Too many chemicals are used in cleaning

Well you're going to get a smart alec popping up and saying that everything is a "chemical", even water.

But I agree. It's all marketing nonsense, we don't need all the antibac and plastic disposable wipes, and endless plastic bottles and microfibre cloths which release micro plastics into water and all the rest of it.

We have Stardrops all purpose cleaner - orange stuff - which I dilute and use in a spray bottle for everything. No carpet sprays, fabric sprays, and I actively avoid anti-bac anything.

Next time you use a lemon, sprinkle salt on the empty skin and scrub taps. Natural abrasive and acid. Rinse off.

The papers are full of stories about sewage going into rivers and seas - but not about people basically tipping toxic chemicals down the drain, where they stay in the water that goes into rivers and seas (or require similarly toxic, energy intensive treatment processes to remove them).

All those cleaning products tend to be multi surface cleaner with different scents then they whack on another pound or two calling it bathroom spray or whatever.

You can't make your home sterile and if you could, it would be bad for your health. Plus life is too short to scrub your sink daily.

Basic cleaning products work fine. Hot soapy water and elbow grease work fine.

PS op I hope you're not flushing those toilet wipes...

Vinegar should work? Spray on, leave a few minutes, then wipe clean.

I’m on the fence here. I don’t think it matters that there is a different product for different areas (presumably this just means each product bottle lasts longer individually). However some of the areas are bonkers. I don’t think carpets and sofa/beds routinely need spraying with anything. I use washing up liquid for my worktops, method kitchen spray for my sink and glass cleaner for my taps. That is 3 different products/chemicals. Would just using one of those be better?

I would love to use less harsh chemicals and have reduced in certain areas but when it comes to the bathroom and kitchen, we live in a really hard water area and some things just don’t cut it

I use a diluted soap spray and a diluted white vinegar spray. Occasionally bicarbonate. That's it. They're chemicals but pretty straight forward ones that are known not to impact human health.

Those insta accounts are ridiculous. But that's why they're noticed. But also think the whole "Purdy & Fig" advert train of thought is also daft.

I use cleaning products in a way that I think of as proportionately. Ie daily wipe down of kitchen surfaces with a light antibac spray. But when I'm doing a "deep clean" the bleach kitchen spray comes out

Everybody is slovenly compared to this description!

I bought myself Nancy Birtwhistle's green cleaning book and now make some of my own. Totally agree there's way too many uses by lots of people. I have a loo cleaner and one home made spray in the bathrooms. A multi surface M&S cleaner in the kitchen that does most other things, white vinegar based one for glass, and one floor cleaner liquid. I do own disinfectant but a bottle lasts me years as I know how toxic it is to aquatic life. My house is clean and cleaned regularly, and we are rarely ill.

Some of the mad cocktails people make mixing cleaners is downright dangerous. Yes even bicarb etc is a chemical but it's not quite in the league of mixing bleach and disinfectant.

Aside from those pedantic types going on about the definition of "chemical", I absolutely agree that there are too many dodgy ones used in cleaning products. I use white vinegar, that's about it.

We don't know the dangers of long term use of some of the stronger ones. Pointless and also leads to more allergies and so on in kids.

Those cleaning accounts are absolute lunacy. Most people don’t use masses of stinky products like those obsessed weirdos.

It totally depends on the chemicals. If
you clean with white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, both of those are chemicals. You need to be more
precise about your concern.