Four Natural and Eco Friendly Cleaning Ingredients For Your Home and Laundry

Cleaning your house naturally improves indoor air quality and is much safer, especially for children and pets. Not only can you ditch harmful chemicals, you can ditch plastic bottle cleaning products from your cleaning routine too, plus a green cleaning routine is cheaper, simpler and easier. You only need a few products to clean your entire home!

Four Natural and Eco Friendly Cleaning Products

1. Bicarbonate of Soda

Bicarbonate of soda is a multi-purpose product and an affordable way to clean your home, toxin-free. If you're looking to buy just one product, this is where you should start. Use as a scouring powder, descaling product, laundry booster, dishwashing product, oven cleaner, water softener and much more. 

Our Bicarbonate of Soda is technical grade and packaged in a kraft paper bag (with compostable plant based waterproof lining). It can also be used in some DIY beauty and cosmetic products such as deodorant and toothpaste.

Bicarbonate Soda 750g, £5

Simple ways to use Bicarbonate of Soda to clean at home:

Washing Up

• Remove smells for reusable bottles - sprinkle with Bicarbonate of soda and leave overnight.
• Porcelain stained by tea, coffee - Scrub using a cloth soaked in baking soda, the stain will disappear in no time.

Laundry

• Fabric softener: Put 1/4 glass of bicarbonate and 3/4 glass of water in the rinse tank of the machine.
• Stain remover: Soak for a few hours in a bowl of hot water with a glass of Bicarbonate of soda. Then rinse a little and put in the washing machine.

• Laundry: Add bicarbonate to your laundry bin while washing in white. To increase the effectiveness of your eco-friendly detergents (soapnuts for example), add Bicarbonate of soda during your washing cycle: it acts as a deodoriser, revives the colours and avoids the accumulation of limescale.

• Laundry deodoriser: To remove the chlorine odour from your bath towels, add bicarbonate when washing, or in the rinse cycle water.
• Descaler: Washing machine descaler: To prevent the formation of scale in your machine (valid for the dishwasher too, coffee maker, teapot by adjusting the dose), perform once a month, wash with 150 g of baking soda.

Cleaning

• Carpets and sofas: sprinkle with Bicarbonate of soda, rub, let stand for 1 hour, then vacuum. The fabric will be cleaned and deodorised.
• Mix with water to create a paste: Clean chrome, stainless steel, gold and silver with your paste. Apply, leave briefly, rinse with hot water, then polish. Scrub the sink, sink, oven, cutting board, grill and more.
• Use powder as a scourer: apply bicarbonate, rub and rinse.
• Stain and mould cleaning cream with vinegar: Attention, the chemical reaction makes the mixture lather! Protect yourself well before you start; or replace the vinegar with clean water or mix ¼ cup of bicarbonate with liquidvegetable soap. This mixture can be used to remove food stains and/or mould in a refrigerator and a freezer in particular. Depending on the importance of the stains, increase the proportion of sodium bicarbonate in the water (3 measures of bicarbonate for a measurement of water). Apply this scouring cream with a sponge or cloth.
• Detergent for the oven: Make a paste with bicarbonate and water. Apply this paste on the oven walls and leave on for 12 hours. Then remove this paste with soapy water and rinse. Or spray the walls of the oven with water, cover with Bicarbonate of soda, spray again. Leave it all night. Remove the powder with a vegetable soap, rinse thoroughly with water.
• Mix 1 part water and 3 parts baking soda mixed into a paste. Apply to grout and let sit, scrub with toothbrush, remove with sponge.

Descale and Unclog

• Unclog the pipes: put this mixture in the pipe. Add 250 ml white vinegar. Wait 20 minutes, then pour boiling water.
• Clean the pipes: Sprinkle in the pipes, leave for a minute, and run the water. Repeat the operation if necessary.

Smells

• For refrigerators, ovens, bins; sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda on a sponge, then rinse with clear water. Or put a cup of bicarbonate of soda in your refrigerator.
• Air Purifier - Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in warm water, then add lemon juice, put it in your refillable purifier. You can also have cups containing bicarbonate of soda in the room.

2. Citric Acid

Our Citric Acid is food grade and along with it's descaling properties and rust removing action, it can also be used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or as a pH regulator.

Because citric acid kills bacteria, mold, and mildew, it's great for general disinfecting and cleaning. It's also effective at removing soap scum, hard water stains, calcium deposits, lime, and rust and it also serves as a preservative in many cleaning solutions.

Citric Acid 750g, £6.99

Simple ways to use Citric Acid to clean at home:

Clean your kettle with citric acid:

Fill your kettle with water and add in a couple teaspoons of citric acid. Once it's done brewing, any build-up will be gone.

Clean your toilet

Just add a tablespoon into the pan and let it sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes (ideally overnight). Give it a quick brush or scrub and then flush. The water will wash away all the acid remains as well as any scum and mineral deposit build-ups, leaving your toilet bowl sparkly clean! 

Clean your bathroom floor

Add a tablespoon to your floor cleaner mixture/just water and soak your floor mop before your clean.

Limescale on your taps

Gently spread your solution over the taps and watch as the limescale gets rubbed off! Alternatively, you can pour the citric acid solution into a spray bottle (you will need to add more water) for easier application. Do not use on brass taps.

Create a spray cleaner for your entire bathroom

Mix 500ml hot water and one tablespoon citric acid into a clean spray bottle and shake it well. Then, spray it onto the dirty surfaces. Deal with any difficult-to-deal-with stains by soaking a clean cloth or towel with the mixture and pressing it to the surface. Let it do its thing for a couple of moments and then rinse the entire surface.

Cleaning your dishwasher

Fill the detergent cup with a Tablespoon. Run the dishwasher on a hot cycle, letting it do its thing. All the grime and build-up hanging out in there will be broken down and rinsed away.

Get rid of mineral deposits

Mineral deposits from hard water are tricky to get rid of. Add a few tablespoons to hot water, scrub with a sponge and rinse.

While completely eco-friendly and great at cleaning a lot of home areas, citric acids should not be used on natural stone surfaces or brass items. That includes things like stone flooring, marble countertops, brass taps, brass ornaments and brass antiques.

3. Oxygen Bleach

Also known as Percarbonate of Soda or Soda Ash, it breaks down to oxygen, water and sodium carbonate (soda ash) in your wash water. When added to water, Percarbonate of Soda removes stains, whitens and deodorises your laundry and textiles. The ingredients are derived from raw materials (salt, water and chalk). It's an excellent natural bleaching agent (oxygen bleach), stain remover, softens water and tremendously increases the efficiency of cleaning products. 

 

 

Oxygen Bleach, 750g, £5.99

Laundry

Sodium Percarbonate is used to destain, deodorize, and whiten. It is very effective as a laundry presoak for heavily stained articles.

• Place inside the washing machine drum to boost your laundry detergent. 1 tablespoon for 4-5kg of laundry ot 2 tablespoons for tougher stains.
• You can apply directly to stains, dilluting the product a little in water.
• To whiten and deodorize cloth nappies add 3 tablespoons of Sodium Percarbonate into the soak cycle. Soak in hot water for at least 30 minutes, or overnight, then complete wash cycle.
• For whitening old linens, deodorizing and cleaning trainers, or to get rid of yellow armpit stains on shirts: soak in 2 tablespoons of Sodium Percarbonate per 4L of water for at least one hour, or overnight, then rinse.

Percarbonate of Soda is a must-have for slow fashion followers!
It's colour and fabric safe. It brightens colors and continual use will not cause yellowing or graying of cotton fabric. An excellent effective stain remover in a broad range of water temperatures. It prevents fabric from becoming yellowed or darkened and does not weaken the strength of fabrics like chlorine bleach. Lengthens time between linen replacement particularly. 

General Cleaning

Sodium Percarbonate solutions will remain active for 5 to 6 hours, after which they should be discarded. Unused material may be poured down the drain. It will actually help clean and deodorize your sink or toilet. Sodium percarbonate solutions are most effective when mixed and used in warm to hot solution (40-65F).

• General Cleaning: Mix 2 tablespoons of percarbonate in 1L warm or hot water.
• Heavy Cleaning: Mix 4 tablespoons of Percarbonate in 1L warm or hot water.
• Soaks: Mix 6-8 tablespoons of Percarbonate in 1L hot water.
• Paste: Mix 1 to 2 ounces of Percarbonate with just enough water to make a paste.

4. Soda Crystals

Concentrated soda crystals are almost three times as active as traditional water-containing soda crystals. The powder is soluble in water and it cleans, removes odours, saponifies grease and neutralises acids. Its alkaline pH allows the neutralisation of acidity and removes any greasy stains. It can also be used to clean enamel surfaces (bathtub, toilet, washbasins, etc.), marble or to clear blocked pipes (build-ups made of organic material).

Concentrated Soda Crystals

Soda crystals can be dissolved in warm water and put into a cleaning spray. As a guide, they recommend the following:

Mild: One tablespoon (20g) to one pint (500ml) of water
Regular: Half a cup (100g) to one pint (500ml) of water
Strong: One cup (200g) to one pint (500ml) of water

Blocked Pipes

Shift a build-up of trapped grease and debris from your sink, bathroom basin, bath, or shower waste pipes by pouring a mug of crystals down the plughole. Flush through with hot water.

Greasy Pans

Soak greasy pans or those encrusted with burnt-on food in a solution of soda crystals and hot water - the longer you can leave them to soak the better. And if your roasting tray is full of fat after, sprinkle on dry crystals while the tray is still hot. Leave to stand for a few minutes so the crystals soak up the fat, then scrape the mixture into the bin.

Tarnished Silver

Bring your silver pieces back to their gleaming best. Line a bowl with foil and pour in hot water. Add 200g soda crystals to 1 pint (500ml) of hot water and wait for them to dissolve. Immerse your silver pieces (but not precious stones) in the solution. You'll see a fizzing reaction as the tarnish dissolves. Rinse each piece and dry.

Soiled Baby Clothes

Babies and young children have delicate skin that may be irritated by the enzymes and fragrances in many laundry detergents. You can remove dirt and stains in a way that's gentle on sensitive skin by soaking clothes in a solution of 100g soda crystals to 1 pint (500ml) hot water. Leave to stand for at least an hour, but preferably overnight, then machine or hand wash.

Mossy Paths & Patios

Make easy work of removing unsightly moss and algae from paving by sprinkling soda crystals on the affected areas, then moistening with water using a watering can or hose. Leave the solution to soak in for 24 hours, by which time the moss will turn brown and be easy to remove.

Don't forget to ditch the micro-plastic and microfibre sponges too. Instead use compostable wood pulp sponge clothes, coconut fibre scourers, sisal plant fibre brushes and cotton clothes. You can even cut up your old t shirts and bed sheets to use as cleaning cloths.

The Kind Store team try and test all products that we stock, so you can be certain that what you are buying is high quality, works well and loved by us. We source all products using our ethos via our sustainable principles, so you can trust that what you are buying is kind to animals, people and planet. We stock items from UK independent makers and suppliers to ensure our products are eco-friendly. Discover hundreds of vegan, natural, sustainable and cruelty-free products.