I’ve been slacking on my, “Save $50,000 in five years” series. It’s a lot of work (all those calculations!) However, it’s time we got back to it, so without further ado… Let’s look at cleaning products.

Image © kabliczech

Why use green cleaning products?

In this post I’ll be comparing the costs green cleaning products only – both store bought and homemade. What I won’t be doing is comparing savings on making homemade cleaners over conventional cleaners, because you shouldn’t be using conventional cleaners at all. That’s a much longer story though and an issue that goes beyond budget.

If you’re interested, read Ten Problems and Hazards of Conventional Cleaning Products.

How I’m getting these calculations:

Green cleaning supply costs can really depend on your family, how much you clean and many other variables. We’re a family of five, and we clean fairly regularly, so I’m just going to use us as an example. When it was just my son and me, we almost always only used homemade cleaners. Now that we live with another family, who can’t seem to figure out homemade cleaners (longer story for another time) it’s sometimes easier to buy green cleaners at the store. I’ve also had to test out store bought green cleaners for reviews.

That said, I have a decent amount of experience with both types of cleaning supplies. However, I’m kind of a Grinch about buying anything, so I also looked at some market research to see how much people are spending on green cleaners.

Cleaning my family regularly does annually & supplies needed:

We do daily chores, such as wiping down the kitchen and dining room table surfaces about 2-3 times per day, most days of the year. On a weekly basis, we have two bathrooms to clean, scrubbing out the kitchen sink, recycle bin and garbage can, along with mopping floors and dusting surface. 

On a twice monthly or monthly basis we clean windows (glass and frames), wipe down the fridge, wipe down walls (Oregon mold prevention), spot clean couches and floors if needed and clean the oven.

For the chores above we need all-purpose surface cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner, tub cleaner and organic liquid soap.

*I’m not including vacuuming carpets (vacuum cleaner) or other tools such as scrubbing brushes or cloths or paper towels – just cleaners. I didn’t include laundry or dishes, because low impact laundry and dish washing savings are their own posts.

How much do FRUGAL basic store bought green cleaning supplies cost over five years?

These are the store-bought cleaners we buy, when we buy them. These in total are few, and not very typical to what I see among most families, so we’re going to figure two scenarios.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner – $3.49 per bottle – lasts about three months. Need 4 bottles = $13.96 (per year)

Glass & Surface Cleaner – $4.99 per bottle - we use a concentrated, mix your own cleaner that lasts us about 3 months – but we use it for lots of stuff; glass, the fridge, all surfaces, etc. Need 4 bottles = $19.96 (per year)

Castile Liquid Soap Organic $14.99 per bottle – we use this for a ton of stuff, from scrubbing out recycling bins to cleaning sinks and more. We tend to get the 32 oz size which lasts and last because a tiny bit goes a long way. Need 2 bottles = $29.98 (per year).

Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle – due to the kids, we go through more of this than other stuff, about a bottle every two months. Need 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year).

I never buy a scrubby type cleaner. If I want to clean the sinks or tub with something other than homemade stuff, I’ll squirt a bit of castile soap or surface cleaner into the sink or tub, sprinkle a bit of eco-laundry powder or eco-dishwasher powder into the area and scrub with a brush.

As for floors, we use our Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam, which we didn’t pay for, but costs $149.00. I suggest using this, as you don’t need any cleaners for it, and it’ll last the whole five years I’m guessing. Plus sweeping and mopping sucks. You do need to buy a steam mop pads, maybe once per year, for $6.75. Total costs for five years = $182.75. Still, had we not gotten the steam mop for free, then we’d simply use some of the castile soap or surface cleaners + a basic cheap mop, so our costs on floors would be negligible.

Total frugal green cleaning store-bought supplies = $94.20 per year or $471.00 over five years or $653.75 with the steam mop.

Image by svilen001 via sxc.

How much do TYPICAL basic store bought green cleaning supplies cost over five years?

We buy very few store-bought cleaners, even when we’re using them regularly, because we mix it up with homemade and use them sparingly. However, we’re not very typical.

When I visit other people’s homes, I often see a much larger amount of cleaning products – both if they’re buying green or not. People seem highly attracted to single use products – i.e. they need a kitchen vs. bathroom cleaner. Typically I see the following stuff in typical homes… Oh, and I’m going to guess, based on my experience how fast the average family of four would use these up and I’ll choose the most popular green cleaners at Amazon – since it’s hard to tell what typical people buy.

• Furniture polish $8.67 per bottle - I’m guessing a bottle of this would last a year (?) = $8.67 (per year)

• All purpose cleaner $8.80 per bottle. Need two bottles a year, since you’ve got all these other cleaners too = $17.60 (per year).

• Kitchen cleaner – surface spray $3.98 per bottle - maybe 12 bottles a year, people use a lot of kitchen cleaning spray. If I mix my own from eco-concentrate, I still mix up about 1.5 bottles per month = $47.76 (per year).

• Bathroom cleaner $3.86 per bottle - as with kitchen cleaners, if I mix bottles myself, I use about 6 or 7 per year on the bathrooms alone. Especially because the kids totally over-spray = $27.02 (per year).

• Toilet Bowl Cleaner – $3.49 per bottle - lasts about three months. Need 4 bottles = $13.96 (per year).

• Some sort of disinfecting multi-surface wipes $4.97 per container - I’ve seen people go through 2 or 3 of these per month, but that’s just nuts. I know a more frugal cleaner who uses 1 container per month, so I’m going with that = $59.64 (per year).

• Window and glass cleaner $9.70 per bottle - 4 bottles = $38.80 (per year)

• Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle - 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year).

• Floor Cleaner $4.85 per bottle for mopping and such – I have no idea how long this might last, but floors are big, so I’ll estimate at least three bottles a year = $14.55 (per year)

• Oven cleaner – I’ve actually never seen a readily available eco-oven cleaner. BUT you don’t want to go the conventional route. Oven cleaners are the worst of the worst cleaners. I do know of one oven cleaner that’s supposedly safe, but I haven’t used it. It’s affordable at just $7.69, I guess it would last the whole year = $7.69 (per year).

• Tub and tile cleaner $3.74 per bottle - hopefully you’d use less of this, especially if you’re buying other cleaners. Once, Seventh Generation sent me a bottle of tub cleaner spray to test, and it lasted me about 3 months, assuming I cleaned the tub entirely with it = $11.22 (per year).

• Bleach $11.63 per bottle

Total typical green cleaning store-bought supplies =$300.56 per year or $1,502.80 every five years.

How much do people REALLY spend on green cleaners?

My figures were $545.95 for frugal green cleaners and $1,502.80 for typical green cleaners over five years. However, to be clear, my best estimates about typical cleaning product purchases don’t match what other market research says.

David Bach, author of Go Green, Live Rich estimates that the average American family spends about $600 per year on home cleaners. Packaged Facts estimates that the U.S. market for household cleaning products through 2012 will reach $8.1 billion. People seem to buy an outrageous amount of cleaning products. Currently green cleaners only make up 3% of the home cleaning market, but they cost more, so if you buy a full range, you’d be spending a bundle.

For example, in 2009, $339 million was spent by a very small percentage of people on green household cleaning products. Packaged Facts estimates that green home cleaner sales should reach $2 billion in sales by 2014 while the global market for household green cleaning products forecast is US$9.32 billion by the year 2017. About 1/3 of green cleaners sold are laundry products, but even so, that leaves a hefty amount of other green cleaners being sold.

According to market research, my best guess figures were extremely low. The cleaning market is a rich market. It’s very likely that people spend much more on cleaning products than I figured, more in the range of $500-$600 per year. Or $2,500-3,000 every five years. If you split the average of $2,500 and $1,502, you’re looking at $2,001 every five years.

© Franny-Anne

How much do basic homemade green cleaning supplies cost over five years? 

Okay, these figures are easier, since for years, homemade green cleaners were all I used, so I have a much better basis for comparison.

Here’s a list of my basic supplies for a year’s worth of cleaning naturally.

• Prevention + arm power – both free – if you clean often, you avoid big messes that can’t be cleaned and you’d be surprised what a basic good scrub with a brush will get rid of.
• $3.00 (2 containers) salt - usually store brand or bulk.
• $6.00 (3 massive boxes) baking soda – usually store brand or bulk.
• $9.60 1 lemon per month (I refuse to pay more than 80 cents for a cleaning lemon, if it’s more I go without for cleaning.
• $9.02 1 bottle of Organic Tea Tree Oil.
• $29.98 (3 bottles) Castile Liquid Soap Organic
• $1.80 a small containers of vinegar – I HATE vinegar and use it ultra sparingly, actually forgetting to use it, so it costs me almost nothing.

I personally buy Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle - 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year). However, there are homemade versions you can make. They’re a bit more trouble, so this is one area where I spend extra.

Total costs of natural cleaners $59.40 for a year or $297.00 over five years. If you buy the steam mop ($182.75) I suggested up above, you’d spend $479.75 over five years.

Savings with natural homemade green cleaners over store bought green cleaners:

• $297.00 – $479.75 spent on homemade cleaners (highest estimate).
• $2,001 spent on store bought green cleaners (conservative estimate).
• You’d save $1,521  to $1,704 every five years if you went with homemade green cleaners (average of $1,612.00).

We’re trying to save $50,000 and so far we’ve saved the following…

• $1,612 by making homemade green cleaners
• $6,180 by using reusable water bottles vs. buying bottled water
• $1,000 by using cloth instead of paper towels
• $1,354 if you use cloth napkins instead of paper
• $835 by switching to reusable baby wipes

That’s a grand total of $10,981.00. That leaves $39,019.00 left to save. That seems like a lot. Whew, by the way, next time I’m doing something easy – these calculations were a nightmare. For now, if you want to start making your own green cleaners, check out the following:

• Green and safe kitchen pantry homemade cleaners
• Homemade all-purpose and mold cleaners
• Homemade green kitchen cleaners

So far we’ve looked at 5 insanely easy New Year’s goals for families who are newer to green living. Plus we started looking at some harder green challenges for more experienced eco-families. Next on our list is the goal of zero paper towels and paper napkins.

WHY TAKE ON THIS GOAL?

• Paper products use up entire forests – in total, 75% of the plantations established for paper and wood products in the last 20 years have been established at the expense of natural forests.

• Paper products create pollution; in fact, the paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

• Paper products use excessive water and energy to manufacture.

• Typical paper towels are manufactured using chlorine, a known toxin which releases carcinogenic dioxins into the environment.

• Paper products account for 25% of landfill waste. In turn, landfills account for one third of human-related methane emissions.

• The majority of all commercial inks used in paper products are made with petroleum, a non-renewable resource.

The major reason you should give up paper towels and paper napkins is because on top of creating some serious negative environmental impacts, they’re unnecessary. This isn’t about something vital like food, shelter or clothing; it’s about a totally expendable item.

See many more facts about the damage caused by the paper industry.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS GOAL:

I never had to switch from paper napkins because my own mom raised me with cloth napkins. I never assumed there was another choice – I figured people just used cloth napkins.I was wrong of course. All kinds of people use paper napkins, but I never have.

Paper towels were another story. My own mom bought them when I was growing up, then later I bought them. Everyone I knew used paper towels, and honestly, I guess I assumed they were a necessity. You clean with them, use them for plates, wipe up spills with them – you know, all the typical stuff.

However, around the time my son was born, I started wondering why I was using paper towels. For one thing, they’re expensive for a disposable item. Secondly, I was using cloth baby wipes, reusable coffee mugs, cloth napkins and other reusable items, so using paper towels seemed a little lame. We bought fewer paper towels or bought recycled, but I didn’t decide to quit using them until Cedar was about 6 years old – or a little over three years ago.

HOW LONG DID THIS GOAL TAKE TO ACCOMPLISH?

I quit cold turkey. One day I simply asked myself, “Hey, what if the store was out of paper towels?” I never bought another roll. Now, to stop buying paper towels is one thing. To quit the habit of reaching for a paper towel when you think you need one is quite another.

I had moments where I’d attempt to reach for paper towels, then I’d have to remind myself, oh, we don’t have any. Luckily for me, as noted above, we already used tons of reusable items – cloth napkins, reusable ice pop molds, cloth baby wipes and so on, so the transition wasn’t as painful for us as it can be for some families.

All in all, it took one moment in my day to quit buying paper towels, and a couple of months to stop missing them. This was, in my opinion, a super easy goal to complete, but I’ve seen families who have a hard time with it.

COST OF THIS GOAL:

It depends. Overall completing this goal will actually save you money, not cost you money.

This goal cost me nothing, but if you have zero cloths, it’ll cost you a little bit. I already had cloth napkins, as noted, and I spend very little on them when I get new ones. As for replacing paper towels with cloths, I pretty much used what I had around the house, which included stuff like…

• Old cloth diapers, old cloth baby wipes, old washcloths, old cloth napkins and old shirts (cut up) to clean with and wipe up spills.
• Decent kitchen towels (that I already had) for spills and other kitchen messes.
• Decent bathroom towels (that I already had) for hand drying.
• Plates instead of paper towels for snacks and such.

If you’re a paper freak right now, and have few cloth items, you’ll need to get some. I have a break-down for the costs of each…

What it will cost to switch from paper to cloth napkins.

What it will cost to switch from paper towels to cloth.

TIPS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED:

Go cold turkey. If you have any paper towels or paper napkins in the house, and it’s already in your nature to use them, they’re just too easy to reach for. If you don’t have any in the house, yes, you’ll be stopping to think at first, “What do I grab!?” but this is a necessary step.

Stock up on cloth before you quit. Make sure you’ve got plenty of options laying around and a good amount of cloth napkins. If you have nothing to substitute for paper, you’ll get frustrated. Next thing you know, you’ll be running to the store for paper.

Make a list of alternatives. What could you use if paper towels didn’t exist? You can easily use cloth to clean with and dry your hands, right? I know a lot of people who have quit or tried to quit using paper towels and the place they get hung up on isn’t with cleaning issues, but food issues. It’s sooooooo easy to grab a paper towel for your toast or use a paper towel to cover a bowl of soup in the microwave. What you should do instead is use a microwave safe plate to cover items in the microwave and use plates, not paper for holding food and snacks.

Keep some REALLY old cloths around for super messes. At first, everything might seem like a super mess when using cloth. But in reality there are messes, then there are real icky messes, the kind you think won’t wash out of cloth. That’s not true – almost everything washes out. However, to save your sanity, it can pay to keep some really old, almost dead cloths around for those psychologically bad messes.

COMMON TROUBLE SPOTS & QUESTIONS:

I’ve actually got an entire post with common arguments for paper towel use. If you’ve got tons of concerns about switching to cloth, then this post is a must read. Here are some of the most common questions and comments I’ve heard from people about paper towels and napkins…

You must not have kids – because I do and paper towels are a must!: I DO have kids. Three kids in fact, between my boyfriend and myself. My own son has almost never used paper towels and doesn’t miss them. He knows how to clean with cloths, use a cloth napkin and so on. My boyfriend’s kids are extremely prone to disposables, because their other household is big on disposables. However, when they’re here, they don’t have a problem using cloth. Having kids is a terrible excuse for using disposable paper products.

Paper towels are best for cleaning because they kill germs better than cloth: For one thing, germs are highly overrated. Secondly, it depends on how you clean. You can clean incorrectly with either paper or cloth. Learn how to clean correctly with cloth.

Paper towels help stop the spread of germs!: This is what the paper council would like you to believe, but it’s a lie. In your own home, the chances of spreading deadly germs via cloth are slim. If your family washes their hands properly, you can all use the same cloth hand towel. Make sure you switch them out a couple of times a week and wash them. In the case of illness, the Canadian Lung Association suggests that you  give the sick individual their own hand towel for the illness duration, but paper is an unnecessary step.

What if I want to quit using paper towels when I’m out and about too?: Use a hand dryer or try PeopleTowels, which are reusable, personal, carry-along hand towels.

How can you suck up the grease from bacon or other greasy foods without paper towels?: Buy some lint-free tea cloths and only use them for grease. However, with the insane health risks related to fried foods, along with the current obesity epidemic in full swing, I’m gonna suggest you quit frying foods. Bake, don’t fry and place food on a broiler to catch grease.

How do you dry produce without paper towels? I use cloths for most produce and a salad spinner for my greens – because I HATE wet greens in a salad.

How do you get lint-free glass without paper towels? Microfiber cloths or recycled newspaper both give you lint-free glass. Personally, I think lint-free glass is overrated. Seriously, when was the last time a friend came over and actually said, “Wow, I just love your lint-free mirror!” That’s never happened to me – even when I used paper towels.

Don’t cloth products take up a lot of time? You will need to wash cloth towels and cloth napkins which is more work than tossing paper into the trash. However, at my house we use a ton of towels and napkins, and we really only wash about one full load of towels per week. Also, to save time, we don’t really fold. We fold napkins in half and toss them in a drawer and we store our cleaning cloths, totally unfolded in a reusable bag I hung up in the laundry closet.  Using cloth takes about 15 extra minutes of my life each week to two weeks – it takes much longer to drive to the store for paper towels.

TO SUM UP:

Quitting paper towels and napkins is such an awesome goal for families with kids – just think, your kids could grow up and not even know that there’s an option other than cloth. If you’ve got questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll try to help. If you need more inspiration or stories, here are some other bloggers who have quit the paper habit…

• Clean Mama – other parents don’t need paper towels either!
• An individual who realizes, “Paper towels are not the lifeline I once thought they were.“
• Here’s an example of someone who drastically reduced their paper use, but didn’t like the cold turkey idea.
• Simple Organic – has some excellent tips if you’re new to cloth napkins. I.e. stuff I didn’t think about since I’ve always used cloth napkins.
• Sometimes you may have set-backs. Like this gal who quit buying, then bought more paper towels. Set-backs happen, so be prepared.
• One mama’s story about creating a paperless kitchen.

GOOD LUCK!

Review summary: The Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam is a very water-efficient way to get your floors super star clean, really fast. Although I thought the vacuum function could be a bit better.

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Product: Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam

Use: The 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam combines a vacuum (for hard floors) and a steam mop for two-step functionality. This vacuum/steam mop is meant to help significantly time crunched people by cleaning faster with better and more efficient results.

Cost:

• $199.80 – at the Shark shop
• $149.00 at Amazon – but not sure if you’d get free shipping.

Background:

I don’t use harsh cleaners at home. I always use either eco-friendly stuff that companies send me to test out OR make homemade cleaners with natural ingredients.  For years, we’ve used a simple broom and a mop for our floors. Usually I use hot water and some natural soap when I mop. Although I’m an advocate of hot water for cleaning, I was a little skeptical of using just steam to clean the floors, which tend to get super sticky (three kids) but figured I’d give the Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam a whirl anyhow.

It’s a build it yourself deal:

The fact that you have to put this vacuum together freaked me out a little. I’m sort of crafty, but not so great at putting things together. However, it turned out to be pretty easy – even for building-challenged me. It really only takes one person to put this together too, which is nice. I’d say in all, including skimming directions, it took me 10 minutes to figure it out.

Eco-perks:

• Eliminates floor cleaners altogether – eco-friendly cleaners, chemical cleaners or otherwise. With this steam mop, you just need a little water. This is a big deal. According to the National Environmental Trust (NET), chemical household cleaners rank among the top five products containing neurotoxins, carcinogens and reproductive or developmental toxins. Since this product uses zero cleaners there’s no worries.

• The packaging that the vacuum came in was all clearly marked with recycling reminders. From the looks of it, most of the cardboard packaging was made from recycled materials.

• It took almost no water to clean all the floors in my house. Usually we use a lot more water. PLUS we use water to clean the mop afterward. This was a very water-efficient way to mop.

Usage & Health Perks:

Shark notes that this steam mop, “Eliminates 99% of germs and bacteria – including the viruses that cause H1N1.” Because I don’t happen to have any H1N1 laying around, and also because I didn’t swab the floor and then attempt to grow bacteria in a petri dish, I can’t confirm or not confirm this statement.

I can tell you this much – when I was in microbiology during the the RN program at college, we did run tests with bacteria and cleaners. During one test, we swabbed the floor in an attempt to grow icky fun stuff in petri dishes.

The test we ran with steaming hot water killed more germs than tests we ran with a couple chemical cleaners. SO, in my very unscientific opinion, I wouldn’t doubt that this steam mop kills germs. The benefit of course, is that you’re not using weird antibacterial cleaners that could grow cute super germs – you’re just using water (well, steam).

Other stuff to take note of…

• According to tests conducted by Shark, the Vac-then-Steam cleans hard floors up to 120% faster than traditional methods. See what I think about this below in cons.

• You can use this on used on all sealed hard floor surfaces – including sealed hardwood, linoleum, ceramic tile, or marble and other stone floors.

• The Vac-then-Steam comes with 2 dustcup filters – 1 in the unit and 1 replacement. It also comes with 2 post-motor filters. You only need to replace the filters once every year.

• The vacuum has a pretty powerful suction that’s supposed to pick up even even fine particles from hard floor surfaces, leaving them prepped for mopping.

• Usage was fairly simple once we got the hang of it. One simple flip of a switch and steam pad attachment allows you to change the vacuum into steam mop mode.

• NO messy wringing out the mop issues.

What I think:

I actually don’t mind cleaning. I like washing dishes. I don’t mind laundry much. I really like organizing. But I HATE, HATE, HATE sweeping. It’s my least favorite household chore. To get around it, I’ve tried to use our vacuum on the kitchen and dining room floors. However, our current vacuum cleaner is really only meant for carpet, so I’ve been stuck sweeping. Ugh.

It was pretty exciting to get the Vac-then-Steam, because I didn’t have to sweep before mopping! Weeeee! The reason I hate sweeping is because it’s totally inefficient. Brooms are lame. They don’t pick up anything small. The Vac-then-Steam rocked in this respect. It picked up bigger stuff, hair and so much dust you’d be amazed. Actually, I can show you – I left the floors alone for two weeks (to really give this a go) and look at the cup from the Vac-then-Steam after I used it…

Yuck right? This vacuum picked up almost everything; even really little bits of dust, with one exception (see below in cons).

My floors were a crazy sticky mess but the steam mop cleaned like a dream. The best part was that the steam mop got into all those little crevices – you know along the wall, where the border meets the floor, and dirt gets all icky there. This steam mop got it all nice and clean (see image above for what I’m talking about crevice-wise).

A huge perk was not having to stop and wring out the mop at the sink and then somehow get back across the floor to where you were. This mop was surprising because although it cleaned amazingly well, it seemed to use almost no water. Your floors are almost dry literally seconds after you clean them.

After going over the floors, my son put on a pair of clean white socks and ran around on the floor for a bit. His socks stayed clean, which is more than I can say for when we mop with an old school mop. This steam mop REALLY got the floors sparkling clean.

Other stuff we liked…

• We liked the telescopic handle on the pole. This adjusts the height of the unit, which is nice, especially because then you, your taller partner and shorter child (in my case) can all adjust this system to suit their height.
• The pads washed up well and were okay to air dry, thus saving me from using the dryer and extra electricity.
• The Vac-then-Steam is slim and doesn’t take up any more room in your closet than a typical broom and mop.

Were there any negatives?

• The color was one of the least user-friendly aspects about this shark 2-in-1. It’s fairly pink/lavender in color, and that’s not great for most guys and some girls. Everyone who has seen this at my house has commented on the weird color and most of the males said, “I wouldn’t want a pink vacuum.” While personally I don’t think color is a big deal, I think it sort of makes this a tough product to suggest for guys and gals who like a more neutral color.

• While I liked how the steam mop cleaned, I actually felt that it was a little slower than floor mopping. The drying time was shorter, but there were a few sticky parts of the floor that took longer to go over – i.e. I had to go over the sticky a few times to get it clean. It wasn’t a huge deal.

• You have to use the micro-fiber cleaning pads that come with the Shark. These are supposed to be replaced every three months, but I think it depends on how often you use the steam cleaner. It seems like they’ll last a good long while, but if something happens to it, you can’t simply replace it with a towel from around the house. The new pads are about $8 each – not bad, but still it’d be better to be able to use a towel.

• I’m not sure if any parts of this were made with recycled materials. Some companies are starting to experiment with recycled plastics and such, so that would be cool if Shark did too.

• I have no clue if Shark has other green initiatives, such as at the corporate level, because they have no environmental statement. It’d be nice to know if they do stuff like battery recycling, paper recycling, zero waste home computer recycling and so fourth.

• The vacuum system didn’t get into tight corners very well. It did pick up dirt from against a wall, but in corners; say under the kitchen cupboards, we had some problems. I had to get out the broom to get a couple of corners. It was still better than having to use the broom the whole time though.

Overall score:

3.5 out of 5 little trees. With some minor changes the Vac-then-Steam would have scored a 4 or 4.5. For example, I’d like to see an environmental statement at the Shark website and maybe a better color for non-lavender loving consumers. I also didn’t like that I still needed a broom to get into tight corners – although, keep in mind, I let my floors get terribly messy before testing this out.

As for usage – being a broom and mop hater, I really loved how easy the Vac-then-Steam was. I’d highly suggest this product over a basic broom and mop set-up. It got my floors extra clean with zero cleaners (NO chemicals) and just a little bit of water. Overall, I’d say this is not a perfectly eco-minded product, but much better than using an obnoxious broom and mop or a steam cleaner that requires cleaning solution to be added to the water.

If you’re sick of your broom and mop, it’s well worth it to give the Vac-then-Steam a whirl. I think you’ll like it a lot.

Learn more:

• Buy the Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam
• Shark Cleaning website
• Follow Shark Cleaning on Twitter
• Join Shark Cleaning on Facebook

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

]]> http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/green-product-review-shark-2-in-1-vac-then-steam/feed/ 6 http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/ditch-paper-towels-and-save-1000-in-five-years/ http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/ditch-paper-towels-and-save-1000-in-five-years/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:07:59 +0000 Jennifer Chait http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/?p=3984

Currently I’m running an experiment here at Growing a Green Family. Can the average family of four save $50,000 in five years simply by living green?

So far we found that you can save $6,000+ if you switch from bottled water to tap and filtered tap water in reusable bottles and we also found that you won’t save much at all if you switch from paper to cloth napkins (although you still should). Up next…

Ditch paper towels and use cloth towels instead

Figuring this calculation won’t be easy. It’s easy to calculate cloth towel use because I’m actually in a family of five and use cloth exclusively – so I’ve been there. It’s a lot harder to guess how many paper towels people are using, although research in this area points to a lot.

You may think, “I don’t use too many paper towels” but it’s easy to see how paper towel use can get quickly out of hand if you consider these estimates for a family of four…

• Use as napkins at meals = 84 sheets per week.
• Use as hand towel in the bathroom – (4 potty breaks a day x 4 people) = 112 sheets a week.
• Washing up before meals and before cooking (3 meals a day) = 105 sheets a week.
• Washing and drying fruits and veggies (assuming you eat them at each meal – which you should) = 63 sheets a week.
• Cleaning two bathrooms once a week = 20 sheets a week.
• Wiping down the kitchen after cooking = 42 sheets a week.

That’s 426 paper towel sheets a week (typically 3.5-7 rolls a week – most paper towels have 60-120 sheets per roll) and I haven’t even covered cleaning up spills, pet messes, kid messes, washing hands after baby diaper changes, snacks and more. Paper towel use adds up alarmingly fast.

How many paper towels does the average family of four use in five years?

The most common estimates I’ve seen are 1.5 to 2 rolls of paper towels used per week per family of four. However, excessive use could be far more (as seen above). The most common estimate I’ve seen among friends who use paper towels is about one roll every week to two weeks. I also know families who use maybe one roll a month (combined with cloth). It really varies and I’m guessing one general estimate won’t make everyone happy so I’ll do estimates for people who use paper towels excessively and for people who use them less so…

1. Excessive virgin fiber – 12 rolls a month; 720 rolls in 5 years: You use a ton of virgin fiber paper towels (like this person who states she can use them to dry a sinkful of dishes – WTF?). You use them in the bathroom instead of hand towels, for cleaning, for napkins and more.
2. Excessive recycled – 12 rolls a month, 720 rolls in 5 years: (See above for usage).
3. Mid-range virgin fiber 6 rolls a month, 360 rolls in 5 years – You use them a lot but not so much as excessive users.
4. Mid-range recycled 6 rolls a month, 360 rolls in 5 years – (Ditto above)

How much will five years worth of paper towels cost?

Based on two of the current best-selling bulk paper towels at Amazon; Bounty 15 rolls, 60 sheets per roll, 900 total sheets ($2.08 per roll) and Seventh Generation 30 rolls, 120 sheets per roll, 3,600 total sheets ($1.93 per roll).

1. Excessive virgin fiber – 12 rolls a month = $1,498
2. Excessive recycled – 12 rolls a month = $1,390
3. Mid-range virgin fiber 6 rolls a month = $749
4. Mid-range recycled 6 rolls a month = $695

How many cloth towels does the average family of four use in five years?

At my house we’ve got 3-5 people living here at a time and use about this many cloths per week…

• 2 bathroom hand towels per week.
• 3 kitchen hand towels per week.
• 30+ kitchen cleaning towels per week – we’re insanely messy cooks.
• 2 car cleaning towels per week. I also wash my car with cloths but only a few times a year, so I’m not counting that in daily averages.
• 5 dusting and general wiping down towels per week.
• 8-12 bathroom cleaning towels per week.
• 10-20 misc towels per week depending on what’s going on.

Cloth towels last forever. At my house old cloth baby diapers (from nine years ago) along with old hole-ridden tees, unusable cloth napkins and other discarded cloth become cleaning towels so we actually never buy any cloths other than three microfiber towels I got for glass and the cars. Our total cost for cloth towels over the last ten years has consisted of those 3 microfiber, maybe 5-10 kitchen towels, one pack of washcloths that I originally bought for homemade baby wipes but now use to clean with and I’d estimate 6 bathroom hand towels. IF you care about pristine looking hand towels you might buy more often but we don’t care.

How much will five years worth of cloth towels cost?

For the purpose of this post I’m calculating what I most often see. People who use cloth (including myself) tend to reuse what they have (old cloth napkins, old cloth diapers, cut up fraying towels, old tees, and so on) or head to the thrift store (used is eco-friendly) where you can score 5 years worth of cloth towels for almost nothing. I’m talking $20 and that includes hand towels.

However, maybe you do need some new cloth towels so I’ll also add on some new purchases, made with sustainable fabric because it uses less water and resources to manufacture and zero pesticides. Cloth towels will last five years plus easily so I’m also assuming a one-time purchase over five years.

• 6 organic cotton bathroom hand towels = $60; although at Overstock I saw 6 for $34.
• 10 organic kitchen hand towels = $55.
• 3 Microfiber Glass Cleaning & Polishing Cloths, Set of 3 (for glass, the car, dusting, etc) = $5.99

WASHING COSTS: Five year’s worth of eco-friendly cloth washing (wash on cold) for a family of four would total about $60 (rounded up big time for soap use and energy fluctuation).

Average cost of all cloth use above = $95 for cloths + $60 for washing = $155 for five years.

Savings with cloth towels vs. paper towels over five years…

• If you go from excessive virgin fiber paper towel use to cloth = $1,343.00
• If you go from excessive recycled paper towel use to cloth = $1,191 .00
• If you go from mid-range virgin fiber paper towel use to cloth = $594.00
• If you go from mid-range recycled paper towel use to cloth = $540.00

Switching from very judicial paper towel use to cloth use will save you about 170 rolls of paper towels but will only equal negligible savings. You’ll save a lot of resources but not a scad of cash.

Keep in mind…

Cloth use equals bigger savings in the long run. In ten years we’ve rarely bought new towels of any sort so if you’re an excessive paper towel user and you switch to cloth not only will you save $1,299 in five years but you’ll save about $2,500 in ten years – the savings will continually edge up the scale with time.

Also, at the regular grocery store I often see people with 8-packs of paper towels. Not everyone buys in bulk. If you don’t buy in bulk and are an excessive user it can cost you a lot more ($2.50 per roll is a typical mid-range cost at my grocery store). That’s about $1,800 in five years.

To know how much money you could save by switching to cloth towels from paper towels you have to be 100% honest about your paper towel use.  Research by the paper industry shows that paper towels are a growing market and that most Americans use them at home (often regularly to excessively) so plenty of folks out there could probably be saving about $550 to $1300 over five years or an average of about $1,000.

Since the money savings aren’t insane, hopefully you also consider your eco-impact. You’ll save trees, water, and petroleum by switching to cloth.

END RESULT: We’re trying to save $50,000 and so far we’ve saved $8,534.00 That leaves $41,466.00 left to save. Whew. On one hand we’re going to have to find some better money savers to meet the $50,000 goal. On the other hand $8,534 is worth a whole lot of organic produce, no?!

[images - paper towels; cloth towel]

Right now I’m on a bit of a paper towel kick. Paper towels are one of my pet eco-topics and once I get going look out. Hopefully I’ll be off this kick in a week or so and back to a more general eco-friendly post schedule.

In general I think cloth towels can be used for anything you use paper towels for. However, that said, there are a couple of real downsides to cloth use and some imagined downsides too. First up the real cons…

REAL negative aspects of using cloth towels over paper:

It’s more icky. From a purely getting down and dirty aspects cloth can’t beat paper. Paper towels are used and tossed. Cloth towels are used and then you somehow have to deal with the mess that you’ve transferred to the towel. If a mess is really messy sometimes I’ll rinse a cloth quick in the sink before tossing it into the hamper.

Do pets need paper towels?

Pet messes. I haven’t actually come up with a great excuse to use cloth over paper towels for pet messes (like vomit, pee and other icky stuff). To be honest if my son puked a little whatever, I’d grab a normal cleaning cloth and wash it. If though he puked everywhere I’d grab my oldest cloths – the ones on the way out and use them then toss them. Pet messes are tricky and they’re one excuse I hear paper towel users mention that I don’t have a great answer for. This is one major reason we don’t have pets – because I suspect some aspects of their care is harder to manage in an eco-friendly manner. Although that said, I’d use cloth diapers for a baby and deal with it so maybe pet owners should just use cloth and deal too.

PS before you slam me in the comments for comparing pets to children note that I’m well aware of the human/animal difference. I also have many pals who do consider their pets just as important as kids; hence the comparison.

Do you have any ideas that allow you to have pets and skip paper towels? I read one idea at another blog (in the comments) that said, “In the event of the odd, small mess, like your boston terrier’s vomit, I usually have a few paper napkins in a drawer leftover from eating out somewhere.” That’s one decent idea.

Possible negative aspects of using cloth towels over paper:

Germs! People are so freaked out by germs and that fear can result in some very non-eco-friendly habits like using bleach or paper towels. Germs in a purely scientific sense though are totally overrated. Worse super germs are no joke. We keep fighting them like we’re trying to do and we’re only going to create monster germs in the process. Hit this link and scroll down to #7 for more info on super germs. That said there are some basic bacteria and germs you should look out for and cloth cleaning isn’t always the best way to kill off these germs and bacteria. Cloth can be used right though and will rid your house of icky junk but if you use cloth you MUST take the care and time to clean correctly.

Hot water use (to kill those germs above). If you wash your cloths in hot water it can cost you and the planet energy. However consider that most washing machines wash no different on hot or cold. It’s true. Unless your clothes washer has a certified sanitizing setting, washing on hot won’t sanitize. The water simply doesn’t get hot enough so you may as well wash everything on cold and save the cash and energy.

If you garden… Gardeners often use paper towels to test the viability of old seeds. Even I’ve done this and it is super easy. You don’t have to do this though. You can use organic soil instead. Soil is more work though I’d imagine.

IMAGINED negative aspects of using cloth towels over paper:

The following are the arguments I hear (or read) the most from paper towel users. These are also the arguments that I think are pretty much bunk.

“You need paper towels to clean with if you want a clean home.” Not true and I think it all goes back to the germ issue (see above). People really believe we need stuff like toxic cleaners and paper towels to have a clean home but it’s not true.

“You’ll be sick all the time if you use cloth.” Paper towel love is often blown totally out of proportion with regards to germs. In Facts About Paper Towels the author writes, “Cloth towels [are] the main culprit for spreading of diseases and germs in the society. The invention of paper towel made it possible for most of the legislative bodies to create a law against the use of cloth towels, which spreads multiple maladies. ” Um? Good job author for not linking to one source of evidence to back this up.

There will always be people so terrified of germs (read these blog post comments) that they stick to paper towels. However, you won’t win against germs they’re flipping everywhere. If you don’t believe me, sign up for a basic microbiology class at the local college. Two, I’ve never had paper towels in a home bathroom in 30+ years, my current home has been paper towel free entirely for 4+ years and surprise, no one in my house has died from a lack of paper towels. We get sick like everyone else but no more than normal. Still think I’m nuts, many studies note zero bacteria fighting differences between drying your hands with paper vs. cloth towels.

Fun - but there are other ways to entertain the kids.

“You need paper towels so you can use the recycled rolls for crafts.” Use toilet paper tubes or make other crafts.

“It’s the only way to get rid of grease – like from bacon or other greasy fried foods.” One, you don’t have to cook fried foods. Two you can use a broiler pan. Three you can buy some less linty tea cloths for just such an occasion. That said, with the health risks being what they are along with a stunning obesity epidemic in full force I suggest baking, not frying.

“Paper towels work best if you need to pick up a super messy mess (think egg spills) or broken glass.” You can use a reusable dustpan for this and rinse it off.

“Paper towels make awesome baby wipes.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this. You can make an excellent paper-towel free baby wipes kit that will cost less and work better.

“What if you need a quick coffee filter when you run out of paper filters?” Use a reusable permanent coffee filter and you won’t need either paper filters or paper towels. I’ve had my current reusable filter for so many years I’ve lost count – but I’d guess 4-5.

“You need paper towels to dry produce.” This one I actually get because I HATE wet produce especially lettuce for salads. However you can use a basic cloth to dry most produce and for stuff like broccoli or lettuce use a salad spinner which is lint-free unlike cloth or paper towels. I love my salad spinner. Here’s a BPA-free salad spinner you might like.

“They’re more time consuming.” It’s true, you do need to wash cloth towels which is more work than tossing paper. However, we’ve got five people living here and during a really bad dirty week we might wash one full load of towels but normally it’s only every other week. That’s not so much time you can’t handle it. It takes me about 15 extra minutes each week to two weeks – I wash and don’t fold – cleaning towels at my house are simply stored unfolded in a reusable bag.

“Lint free mirror and glass cleaning is only possible with paper towels.” Recycled newspaper works good for lint-free cleaning. We don’t get the paper so we use microfiber reusable cloths which also seem to be lint free. Also, I have some old school flat baby diapers I use mostly for glass and windows and they work great – the trick is to use one side with your glass cleaner and then the dry side for a rub down. Mostly though, I don’t think most people care about lint. I’ve never gone into friend’s home and mentally noted how linty their glass is. Mold, sure I’d notice; but lint… really?

“Paper towels make great safe packing material for breakables.” It’s not worth it. Not when you’ve got all sorts of good green packing material choices out there.

“They’re necessary to cover foods that can splatter when cooking in the microwave.” For kids food storage and reheating try Kinderville Little Bites Silicone Storage Jars which are freezer to microwave safe and BPA, phthalate and lead-free. For adult sized plates or bowls try UFO Reusable Suction Lid and Food Cover. The come in many sizes, are made with reusable non-toxic silicone, are safe for use in the freezer, refrigerator, room temperature, microwave and oven and are dishwasher safe. Bonus, these will not only help with microwaving food but can replaces single use plastic stretch wrap, plastic zip bags and aluminum foil.

AND the big one – “It wastes too much water and energy to wash cloth vs. simply using a paper towel.” I honestly cannot believe people try to argue this point. It takes massive amounts of water, energy and other resources to make paper towels. It does for sure take a lot of water, energy and other resources to make cloth towels too and a small amount of water to wash your towels. However, the life of cloth is so much longer than paper that this point is moot. I’ll cover resources used more in an upcoming post – when I compare costs of paper towels to cloth.

A little more on real negative aspects of cloth towel use. Because I couldn’t come up with any real negatives, minus the two above, I asked my boyfriend/housemate Dave. Dave is not so into green as me and it’s taken him some time to catch on to things like not washing towels on hot, buying organics and carrying reusable bags. In fact eco-friendly topics have started some huge arguments debates around here SO I figured Dave would have scads of negative cloth ideas. However, he didn’t. He says, “I’m no hippie but seriously there are no real negatives of cloth towels.” In fact he even was against me including the “icky” factor under real negatives. After some thought he noted, “If you use cloth towels you might get stressed from saving all that money – if so send me the money.”

If you can think of any other real negatives of cloth or pros of paper towels please let me know in the comments below.

Lastly, if you’re feeling like you want to go paper towel free check out Simple Mom for one mama’s story of going paper towel free. She has some nice tips posted that should help, even if you’re addicted to paper towels.

[images - kitty with towels; paper towel kid; paper towel mess]

One of the best green cleaning tips is to clean with cloth, not paper towels. There’s many reasons for this such as money savings, tree savings, manufacturing energy savings and more. In the last three or so years I’ve owned exactly two rolls of paper towels, but only because they were sent to me. Those paper towels were 100% recycled, but still, in my opinion, they’re unnecessary.

However, paper towel advocates will usually bring up the following, “Paper towels are so much more hygienic than cloth towels for cleaning.”

Is this a fact or an or has the paper towel industry simply been really good at selling people on fighting scary germs with paper towels?

Fact: Paper towels may be cleaner in a very general sense. They’re one-time use products. You clean the mess, toss it and there you go. With a cloth or sponge you do spread around germs to a point IF you don’t clean correctly.

However, on the flip side you can clean very well with cloth. In fact, cloth cleaning towels can work just as well as paper towels, when used correctly, only without the cost and paper use.

HOW TO CLEAN CORRECTLY WITH CLOTH TOWELS:

For general cleaning like wiping down a counter covered with bread crumbs or for things like apple juice and baby food spills or other non-bacteria spills you can use a cloth to death for the mess. Wipe up the juice, wring out the towel, get it wet, and wipe again. It’s all good.

For spills such as blood from meat, raw eggs, cake batter and any other spills that may carry bacteria or to wipe down cutting boards or to clean when people have been sick you need to take a different approach, but that doesn’t necessarily mean reaching for the paper towels.

FOR BACTERIAL SPILLS:

1. Use one cloth to wipe up the liquid part of the spill.
2. Use a second cloth drenched in hot soapy water to wipe down the area.
3. Use a third cloth to dry the area.
4. Toss it in the laundry bag, basket, what have you.

FOR SICK-TIME CLEANING:

When people are healthy you can wipe down various areas with a cloth and homemade cleaner and then even reuse that same cloth later in the day. When people are sick, I’d use a towel once for one area, then toss it into the laundry and use another cloth for a different area.

THE NO GOOD WATER ARGUMENT:
For messy or sick spills it can seem like you’re going through many cloths. Another major argument for paper towels is the water needed to wash cloth. However, first of all it takes quite a few cloths to make a full load of laundry. At my house we have a bunch of generic washcloths, old cut up rags and cloth diapers and some smaller fiber dishcloths (all in small sizes) that we use exclusively for cleaning. We only end up washing about one or two loads of cleaning cloths a week. It’s not a big deal.

Secondly it takes a lot of water to manufacture paper towels too. And think about the water it takes to grow the trees from which we get paper. Hardly anything on earth is free from water use. What’s different about paper towels vs. cloth is the reuse and packaging toll.

If you clean smart and correctly, using plain old common sense, you can still ditch the paper towels, cut costs and over time save some trees.

Do you use paper towels still or cloth only? What’s your rational behind your decision?

Keeping your kitchen clean and green is easy once you get into the swing of homemade cleaners. There’s no need to go toxic, not even with hard to clean ovens. Read on for all sorts of great homemade kitchen cleaners that actually work.

Oven cleaning:

• Prevention is your first line of defense. First of all don’t allow spills to happen. Use properly sized baking dishes and pans in the oven and if you’re a terribly messy cook line the bottom of your oven with foil to catch spills.. Secondly, never let spills sit. Clean spills right away with a damp cloth – just be careful not to burn yourself. I wear an oven mitt when cleaning hot spills and I suggest you do the same.
• If you fail to follow the prevention methods above, all is not lost. If you have a hot spill, sprinkle it with basic table salt while the spill is still warm! After the oven is cool, take a damp cloth and rub off the spill. This even works on tough greasy stains; but you have to work with a warm oven or the salt doesn’t work well.
• If you don’t have a warm oven to work with try making a mix of baking soda and water to make a thin paste (about two tablespoons baking soda – then add water slowly). Use an old toothbrush or bristle brush to scrub down your spill then wipe down with a damp cloth to remove the baking soda.

To clean a gross disposal: Run warm water, a smidgen of baking soda, and some citrus peels down your disposal all at once. Any citrus peels you’ve got laying around will work but I like lemon best.

Get rid of burnt food or fishy kitchen smells: Sprinkle an old thrift store pie plate with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of orange essential oil. Place the plate in the warm oven and let it sit as the oven cools.

Homemade herbal scouring pad: Oddly, you can find a natural “sponge” – Horsetail stems act like a scouring pad for pots and pans but won’t scratch your dishes. Rub a handful of dried leafless stems on your pots and pans. While this can leave a bit of a green color on your dishes it’s no big deal as it’ll wash off in the water and it’s non-toxic.

General kitchen sink cleaning:

• Wipe down daily to avoid set-in stains that develop when you pour coffee, berry juice, tea and other dark substances into the sink. This means less overall scrubbing is needed.
• To deep clean the sink, scrub with baking soda and water. Add a dash of lemon for whitening stains if needed.

Get rid of icky ice smells: Ice and food in freezers can start to smell funky due to the food you store. Keep your freezer and fridge clean in general – for example don’t place containers that are leaking in there. If you still get icky smells wipe down the inside of the freezer with pure vanilla extract or white vinegar. A box of baking soda inside your fridge and freezer also works well.

Easy microwave cleaning: Place a bowl of straight vinegar or a bowl of water with 15 drops tea tree oil in the microwave. Heat the bowl on high for about 2 minutes – you want it steaming. The bowl of water will steam and loosen stuck on food and grime and makes it easy to wipe out with a wet cloth.

EVERYTHING ELSE: For a fast and shiny stove top, quick garbage can cleaning, and for any other areas of the kitchen such as counters, the fridge and so on that you need to clean, choose your favorite homemade all-purpose cleaner.

If your goal is to live greener you should stick with non-toxic cleaners. There are some major dangers and safety hazards of conventional cleaners to be aware of. Risks of conventional cleaners range from health concerns, to home air pollution, to environmental contamination and more. Below are some good homemade green cleaners that will save you money and help keep your home clean while keeping your family safe.

General homemade cleaner ingredients – following are some of the ingredients I use in homemade cleaners and their benefits:

• Tea tree oil - disinfects; naturally antifungal and antiviral; great deodorizer.
• Plain white vinegar – good at dissolving built up grime and cleans glass well.
• Baking soda – deodorizes; scours but is not too abrasive for most surfaces.
• Citrus fruit juice or citrus essential oils – cuts grease; scents homemade cleaners without chemicals; deodorizes and freshens the air.
• Natural soap – general cleaning of all sorts. Whenever I mention natural soap below I’m talking about a plain, all-natural all-purpose vegetable based soap with zero additives. You can find this sort of soap at most natural grocers or co-ops. Two good liquid soaps include Castile Liquid Soaps (unscented) from Vermont Soap Organics or Dr. Bronner’s Magic Pure Castile Classic Soaps.
• Borax – is used in many commercial detergents and cleaners but you can buy a straight box of it as well. Insecticide; antifungal; and all around general cleaner. NOTE: Borax is somewhat controversial. Many health organizations believe Borax to be safe (it is a naturally occurring material) however, not everyone thinks it is safe and in fact some studies have found that it can be toxic to humans in high doses. I’m torn because in my opinion there’s not enough evidence either way yet. When I’m torn about something like this I tend to take the safest path. I only use Borax in limited amounts and only for very specific things.
• Fresh & dried herbs and organic essential oils – consult a good herbal book and essential oil book before using herbs or essential oils as allergic reactions are possible.

HOMEMADE ALL-PURPOSE CLEANERS

Prevention and hot water: Cleaning often is a good way to cut down on your use of all cleaners. A tidy space needs much less deep cleaning. Hot water and basic natural soap are also perfectly efficient cleaners for many tasks from sinks to tubs to counters. Alone, hot water and soap won’t disinfect but it will clean, kill many germs and remove dust.

Disinfectant all purpose cleaner: Mix 3-5 drops of natural soap, 2 cups water, and 15 drops each of tea tree and lavender essential oil. If you only have one essential oil on hand you can use just lavender or just tea tree – personally I prefer a mix, but each essential oil alone is fine, just up the amount to 30 drops of a single oil. You can spray this on any surface such as cutting boards, counters, toilets, and walls. Do not use this mix on glass though, the amount of oil causes streaking. This mix will disinfect but is so safe you could actually spray it on your skin so long as you don’t have negative reactions to essential oils – you can’t say that about most commercial household cleaners.

Herbal disinfectant: Choose a good handful of your favorite fresh herb or choose two complementary fresh herbs. Good cleaning herbs include lavender, eucalyptus, juniper, sage, thyme, or rosemary. Simmer the leaves and stems for 30 minutes. The amount of water you use for simmering affects the solution. For example, if you use less water you get a stronger solution and better disinfectant properties. I usually start with 2-3 cups of water. Strain, pour liquid into bottle, and use on any surface but glass. If you add a few drops of natural soap or biodegradable dish detergent this cleaner will cut grease as well.

SAFE HOMEMADE MOLD CLEANERS

Mold prevention: Try not to let mold invade your home. Once mold has invaded your home, it’s very hard to get rid of, even if you use chemical methods. You can easily prevent mold – believe me I lived on the cold, foggy, always wet beach in Humboldt, you CAN prevent mold. Clean often with one of the disinfectants above and scrub down places that might develop mold with Borax once in a while. Borax is an excellent mold prevention cleaner and it also disinfects. Use of regular hot water and soap is a good mold prevention technique.

Quick mold and mildew spray: Fill a small reusable spray bottle with two cups of water and three drops of pure tea tree essential oil. Every once in a while spray down your walls with this solution and wipe dry. This mixture fights stains and the natural antiseptic qualities of tea tree oil help fight mold and mildew.

Last resort: Mold is highly toxic to humans. If you’ve got mold and natural cleaners won’t get rid of it, this is one of those times I’d suggest a stronger chemical cleaner which to me is safer than the health affects mold will have on your family. If you must use bleach, only use about 1 1/2 cups worth in one gallon of water. Use a stiff brush to really scrub away mold. Never mix bleach with other cleaners and leave a window open so that you and your family aren’t exposed to bleach fumes. Check out the CDC guide to mold for more mold fighting ideas.