3. Gradually phase out harmful cleaning products
This goes hand in hand with step number two. The goal should be to replace your cleaners one at a time. So if you start with your all purpose cleaner, next week or next month, replace your window cleaner with a green window cleaning recipe.
As you add in the green products, phase out the old ones. Don’t freak yourself out about the harmful ingredients. You are doing the right thing switching to green cleaners. But if you try to do it all at once, it could get overwhelming. If you want to succeed, do it gradually!
4. Reuse containers
Phasing out old products has one extra benefit- a lot of commercial cleaners have great containers. Great spray bottles or whatever else you need for your cleaning supplies.
Once you start green cleaning, you are going to want to start saving containers for everything. Juice bottles make great containers for laundry detergent. Small packages can be turned into a convenient sprinkle bottle for baking soda. The possibilities are endless.
And the best part about reusing containers is you will be going green in another way! Reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, rebuy! (I bet you didn’t know those last two have been added on in the green movement!)
So save those containers and reuse them for your green cleaning products.
5. Choose cloth over paper
Keeping waste to a minimum is important for green cleaning. And one of the most wasteful cleaning supplies most people use is paper towels.
One of the basic supplies I listed was microfiber towels. These will help make your cleaning more efficient. You probably won’t even miss paper towels. The only thing I use paper towels to clean anymore is our hedgehog’s cage, for the yuckiness factor. It’s easier than you think to make the switch to cloth.
So it is a good idea to invest in a nice set of microfiber towels (not that they cost very much). Or, if you don’t want to buy them, a bunch of rags work too. Honestly, cloth towels are just more useful than paper towels. They are more absorbent and can take more pressure from scrubbing without falling apart. And then you can reuse them.
So, if you follow these five easy steps, you should be able to make the switch to green cleaning! Your health, environment, and wallet will all be thanking you.
And honestly, you just may find cleaning easier and more enjoyable once you start using green products. There really isn’t a downside to green cleaning. All the non-toxic products you can make yourself are just as effective and probably better smelling and less expensive than anything you can buy!
So once you finish these five steps, pat yourself on the back and admire your green clean home!
Selene Galindo says
I absolutely love this post!!! I started making my own green cleaners over a year ago and I agree it saves a lot of money! And I love them so much more than the one’s at the store!
Pinned!
Kathleen @ Fearlessly Creative Mammas says
Great tips. This is something that has been on my mind and something that I would love to start. I was reminded of this again today, as I inhaled fumes from my no fume oven cleaner. Yuck!
Rachel says
This is a great post! I tried switching to homemade green cleaners awhile back but just felt overwhelmed. It was easier to just buy stuff. But now that we are on a super strict budget, this will help us save money while avoiding harsh chemicals. Thanks!