Eco-dirt busters & Eco-turkeys!!

Fire_Fox

I have been very impressed with Lakeland All Clear dilutable glass cleaner, made with the ubiquitous soap nuts. My city centre street is wall-to-wall bus stops so my windows get pretty grimy!

Steer clear of Tesco Naturally all purpose cleaner. Have to use loads for it to cut through dirt or grease; not very economical!

Can you recommend an environmentally-friendly cleaning product that has really impressed you? Or warn others against wasting money on a cleaner that doesn't clean?

A_fiend_for_life

Ecover's my prefered choice. Lasts far longer than any of the others - just bare in mind you need to be frugal with it when you first use it as it doesn't froth. They also do refills for their more popular products.:)

jo20_2

Soap nut Liquid makes a good liquid cleaner that you can make yourself by boiling Soap Nuts. Of course the best and easiest use of soap nuts is do do your laundry. It is amazing how much cleaning power 4 to 5 of these little shells have. Of course the fact that they are eco friendly and chemical free is just an extra benefit. I have tried SUNNY PLANET soap nuts and have been very satisfied. Here are some Links that you may want to try:

http://webstore.com/
http://www.wagglepop.com/stores/Soap-nuts-jewelry-etc :eek:
http://soapnuts.weebly.com:j

A_fiend_for_life

There was a post somewhere on the OS board about rubbing the soap nut with an abrasive and planting them to harvest your own supply. The success rate I think was quite low so you need to use a few to have a reasonable chance of growing a plant. Not sure what the yield was.

savvy

The Method cleaning cloth is amazing! :j

greenbee

I mostly use ecover (I buy 5l containers and refill, so some things last ages!). I particularly like the floor soap (linseed based, smells lovely!), toilet cleaner, dishwasher tabs & rinse aid.

I use the method bath/shower sprays and bath cleaner. I also use their leather wipes and stainless steel cleaning kit.

For wooden furniture I use beeswax and rags.

For windows I use a macro-brush pad and microfibre cloths.

Soapnuts for low temp laundry, ecover powder and sometimes laundry bleach for anything that needs an occasionaly hot wash.

Soda crystals & vinegar for cleaning out WM/DW.

Vinegar for descaling appliances, getting water marks off jugs/glasses/vases and as a fabric conditioner.

All of this has been worked out by trial and error...

Fritha_2

I've been using Sainsbury's clean home non-bio laundry liquid. I use about half/ two thirds the recommended dose and even then it cleans better than some of the 'chemical' ones. I washed baby food off the straps of my friends baby swing with it, she'd previously washed it in persil and not got the stain out so when they came out whiter than white I was very impressed! And it's cheaper than a lot of other laundry stuff!

Not sure how eco it actually is mind.....

A_fiend_for_life

Ecover washing up liquid, toilet cleaner and washing powder are excellent.

Free newspapers and vinegar for windows.

Any tips on washing powder alternatives as I am finding ecover pricey on my present budget?

greenbee

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

Ecover washing up liquid, toilet cleaner and washing powder are excellent.

Free newspapers and vinegar for windows.

Any tips on washing powder alternatives as I am finding ecover pricey on my present budget?

I use ecover, but the minimum amount (in the drum) as I put soda crystals in the drawer to soften the water. Some of the online sites do a large box of the washing powder which works out cheaper - I either got mine from natural collection or ethical superstore.

I also use soappods (one of the brands of soapnuts). I haven't checked how they compare price-wise, but I'm happy with the results - admittedly my clothes aren't usually particularly grubby!

fernliebee

I use ecover washing up liquid (recently reduced to 55p in my co-op so I bought the lot! ) and the ecover multi surface cleaner. Apart from that I mainly use vinegar and bicarb with a bit of lemon or tea tree oil. I do use Asda natural washing powder as this doesn't make my skin go funny, and is cheap, but I use half the recommended amount. I use vinegar instead of softener, as I live in a hard water area and use washable nappies so just started using it for all my clothes- it really does a good job, and I guess it stops limescale build up in the machine too!

Occasionally if we buy a pizza they give you a free bottle of coke, I hate the stuff and so does DH so put it down the toilet n it makes it sparkley!