Bathroom cleaning - what with?

[AngelDog]

Any suggestions of something I can use which isn't nasty and chemical-y? I wipe round the toilet & sink while my toddler DS is in the bath.

I used to use microfibre cloths but his eczema has been getting infected and so I'm being obsessive about washing cloths, and putting them in the machine every day is too much effort.

I've just started using Method products, although expensive the cream bath cleaner seems to go a long way. Check the website for stockists in your area - I did have to hunt around a bit for things here in Scotland.

Shampoo does a great job, just make sure you rinse it, same with a bar of soap.

Ajax I will always love though but may be too chemically for you.

maybe a bit of lemon juice on some kitchen paper? Just ensure you rinse well after. Mabe use bicarb for a bit of scrub?

everything has chemicals in. Vinegar contains acetic acid, lemons contain citric acid, table salt contains sodium chloride. Milions of people have been killed by Dihydrogen monoxide, which is freqently fatal if it is inhaled and gets into the lungs, but is found in almost all industrial and domestic buildings.

Is the eczema you as well? If not why not use mild household cleaners, and rub or rinse off? Is it limescale you are concerned about, or something else?

If you want something mild but still somewhat germ-killing, how about a small dab of one of those washing up liquids that claim to be antibacterial? Eg ones with tea tree in or similar. you could probably "boost" the antibac properties by adding a few more drops of tea tree oil and shaking well. You could use kitchen paper to do the loo if you didn't want to keep washing cloths, though I'd be tempted to buy a whole load of cheap microfibre cloths (Wilkinsons, Aldi or similar), put a new one out each day, but just wash them all together once a week on a hot wash with the towels or whatever!!

good idea

I use lavender flavoured WUL as a general bathroom cleaner for wiping down. If you squirt a bit on your sponge after you have used and rinsed it, and squeeze it so the sponge fills with foam (no more water added), the WUL will prevent bacteria or mould living on the sponge, so it will stay fresh (true). This is also a good way to keep washing-up sponges hygenic, and you can do the same with face-flannels and stuff, especially if you are camping or in hospital, for example, and do not have have good facilities for washing and drying.

Love these tips! I've been worrying my tired out brain about how to keep the flannels fresh for a while and what to use on the bath that won't exacerbate ds2's eczema (dh isn't very thorough with rinsing products off).

I know friends have made their own cleaning fluids to save money and to be kinder to the skin, but I am at heart a lazy girl so it is good to find easier ways!

Vinegar is really good at getting rid of limescale. It is fab for showers.

I usually use ecover stuff (limescale remover, bath cleaner, loo cleaner), but have recently started using vinegar (I got it in a spray bottle from amazon)

I use half vinegar, half water with lavender drops in it in a spray bottle and ecover down the loo.

Pmsl @ dihydrogen monoxide. What... Water? :o

I give the sink a good scrub with white vinegar and bicarb.

I lob a bit of bleach down the loo to get rid of any stains and wipe seat/flush etc with dettol. Sink and bath I clean with a small amount of washing up liquid and bicarb of soda to get rid of water marks. Like sarahfreck i buy rolls of cheap 'n' cheerful cloths for cleaning and use just once. I guess not ideal from an environmental pov, but then any cloth I'd clean the loo with I'd put through a 90 degree wash, which isn't that good envirnmentally either....

@ angeldog - i find the ecover cleaning range to be good. Although saying that i do still domestos bleach down the loo because this is the place, along with kitchen surfaces, that i like to know that germs are being killed!! As good as the ecover products are, none of them actually state anything on the bottle about germ kill i have found...

Thanks for all the ideas.

It's just DS who has eczema, although I get dry skin too. Lots of cleaning things have stuff like SLS in which aggravates eczema and he's at a higher risk of asthma so I try to use things which are less likely to irritate it, especially when I'm cleaning while he's there. A mild household cleaner is exactly what I'm wanting to use.

I like the lavender oil idea, and vinegar would be good as we have lots of limescale despite daily wiping down.