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Eco-friendly parenting

Share your green ideas and tips for eco-friendly parenting.

Need eco-friendly cleaning tips!

9 replies

ZoeGand4 · 06/06/2024 10:00

Hi!
My youngest child (age 2) has eczema and I want to try cutting down on plastic and chemicals (as well as follow the GPs advice of course).
Just saw someone talking about Seep plastic free cleaning sponges on Instagram and wondered if anyone use them?
Also - Method or Neat or Smol. Any opinions?

OP posts:
Nsky62 · 06/06/2024 10:38

Bio d are great online or health food shops, fragrance free options and work well, uk made too.
Approved by allergy uk

CapitalRRake · 06/06/2024 10:48

Yes you can get eco friendly cleaners like smol/neat and they are better but expensive. Actually most day to day things can be cleaned with hot soapy water, or white vinegar. That's the most natural and eco friendly.

BuggeryBumFlaps · 06/06/2024 10:48

Try buying the book or following Nancy Birthwhistle on Facebook, she makes her own cleaning products which are natural

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Abitorangelooking · 06/06/2024 10:59

I'd agree with PP, method, neat or smol are just marketing with nice smells. White vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are my go to cleaning materials. If you have an old towel, I'd cut it up and use as cleaning rags. Loofah scrubbing pads are made from plants and are great if dealing with something stubborn. Most things you can make a spray or a paste and then rinse off for a squeaky clean finish.

ManilowBarry · 06/06/2024 11:00

Wipe over everything with a damp cloth.

Everythingwinniethepooh · 07/06/2024 05:41

We use Miniml anti-bac spray and soap, and Homethings dishwasher tabs - both via Modern Milkman which means we order them along with our milk (on a handy app) and they arrive on our doorstep! (Tabs in a cardboard box which is slightly less handy if it rains haha, cleaning products come in a glass bottle and we re-use the pump). But both brands are available outside of modern milkman, having had a quick Google.

Sokolo · 11/06/2024 22:37

Aleppo soap is chemical and scent free, we use it all the time

bosqueverde · 20/06/2024 15:36

Your three options are chemical, biological or physical.

  • chemical. Vinegar is acidic and effective on hard water traces (eg kettle, loo); bicarbonate is alkaline and that attacks grease. There are stronger acids and alcalis, but wear protection. Soaps are the product of the reaction between alcali and a fat; they trap grease droplets. Sugar or salt dry up water, good for preserving.
  • biological. Spiders hunt flies and cats mice; but small species are good biological control. Lactic fermentation preserves veg from bad bacteria. The same applies to cheese, sourdough bread etc.
  • physical. Elbow grease and loofahs, brooms, and dusters. In hard to reach places, sand and water work. Vinegar and bicarb, when they react, make a very fine calcium scrubbing powder, though the reaction itself has no benefit.
This list could go on, I only name the basic stuff and avoid commercial label that are overpriced.
BeLemonQuoter · 10/08/2024 11:33

Find out if there is any eco-store or zero waste store nearby. They usually have a wide range of eco-friendly cleaning materials, like ecover.

Sadly, I find that eco-friendly cleaning materials not always work, so occasionally I use something stronger, but try to limit it their use.

I have eczema too, so I know a flare up is terrible. Everyone's case is different, so my experience might not help, but I would focus on the cloths and soaps that touches your kids skin. I also noticed that the water in the area can make a difference, whenever I go back to Hungary or down to London, where the water is harder, I get a flare up (Water in Manchester is really good). Dry, or bad quality air (smoke, dust, mold spores) also makes it worse.

For clothes, use cotton rich (above 95% if possible) soft materials, especially for the layers that touches the skin. Use fragrance free, washing liquid/power/sheet or soap nut and you might find using vinegar or nothing instead of fabric softener better (but the washing machine manufacturers don't like you to use vinegar, so I try to avoid this, but did use it in the past). If the cloth is heavily stained, very smelly or developed that musty smell and the eco-friendly solution is not working, I resort to Aldi's washing powder. It is at least cruelty free, but not good for the environment

Soaps, fragrance and coloring free, or use aqueous cream instead.

I am not a fan of smol or similar, they have really nice fragranced products, but I am not convinced their worthiness.

For general surface cleaning, I mainly use washing up liquid. I have some spray bottles and fill it up with water and squirt some washing up liquid and it is ready to go. If I need more abrasion I sprinkle baking powder on the stain, let it it sit a bit and scour it off. It works well on soap residue in the bath/tiles too.

If you are like most household I have seen in the uk and you have to deal with mold on the grout or silicone (or on the walls), I couldn't find anything else that would work than bleach, but I only use it as a last resort. (Vinegar or steam can ruin your grouts and makes you more prone to mold, plus it is not working that well). If you are lucky, in very early stages, you might be able to scrub the mold off just with the washing up liquid solution. Prevention works well too, we use squeegee on the tiles, ventilate the bathroom and use a dehumidifier in the colder months. I mix a spray solution from general bleach in a spray bottle in 1:1 dilution. (Water first, then bleach)

For window cleaning you can use clear vinegar. Vinegar is also good for descaling kettle, although I find citric acid less smelly.

I buy eco friendly dishwasher tablets, toilet cleaners, and floor cleaners, but only because washing up liquid would be too harsh to use regularly on wood. If I had laminate or similar flooring, I would just use water with a bit of washing liquid, but I heard someone using shampoo(?!)

Shampoo, washing-up liquid, washing liquid and shaving cream is good on fabrics, like sofa or carpet.

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