The essentials for a chemical-free household
Today there are many Eco, Bio chemical-free cleaning products to choose from, but if you want the most cost-effective solution, you can also make your own cleaning products from simple ingredients.
It's handy to take a quick look at how easy it is to make your household chemical-free.
Tools
- Spray bottle - available from household shops, major chain stores, household department of home improvement stores.
- Sieve - look for it in your kitchen accessories or pick up an old, disused one. It's a very good way to spray treated surfaces evenly with, say, baking soda or household starch (the latter on carpets, for example).
- Microfibre wipes - you can save a lot of cleaning products with a good microfibre wipe or two. Look for them in drugstores and online shops.
- Silicone mould - for making dishwasher tablets, ideally with a 15-20g serving size
Szerek
- Bicarbonate of soda as h (sodium bicarbonate) - a "by-product" of soda ash production and other chemical processes (nowhere is "other chemical processes" specified). It breaks down in the environment, it is harmless. A bit like chamomile tea, it's good for almost everything, from degreasing (a key ingredient in dishwashing tablets) to deodorising and washing hair. Its old-fashioned name is very endearing: 'double-acid rock'.
Available: in green shops, in the household department of some supermarkets, and sporadically in classic household shops. You should not buy pharmacy products for household use. Its chemical action is alkaline.
- Vinegar - produced by fermentation, there are both artificial and natural fermentations. It used to be a by-product of beer and wine making. It has many household uses, including descaling and rinsing. You don't have to like the smell.
Available: in grocery stores. Chemistry is acidic.
- Washing soda (sodium carbonate) - naturally occurring, harmless, biodegradable. Excellent for washing (for coloured clothes: 2 parts washing soda + 1 part washing soap powder + 1 part Na-percarbonate, for white clothes + 1 tbsp Na-percarbonate + 2 tbsp baking soda). Also excellent for softening water and degreasing. https://www.humanityaruhaz.hu/termek/mososzoda_2_kg.html
Available in: green shops, some drugstore chains. It is worth buying a larger pack. Its chemical action is alkaline.
- Citric acid - made from the juice of lemons, harmless, biodegradable. Its use is practically the same as vinegar, but citric acid is "gentler". It is the main ingredient in my rinse aid, for example, but I prefer to use it on laminate and lacquered surfaces, and wherever possible, because we don't like the smell of vinegar.
Available in: green shops, household shops. Its chemical action is acidic.
- Sodium percarbonate (solid hydrogen peroxide): environmentally friendly, stain remover and bleaching agent, the main ingredient in active oxygen bleaches. It is particularly useful for laundry washing, but is also excellent for washing machine tablets. https://www.humanityaruhaz.hu/termek/folttisztito-_feherito-so_natrium_perkarbonat_1000_gramm.html
Available in: green shops, household shops. Its chemical action is alkaline.
- Alcohol - I don't think I need to introduce you. You can get it in a pharmacy, but you can also substitute it with our Uncle Géza's fence-snatcher if you can't drink it. I'm not joking, because it's great in dishwasher rinse, for example. It's also great for stain removal and cleaning glass surfaces.
Available: in pharmacies.
- Essential oils - natural substances that play an important role in disinfection and fragrancing. Tea tree oil, lemon oil, lavender oil also have a disinfectant effect. Tea tree is perhaps the most effective antibacterial oil (Tip: natural essential oils are available at memoriaglass@memoriaglass.hu in litre containers at a good price .)
Available in: health food shops, health food stores, drugstores, pharmacies.
- Bile soap - made from beef cattle liver, natural, biodegradable. The great king of stain removal, knows no obstacles.
Available in: health food shops, drugstores.
- Laundry soap - usually made from vegetable or animal fat, it is the equivalent of the old household soap. Check its composition because it can also contain unnecessary substances (e.g. perfume). I prefer to buy it as a soap powder because it is the easiest way to add it to the wash. https://www.humanityaruhaz.hu/termek/szappanpor_500_gramm.html
Available in: health food shops, drugstores.
An important warning: however environmentally friendly we talk about, they are not suitable for young children! So keep them in a safe place just like their chemical counterparts!
