Ethical Bathroom cleaning

skelly01

Hi,

I am looking for something natural to remove limescale and soapscum etc from my shower cubicle.
I really don't want to use bleach or anything harsh.
I had thought about mixing vinegar with bicarb, would this work?

Grumpysally

Hi sorry I can't think what you could use but I noticed you had had no reply. If you try asking this in the Old Fashioned Money Savers forum I'm sure there will be lots of people who can advise you.
Regards,
Alison

greenbee

Vinegar and bicarb will cancel each other out.

I suggest that you try a vinegar or lemon juice spray. Spray it on and leave it for an hour or so, and then scrub with a scourer before rinsing. Limescale will come off most surfaces with a good application of elbow grease , and the acid in the lemon juice/vinegar will helpl to dissolve it. If the shower is badly scaled it may take several applications, but it will eventually disappear.

ClaireLR

If you have somewhere badly affected with limescale, soak a wedge of cotton wool in vinegar and pad the area with the soaked cotton wool. Leave for a couple of hours or so but make sure you rinse thoroughly! I don't think you can use this on coated taps though, only stainless steel ones. Cola (the cheap value stuff) also makes a good cleaner apparently for the loo, although I've never tried it myself. For blocked drains etc put a cup of bicarb down followed by a cup of vinegar - it will fizz and clear the blockage. Leave for an hour and then put a kettle of boiling water down. To keep the bathroom clean on a day to day basis I use microfibre cloths with a homemade spray of half water half white vinegar in a spray bottle, with some tea tree oil in as it has antibacterial properties.

As someone else said, ask on the old style board, there's loads and loads of advice on this sort of thing

stumpycat

I've been thinking quite a bit about this recently... is bleach really bad?
I'm not going to start drinking the stuff, but I was under the impression that bleach degrades fairly quickly (with light & air) into water, sodium chloride & oxygen. I know if you start mixing it you can end up with chlorine compounds - but for just cleaning stuff is it really a problem?

basmic

Agreed, stumpycat.

I think comprimising on cleaning your house, is a stupid and unhygenic thing to do.

I mean what's the worst a bottle of thick bleach and cream cleaner can do to the environment?

skelly01

Bleach is not very eco friendly nor is it easily biodegradeable, that is unless it is an oxygen based bleach.
For you to comment on compromising cleaning your house, I would suggest is stupid.Aggy and Kim from how clean is your house advocate using natural ingredients, and they certainly do not compromise on cleaning.
At the end of the day this forum is designed for ethical comments and the like.
If you read the other posters comments I think you will only too well agree that there is no compromise on cleaning, it can probably work out cheaper and might even produce better results.
Oh and for those of us who care a bit about the environment, our future generations etc it might just contribute to all this being better.
I would like to thank the posters who have answered positively and I will try out your suggestions.

kafkathecat

I find Ecover limescale remover effective but I know not everyone approves of Ecover. Vinegar just made my whole house smell like a chippy unfortunately.
K

thescouselander

skelly01 wrote: »

Bleach is not very eco friendly nor is it easily biodegradeable, that is unless it is an oxygen based bleach.
For you to comment on compromising cleaning your house, I would suggest is stupid.Aggy and Kim from how clean is your house advocate using natural ingredients, and they certainly do not compromise on cleaning.
At the end of the day this forum is designed for ethical comments and the like.
If you read the other posters comments I think you will only too well agree that there is no compromise on cleaning, it can probably work out cheaper and might even produce better results.
Oh and for those of us who care a bit about the environment, our future generations etc it might just contribute to all this being better.
I would like to thank the posters who have answered positively and I will try out your suggestions.

I'm sorry but I cannot agree with what you have said here. Bleach does degrade quickly and does not get into the environment through domestic use. I wont go into the details here but wikipedia has a lot of info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach#Environmental_impact


I think people on here are a bit misguided some times. I have seen a few posts on here where an "Ethical" alternative has been recommended but that alternative has been worse than the manufactured prouct being replaced (see the hair dye thread).

Just because something is from a natural source it does not mean it is safe or better for the environment.

stumpycat

Thanks thescouselander, I was genuinely curious as to why 'bleach is bad' keeps getting mentioned and wanted to find out if I was missing something, or people hadn't really considered it.

basmic

skelly01 wrote: »

Bleach is not very eco friendly nor is it easily biodegradeable, that is unless it is an oxygen based bleach.
For you to comment on compromising cleaning your house, I would suggest is stupid.Aggy and Kim from how clean is your house advocate using natural ingredients, and they certainly do not compromise on cleaning.
At the end of the day this forum is designed for ethical comments and the like.
If you read the other posters comments I think you will only too well agree that there is no compromise on cleaning, it can probably work out cheaper and might even produce better results.
Oh and for those of us who care a bit about the environment, our future generations etc it might just contribute to all this being better.
I would like to thank the posters who have answered positively and I will try out your suggestions.

In all honesty, as long as I feel confident with the hygiene of my house, I'm not bothered about anything else.

If it takes a bottle of Domestos or caustic soda (*puts on flame suit from the nansy pansies*) to achieve a suitable cleanliness and hygiene in my house, then that's what it takes.