Natural & Safe Home Cleaning Products and Solutions

By Sheetal Kabra

I have in my previous posts already highlighted the dangers of using commercial chemical based detergents and home cleaning products for both our health and the environment. Use of natural and chemical free home cleaning products is the need of the hour. This is the only way we can not just protect the health of our loved ones but also save our environment.

Earthy Sapo offers several products to suit your every day home-care needs:

1. Dish Wash Bar – for dish wash
2. All Purpose Detergent Powder – for dish wash and coloured clothes wash
3. Laundry Wash Bar – for hand washing clothes
4. White Light Detergent Powder – machine wash of clothes
5. Eco Love Detergent Bar – multi purpose detergent bar for both laundry and dish wash
6. Nativus’ Citrus Bio Enzyme – for floor cleaning

Apart from the above, based on my experience,  I have listed below some other economical and environmental friendly home cleaning DIY ideas, which could help further eliminate harmful chemicals from your home care regime. Please feel free to experiment with them and leave your comments with us on what is working best for you.

Basically, there are 2 products which I have extensively experimented with for home care cleaning with and without Earthy Sapo’s range of home care products– soapnuts and vinegar (White vinegar as its the cheapest. You can also replace it with bioenzyme as its also a vinegar). Soapnuts lather and clean well and white vinegar being acidic helps remove hard water scales and also tough stains. I soak a handful of soapnuts overnight, boil them thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes, cool &collect the strained water. I again soak the soapnuts in fresh water for another round of boiling and straining. After this, I discard the soap nuts. There is no specific proportion of water to soapnuts that I follow. 1 Kg of soap nuts lasts for almost 2 months for me. You can use the soapnuts extract in the following ways for different purposes:

• As it is;
• Mix it with white vinegar/ bioenzyme in equal proportion
• Mix it with liquified Eco Love Detergent Bar

I have prepared a table of how I use natural, toxic-chemical free products for home care. Please note that the monthly consumption details can vary based on your personal preferences and family size. The details provided are for a family of 3. I prefer using bar soaps for dish washing and limit using liquid dishwash only to clean bottles or jars. Similarly, I use washing machines only for cleaning my laundry and I rarely handwash clothes. I do not use any scented products for home-care despite the smell of vinegar being rather pungent. The smell of vinegar vanishes within a few minutes.

Note: never mix vinegar with natural oil based soaps like ours. The soap will separate out.

As you can see, my monthly cost of toxic & chemical free home care is Rs. 1600-1800 per month, which I think can be borne by many households.

A complete and 100% transition to natural home care can be slightly daunting and difficult. For a long term and permanent shift, make one switch at a time. For instance, start with switching from commercial laundry detergents to natural laundry detergents, then dish wash and subsequently the others over a period of 2-3 months It gives you breathing space and makes the transition smooth and seamless. A little planning, bulk purchase of monthly requirements, involving family members in preparing the mixes can make natural, toxic & chemical free home care easy and comfortable.