Natural Cleaning Product Reviews | Green Keen: Natural Cleaning Bathroom Tips

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Natural Cleaning Bathroom Tips | Natural Cleaning Product Review

Note from Pam: In Arizona -- enjoying the cacti, desert flowers, and huge mountains, which rise from the desert sands as dark, jagged monoliths. Tomorrow we tour an Earthship, a sustainable house built from mostly recycled materials. I'll be writing about it soon....Talk soon, Green Keen aka Pam

Natural Cleaning Bathroom Tips

Your BFFs or "best friends forever" for natural cleaning in the bathroom are:

natural all-purpose cleaner/glass cleaner
natural disinfectant
natural scrubbing cleanser

Your best bathroom cleaning accessories:

natural fiber scrubbie sponge
recycled paper towels
or old newspapers to clean mirrors
natural fiber cleaning cloths
or recycled rag
toilet bowl scrubber brush (keep next to toilet)

Keep all these in one bucket under your bathroom vanity or in a nearby closet.

Daily Quickie Bathroom Cleans of just the sink, faucets, toilet, light switches, and door handles really minimize the dirt, yuck, and germ build-up.

Here are my favs for each Natural Cleaning for Bathrooms BFF categories:

Natural All-purpose and Glass Cleaner-

Diluted White Vinegar (1/2 water) (For mirrors, try a sheet of old newspaper!)

Natural Disinfectant-

For Toilet Bowl:

1/2 cup baking soda with a squirt of liquid soap, scrub let sit 5 mins., flush. Follow with 1/2 c. white vinegar, let sit, at least 5 mins. or longer then flush.

For Everything Else:

Wash off visible dirt with soapy water. Straight White Vinegar, then straight Hydrogen-Peroxide. (Don't mix. Keep HP in a dark bottle. Use spray bottles.)

Natural Scrubbing Cleanser:

Baking Soda in a plastic shaker bottle (Try a recycled Parmesan Cheese Container to keep the original box from getting wet.)

Mix with a squirt of liquid soap and/or borax for more cleaning power.

To whiten stains, add 1-2 T. Hydrogen-Peroxide. (All of these are completely biodegradable.)

BFF Natural Sponges and Scrubbies:
Twist's Naked Sponges--Multiple sizes. 100% cellulose. Totally biodegradable. No dyes.

(See BuyGreen.com on Side Bar)
(P.S. Naked sponges, what a great idea! Why dye a sponge???)

Scotch-Brite Bamboo Cleaning Cloths--Inexpensive, very soft, yet absorbent, dries fast and are tough. Has texture to help with scrubbing. Bamboo fiber has antimicrobial qualities. (Only 60% bamboo though.)

Marcal's Small Steps Recycled Paper Towels--Best price. 100% recycled paper.

Recycled T-shirts and Cloth Diapers--You'll never look at old clothing the same. Many natural-fiber ex-clothing make great rags. Disinfect in the laundry. Cut as you need. Use until it falls apart!

Couldn't find a natural fiber toilet bowl brush!! A possible substitute is the coir bottle brushes (see this link toward bottom). Currently, mine is a plastic-handled, synthetic-bristled one.

***Let me know if you find one!!!***

Helpful Hints:

Line Bathroom Trash can with BioBag Compostable Trash Bags for the Bathroom $4.49 for 25 bags. (A little steep-priced, but they decompose as fast as food scraps!)

(Or use a recycled plastic grocery bag or a paper grocery bag, if they are lying around the house)

Put a sprinkling of baking soda in bottom of can first for a fresh scent.

Try old newspapers for a mirror-cleaning paper towel replacement--I think they work even better!

Scrub sink with a squirt of your hand soap and a dash of baking soda. Easy to do after brushing your teeth.

Disinfect the toothbrushes inside the drinking cup.
Use either hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol or listerine. Soak them, while you are cleaning the bathroom, 10-15 mins.?? (Don't combine, just choose one) Then rinse. And wash cup inside and out with soap and water. Done!

Keep all bar soap "nubbies" and add to a used/but clean nylon knee-high or another scrubbie mesh bag to keep using them. This really makes bar soap go a long way!

Disinfect the bathing scrubbies and sponges (loofahs/natural sponges - I recommend doing this once in a while.)

Method #1
Wash in soapy water, then rinse really well.
Boil in sauce pan full of water for 10 mins.
Let cool and wring out.
Hang to dry.

Method #2
Wash in soapy water, then rinse really well.
Put "wet" in microwave on high for 1 min.
Let cool and wring out.
Hang to dry.

Method #3
Wash and rinse by hand. Then add to a load of laundry.
Do not put in dryer. Hang to dry.

What is my favorite natural soap for hand washing and bathing?

Definitely Dr. Bronner's Lavender Scented.
Also, I love Mrs. Meyer's Lavender Bar soap, as well.

BUT my BFF is my own homemade cold-processed bar soap. I love mixing pine and lavender and bergamot essential oils. I'll do a post/slide show on making soap soon!

Peace,
Green Keen aka Pam on Vacation