Published in AuNaturel
In today’s consumer society, keeping your household sparkling clean is easy. The cupboard underneath your sink has become a veritable treasure trove packed with colourful and powerful potions ready to bibbidi-bobbidi-boo your troubles away. Just one drop can make a horrible brown stain disappear, and a quick spray can get rid of that fetid smell of wet dog.
But is it worth and necessary to farewell those scented liquids and satisfying looking plastic bottles for stinky apple cider vinegar? Are homemade products just as useful to get rid of the dirt - and much better for the environment, your wallet and your health?
Fact is, many households have normalised the use of toxic substances, employing them daily to make our homes bacteria-f ree and, hopefully, safer. But our rush to buy the newest and most potent disinfectant is contradictory.
Let’s start with the basics. Dr Bruno Cesar da Silva Sil dos Santos, a Chemistry lecturer at London Metropolitan University, explains what there’s inside store-bought products: “Most [cleaning products] are made of surfactants, long carbon chains that end with other chem- ical groups. Surfactants can either be extracted f rom nature or made in the laboratory”. Cleaning products with surfactants are called bio so are they less polluting than the others?
Dr Bruno says: “We need to take into consideration that even the surfactants taken from nature are mixed with other things such as perfumes and dyeing agents. Even if they’re built in the lab, surfactants are trying to recreate what we can find in nature, meaning that theoretically, nature can degrade them.” He continues: “However, anything else in detergents is not built to degrade in nature, so it’s polluting.”
The truth is that store-bought products are filled with harmful chemicals. Most of these harsh substances are very dangerous, especially if indigested or breathed in. Some are potentially carcinogenic, triggering asthma, skin irritations and allergies, interfering with hormonal systems and building antibiotic resistance if used often and wrongly.
“Because our skin is greasy, it interacts with parts of the molecule. As a consequence, the chemical is absorbed and causes damages. So yes, it’s dangerous to the human body but in theory, not in the amount we use it.” says Dr Bruno.
If the health damages are minimal, why should we stop purchasing them? The answer is simple. The environmental impact of these products is enormous. Most of them end up in our waterways, making their way to rivers, seas and ocean becoming extremely harmful for the environment and our marine friends. Their glossy containers are also hardly recycled and represent a big part of our waste. Not to mention that most of this “life-saver” product is also tested on animals.
Cadie Piecuch is a blogger from Vancouver and AuNaturel personal favourite for DIY recipes. Her Instagram is filled with easy and effective recipe for the household. Her DIY favourite ingredients are vinegar and baking soda due to their properties but also their cheap cost. The best thing about homemade cleaning product is that you are in charge of the ingredients. There is a huge amount of dangerous chemical in store bought products. Homemade one are easy to make, cost-effective and you don’t have to worry about their environmental impact because they are all-natural.
Let’s have a look at these ingredients. Baking soda is a trusted ingredient since Egyptian time. Back in 3500 BC, it was used regularly to dry out bodies and to prevent bad odours during mummification.
Chemically, baking soda is an excellent cleaner because it’s slightly basic thanks to its PH, which means it’s higher than neutral. It’s very efficient with bad odours, especially in the fridge. In fact, odours are mostly acidic. Because of the basic nature of baking soda, it reacts with the acid and neutralises them. Pretty magic right?
Baking soda is also very abrasive, and it’s not a bad thing as it sounds. Due to this nature, it destroys particles and removes stains from a considerable number of surfaces. You also don’t have to worry about inhaling it because it belongs to the salt group, and it doesn’t harm your health.
The second most popular ingredient is smelly vinegar. Cadie writes on her Instagram: “I was not a fan at the beginning, but once you get used to the smell, it becomes your go-to ingredient for anything - not only for your salad.”
Once again, being acidic helps out because vinegar can dissolve nasty build-ups. For examples, if your car windows are greasy, vinegar will help to make them shine. Vinegar is also excellent with urine related problems. If your Fido suffers f rom incontinence and gets too excited when you come home, vinegar will save your day. Even though it’s multi-useful, you need to be careful as it can stain delicate fabrics and surfaces like marble or granite.
If you are looking for explosive results, then the volcanos you helped making for Science class will come to hand. Vinegar and baking go together like mac and cheese. They get rid of clogs in drains and those horrible grease stains in your oven.
If you don’t want to deal with chemicals and plastic but still having a house that sparkle and smell fresh, homemade cleaning products are the right deal. They’re great for the household, entirely safe for the environment and your wallet. The future has never been so bright.
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