To think that you don't really need to use bleach for everything all the time?

[SusanMichelson]

I keep seeing people commenting on how often they use bleach in their cleaning routine and I'm really surprised by how much it seems to be used.

I never use bleach unless someone is ill and usually not even then - just a disinfectant spray.

My kitchen and bathroom are lovely and clean. I usually just use a damp sponge or cloth with a bit of washing up liquid or whatever.

I don't get why people think bleach is necessary - and it is so poisonous, not just to us but to fish and so on. It makes me really to think there's so much of it being washed down the plug hole.

AIBU to think it doesn't really make things any cleaner than just soapy water or maybe another less harsh chemical for really tough stuff?

I promise I'm not an eco warrior or hippy. It just never really occurred to me to use the stuff except when we had a superbug and then it was necessary for a few months. Nasty stuff!

[wink1970]

I have converted away from traditional bleach to Ecover products, after holidaying somewhere with a fosse (cesspit). The Ecover laundry bleach powder is FAB - my whites are back to white.

[VulcanWoman]

There's way too much trust in the powers that be, it's only in the past couple of years my eyes have been opened, wish it had been sooner. I'm not just talking about cleaning and chemicals either

[ThatBloodyWoman]

The whole thing bothers me.
Take triclosan -claims are it keeps us healthier,but concerns it's hazardous to health.
Why use all that crap if you don't need to?
Why potentially risk your health,and line the pockets of multi nationals?

[VulcanWoman]

Too right. All down to the bombardment of these big companies making money off people's insecurities about the all mighty 'germ' for the past 50 or so years.

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I think so many people clean too much and use too much 'stuff'.
But I am an eco warrior and a hippy

[Coffeemarkone]

www.intralabs.co.uk/borax/100g-borax.html

[Coffeemarkone]

you can buy real Borax online.

[SurlyCue]

Ok. I've read through the link. Now where can i buy borax substitute? Locally i have asda, Lidl, poundstretcher, poundland and B&M.

[Lozy79]

I have a friend who adds a drop of bleach to her washing up bowl. Yuk!

[Pointlessfan]

I usually get the 500ml bottles of white vinegar from the supermarket. I smashed a full one on the kitchen floor once, that really did make the house smell like a chip shop but the floor was lovely and clean!

[VulcanWoman]

The biggest bottles of white vinegar I've found are in my Chinese supermarket, they're 1lt but it doesn't work out much cheaper than the supermarket 500ml no frills one's. I think you can bulk order online.

[VulcanWoman]

Don, I think the bleach kills the germs but things like limescale is still left. I'm not bothered if they're germs down there really I'm not going to be supping the water.

[DisappointedOne]

No, with the ketchup and mayonnaise normally. It's a foodstuff!

[donyourway]

So can we get something straight here cos i'm confused now after reading through this, i put bleach down the loo, does it or does it not kill germs? I'm intrigued now.

[CoffeeAndOranges]

In the cleaning section, disappointed ? Must be well hidden at the bottom of the shelf away from the more lucrative brand names.

Don't have a Makro where I live butit sounds like a good bulk buy!

[DisappointedOne]

I buy 5 litres at a time from Makro.

Alternatively you can buy 500ml bottles in most supermarkets.

[CoffeeAndOranges]

Can someone tell me somewhere I can buy proper white vinegar for cleaning? I end up with the vinegar sprays from Savers which are only £1 but I tend to use quite a lot of it to pour on top of the bicarb when doing the sink.

Can't seem to find a good giant bottle of vinegar, apart from malt vinegar or pickling vinegar in a supermarket, which just makes the room smell like a chippy! Even Wilkos don't seem to stock it. I'm sure they used to.

[Pointlessfan]

Good point Doreen! I was also thinking about all the plastic going into landfill from all those bleach bottles.

[DoreenLethal]

Unfortunately there's a lot of depressing shit going on in the world and you just have to personally organise your priorities. That just isn't one of mine.

This is water you will eventually drink, yes?

[SurlyCue]

(If your towel is getting dirty after your bath or shower, something's not right!)

Well now, i didnt say it was dirty. But of course there will be bits of you on it that I wasnt happy to be rubbing in my face a day later. They certainly arent as clean as they were before you dried yourself, if they were then we would never need to wash towels would we?

[VulcanWoman]

Just to put my two penneth in with regards to the towels, I think the most important thing when re using towels is to make sure they're dried properly inbetween uses, I have towel aires on the landing and hooks on bathroom door, they were from Ikea and they keep the towels off the door too.

[DisappointedOne]

(If your towel is getting dirty after your bath or shower, something's not right!)

[DisappointedOne]

Cripes. Towels and bedding get washed about once every 3 weeks here. I use white vinegar in the final rinse which helps with fluffiness and absorbancy.

[SusanMichelson]

Ah! I have that problem too - none of my boys puts towels away so at least I sort of know which have been used - but I will often reuse the one I use for my hair, as I tend to shower and hair wash separately (we haven't finished the bathroom yet and only have a crappy shower attachment hose!)

I like using a muslin cloth to dry with after a shower as long as the room is warm ish - they are far quicker and more absorbent than towels.

Especially good using a giant muslin for hair.

But hair towels aren't really dirty anyway so they are fine to re-use anyway, IMO.

[SurlyCue]

(what's this about smaller towels?)

On one of the many "how often do you wash your towels" threads I (along with other daily washers) was getting a bashing for daily washing, water consumption, washing powder, energy costs etc. now having tried non daily towel washing for about a year a few years ago i just cant get on with it. I never felt clean after drying with a second/third/fourth use towel. So i am fixed on daily washing. However i agreed a compromise of instead of using a large bathsheet (plus hand towel for hair!) i would use just one hand towel to dry me and my hair. I have to say it makes a big difference in how much laundry i have!