home remedies.
Core Soap
Core soap is the sustainable soap in solid form. It is also obtained from “inferior fats” (animal and/or vegetable). Depending on the recipe, it can also be used to make detergents for the washing machine or the dishwasher in powder form with other household products.