The Best Green Cleaning Products
Written by Amy Boggs
Owner of Sparkling Palaces House Cleaning
In the
first blog post we covered the importance of using eco-friendly cleaning products in your home. One of the main reasons so many people are switching to using these types of cleaners is that they are safe for you, your family, your pets, and safe for the environment. Some people wonder if green cleaning products will clean as effectively as conventional cleaning products. From my experience of over 17 years cleaning homes and running a house cleaning business, when you use the right eco-friendly cleaning product then they clean as well or better than conventional products.
Many of our clients want to know about the cleaning products we use when we come sparkle their homes. The supplies we bring with us are non-toxic and eco-friendly. All of our cleaning products have been chosen because they clean exceptionally well. Whether your intention is to
find the right house cleaning service or do some cleaning of your own, this list will help anyone clean the best way.
These types of cleaners are the primary ones you'll use when cleaning a house. A good all purpose cleaner should be able to handle most types of cleaning tasks, including the kitchen, bathroom, spot-cleaning and windows. Our favorite all purpose cleaner is
hydrogen peroxide. The reason we use and recommend cleaning with hydrogen peroxide is that it is highly effective at killing germs. And, this cleaning product is entirely safe and non-toxic. Use hydrogen peroxide everywhere in your home including window and glass cleaning.
When our clients need extra attention during cold and flu season, hydrogen peroxide is great for sanitizing door handles and light switches. These are the types of surfaces that harbor the most germs. Hydrogen peroxide also has no odor so it's great for those sensitive to chemical smells.
The other eco-friendly all purpose cleaner that we use is
vinegar. Vinegar is great for tackling more difficult cleaning jobs. Due to the acidic nature of vinegar it will help break up dirt and debris. A lot of people find the aroma of vinegar very pleasing when used at the right dilution. We love cleaning with vinegar because it is entirely non-toxic and biodegradable. The only place to be careful is when cleaning a marble surfaces - avoid using vinegar as it will etch the marble. Hydrogen peroxide works well for cleaning and sanitizing all sealed, non-porous surfaces.
We find that the best way to keep a bathroom sparkling clean is by cleaning it regularly. This way, mold and soap scum won't have the opportunity to build up and turn into a more difficult cleaning task. Help from a
local recurring cleaning service will make bathroom cleaning easy. Most of our clients find that a bi-weekly cleaning offers the perfect balance for maintaining a sparkling clean home.
When your bathroom is well maintained, an all purpose cleaner should be enough to do the job. If you are having a deep cleaning done by a cleaning service or if you are cleaning a bathroom for the first time in awhile then you may need additional green cleaning products to get the job done right.
First off, we recommend having a
toothbrush handy for getting around the knobs and drain in the sink, as well as for the difficult crevices on the toilet. A narrow profile toothbrush can make cleaning hard to reach areas much easier. Then, you'll want to have the right sponge to pry free the dirt and stains that abound in the bathroom.
In addition to using a toothbrush and sponge, a
scrub brush is a great tool for cleaning the grout in a shower. Try using
Bon Ami with the scrub brush for both the shower and the tub. Bon Ami uses feldspar for gentle abrasion and does wonders for removing stains and helping to scrub grout. This product also has no odor and is safe to be used and then washed down the drain.
Finally, the last cleaning tool you will need to deep clean a bathroom: a
pumice stone. These stones work can work miracles, especially on toilets. They will easily remove mineral deposits and toilet bowl rings. They're safe for porcelain and won't scratch - no harsh cleaners or chemicals required!
If you're like most people, the kitchen will be the area of your house where you and your family spend the most time. Even with regular cleaning attention the kitchen can get quite dirty. There are also two parts of the kitchen that rarely get cleaned: the oven and the refrigerator. We know the best cleaning products to use to keep your entire kitchen sparkling clean.
One of our favorite eco-friendly cleaning hacks in the kitchen: use
baby oil on the stainless steel. Not only is baby oil completely safe and biodegradable, but it will leave your stainless steel appliances sparkling clean. Use a microfiber rag and work the oil into the grain until you've removed all the fingerprints and stains. Then smooth the oil out for a nice shining, finished look.
Remember that pumice stone you used in the bathroom? The oven is the other perfect place to use this cleaning product. However, we always use a new pumice stone just for the kitchen so you aren't spreading germs around. The abrasive pumice can be worked onto those tough baked-in stains in the oven. With a little effort you can get the oven looking like new. If you have the time, run the self-cleaning cycle on the oven first to help loosen the stains. Once the cycle is complete you can use your pumice stone, cleaning cloth, and hydrogen peroxide. To remove stains on the oven racks try scouring them with
steel wool.
Outside of cleaning your bathroom and kitchen, most of the time is spent dusting, spot cleaning, and mopping floors. We already mentioned with all purpose cleaners that hydrogen peroxide is a great tool for spot cleaning. Use this to remove fingerprints on the walls, marks from your dog, or germs from heavily used surfaces in your home.
When dusting you first want to start by getting down cobwebs. A cobwebber such a this
telescoping duster is great for reaching all areas of your house including high ceilings. Some people use a broom to double as their cobwebber - we don't recommend this. The broom will typically have a fair amount of dirt and debris that you don't want to scatter about your house. For all other dusting needs we use a
microfiber cloth. The reason the microfiber has grown in popularity recently is that it picks up dust incredibly well. There are literally millions of small fibers distributed on a single cleaning cloth. These tiny fibers have the ability to grab and absorb dirt just like a sponge absorbs water. Using a microfiber cloth lets you dust thoroughly and efficiently.
We highly recommend cleaning floors regularly. Not only do we track in dirt and chemicals into our homes from the outside world, but dust settles down to the floor. Start with a good vaccuum - use one that has a
HEPA filter. This way you are sure to get rid off as many particulates as possible, including down to 0.3 microns in size. This should help those in your home with allergies.
If you are cleaning hardwood floors, after vacuuming them it's important to use the right cleaning product to protect the integrity of the wood. A cleaning product like
Bona - which is what we use at Sparkling Palaces - will keep your floors resilient and looking like new.
With the fact that more and more toxic chemicals are entering our lives everyday we think that green house cleaning is the best choice for a sparkling clean home. There are a lot of options out there to use for cleaning supplies. The products that we recommend are what our team of Sparklers actually use out in the field everyday. We use these products to deliver
sparkling clean homes to our clients. We know that it's possible to have meticulous cleaning of the highest quality while using eco-friendly cleaning supplies. Harsh synthetic chemicals don't offer any additional benefits while potentially causing harm to you and your family. Our advice: go green! Find a cleaning company focused on sustainability, healthy products, and quality. At Sparkling Palaces we offer the most detailed green cleaning in Portland. Use these products and help protect you, your family, your pets, and our planet.
Amy Boggs, Owner
Sparkling Palaces
