Cleaning materials, what do you use?

[Zayna]

Hello All

 

Does everyone use eco-friendly cleaning products or do you use standard washing up liquid such as Fairy Liquid, and Flash spray to clean your bathroom?

 

I am more than prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products but would like opinions please, if I splash out on the eco stuff, someone is bound to parp up and say naaahhh, you don't want to be doing that....

 

Thanks.

[luctor et emergo]

Give it a wipe with a damp cloth..

[Naughty Cal]

EVM

 

Environmentally friendly boat cleaner and it is all we use at home and on the boat. Cleans a multitude of things exceptionally well and environmentally friendly to boot

[Lady Muck]

A copy and paste from Haringey online. This relates to the River Lee, obviously, but you can see that in an instance like this it's sensible to think about what you use on your boat. I knew that handwash is bad for the river (we use old fashioned hand made soap instead), but I didn't know how bad.

 

Email to Friends of Tottenham Marshes from lock-keeper Theo Thomas:

 

I’ve attached some photos I took yesterday of the Lea at Bow Locks, in Bromley-by-Bow, just north of our office.

 

The river is already looking green. That’s because of the high levels of phosphates in the water. It acts like a fertilizer. As the weather gets warmer the soup-like water gives plants like Floating Pennywort and Duckweed the perfect conditions to flourish. Spreading over the water, cutting out the sunlight. To get the worst rating for high phosphate levels a 100ml of river water needs to contain more than 1 milligram of phosphate. At Bow there is an average of 5.35mg per 100ml of water! Higher up the Lea we get more than 8 milligrams. This really messes up the balance of the ecosystem.

 

The phosphates are coming from Deephams Sewage Treatment Plant and homes in the Lea Valley.

 

So now is the time to ask people to stop buying dishwasher tablets with phosphates in. Some dishwasher tablets contain more than 30% phosphates.

 

Asda stocks a phosphate free brand, Planet Clean. Tesco do an own brand that's phosphate free. Many shops stock Ecover tablets or other green options. If they don't have phosphate free products they should - ask the store to get them.

 

The European Parliament voted before Christmas to ban phosphates in dishwasher tablets. The ban will come into force in January 2017!!! But we can stop buying them now – instant results.

 

European Parliament link - http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1542

 

We also need to get people to stop using handwash that contains Triclosan. It’s an anti-bacterial chemical added to many products. But it is needlessly added to handwash. When it gets into rivers it is toxic to aquatic life and is a hormone disruptor. The annoying thing is that it is no better at removing bacteria from hands than normal soap and water. This report shows Triclosan in hand wash is a waste of time - http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/Supplement_2/S137.long

 

A report from the Canadian Government this year concluded “Triclosan has a high inherent toxicity to a variety of aquatic organisms, such as algae, macrophytes, invertebrates, amphibians and fish. Adverse effects on these organisms include reduction in growth, reproduction and survival...Triclosan may also interfere with the action of thyroid hormones in amphibians at environmentally relevant concentrations."

 

http://www.ec.gc.ca/ese-ees/default.asp?lang=En&n=6EF68BEC-1#as...

[luctor et emergo]

EVM

 

Environmentally friendly boat cleaner and it is all we use at home and on the boat. Cleans a multitude of things exceptionally well and environmentally friendly to boot

 

 

No offence Phylis, but I find the idea of you using e-cover, "couse it's better for the environment", whilst opening up the engines on your boat for a weekend cruise down the coast, quite funny..

[Lady Muck]

Just to add - I copied BSP and I use lemon juice to keep my cassette bog sparkling. a quick squirt around the rim and overnight it magically removes any limescale or stains.

 

You don't need to splash out on chemicals, just a bit of elbow grease (microfibre cloths are great). Try some of these tips.

 

http://www.howtocleananything.com/general-cleaning-tips/old-fashioned-home-cleaning-remedies/

Edited June 20, 2012 by Lady Muck

[Naughty Cal]

No offence Phylis, but I find the idea of you using e-cover, "couse it's better for the environment", whilst opening up the engines on your boat for a weekend cruise down the coast, quite funny..

 

We dont use it for that reason. We know the chap that makes and sells it

 

ETA: Im doing my bit for global warming

Edited June 20, 2012 by Phylis

[luctor et emergo]

Just to add - I copied BSP and I use lemon juice to keep my cassette bog sparkling. a quick squirt around the rim and overnight it magically removes any limescale or stains.

 

 

What limescale or stains? Without going into horrid detail, my porta-potty, dexpite being filled with Wiltshires finest calcium rich H2O, suffers not from scale, nor staining ( ).

 

Baby wipes make great cleaning wipes, but I have no idea about their envirnmental credentials..

[mrsmelly]

Hello All

 

Does everyone use eco-friendly cleaning products or do you use standard washing up liquid such as Fairy Liquid, and Flash spray to clean your bathroom?

 

I am more than prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products but would like opinions please, if I splash out on the eco stuff, someone is bound to parp up and say naaahhh, you don't want to be doing that....

 

Thanks.

 

We follow the example the Chinese make...........

 

Tim

[Ex- Member]

Hello All

 

Does everyone use eco-friendly cleaning products or do you use standard washing up liquid such as Fairy Liquid, and Flash spray to clean your bathroom?

 

I am more than prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products but would like opinions please, if I splash out on the eco stuff, someone is bound to parp up and say naaahhh, you don't want to be doing that....

 

Thanks.

 

We've used ECO balls for washing for years, for general laundry they're brilliant, for heavy soils though Lynn adds some stainz are out to the wash, this is also an eco friendly product and incredible at removing stains.

 

On the boat for all hard surfaces we use Ultra Klean, it's basically a waterless car wash product, but for cleaning things like white goods kitchen units Glass TV rubber flooring shower glass internal and external paintwork it's just brilliant, no smears wipe on then wipe off with Microfibre cloth for a gleaming finish. It's non hazardous, but doesn't state Eco friendly. We bought 10 litres over a year ago, still over 5 litres left and it's used regularly at home and on the boat.

 

Good concentrated washing up liquid, we buy 5 litre containers that are normally supplied to caterers and hotels etc, there's a small pump on the sink that sucks fluid from the container in cupboard below, not bothered if it's ECO friendly, but there are quite a few eco friendly products now.

 

To be honest that's about all we use, using microfibre cloths and just plain water is a pretty good cleaner in it's self.

 

 

 

[carlt]

What is eco-friendly?

 

Ecover contains Sodium Laureth Sulphate, a foaming agent that is also an irritant, suspected carcinogen and an Oestrogen mimic.

 

It also contains the suspected carcinogen 1,4, Dioxane which it doesn't list as an ingredient because it is a by-product of the manufacturing process, rather than an intended ingredient.

 

Stainz r out, on the other hand, would appear to do what it says on the bottle and contains no nasties.

[Ex- Member]

What is eco-friendly?

 

Ecover contains Sodium Laureth Sulphate, a foaming agent that is also an irritant, suspected carcinogen and an Oestrogen mimic.

 

It also contains the suspected carcinogen 1,4, Dioxane which it doesn't list as an ingredient because it is a by-product of the manufacturing process, rather than an intended ingredient.

 

Stainz r out, on the other hand, would appear to do what it says on the bottle and contains no nasties.

 

Bananas

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Hello All

 

Does everyone use eco-friendly cleaning products or do you use standard washing up liquid such as Fairy Liquid, and Flash spray to clean your bathroom?

 

I am more than prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products but would like opinions please, if I splash out on the eco stuff, someone is bound to parp up and say naaahhh, you don't want to be doing that....

 

Thanks.

Are items that are labeled Eco friendly any better than the ones that aren't ? Is "Eco" washing up liquid and friendlier than Fairy?

[haggis]

Are items that are labeled Eco friendly any better than the ones that aren't ? Is "Eco" washing up liquid and friendlier than Fairy?

 

I don't know about "friendlier" but because the eco products are so useless at removing grease etc, you have to use far, far more than you would with a "normal" product. Probably swings and roundabouts. A quick squirt of Fairy or half a cupful of an eco product. Has it not been proved that they all contain "nasty" ingredients anyway?

 

haggis

[Grace and Favour]

We always use Eco-products . . .

 

they may cost a few percent more, but when one considers how little of the cleaning and maintenance materials one uses every week, I feel it's a very small price to pay.

[Janet S]

Plain old vinegar or lemon juice and a microfibre cloth will cope with just about anything...

 

Janet

[Ex- Member]

I don't know about "friendlier" but because the eco products are so useless at removing grease etc, you have to use far, far more than you would with a "normal" product. Probably swings and roundabouts. A quick squirt of Fairy or half a cupful of an eco product. Has it not been proved that they all contain "nasty" ingredients anyway?

 

haggis

 

Not all eco products are useless, some are better than their chemical alternative. In fact many natural items like lemon and vinegar bicarb borax are as good as chemically mass produced products and in many cases better. With the advent of microfibre cloths there isn't much you can't clean efficiently with just warm or hot water.

 

It's easy to become brainwashed in to believing that anything advertised on TV is best, I've always seeked out alternatives and mostly found them better safer and far cheaper.

 

 

 

[BlueStringPudding]

Just to add - I copied BSP and I use lemon juice to keep my cassette bog sparkling. a quick squirt around the rim and overnight it magically removes any limescale or stains.

 

You don't need to splash out on chemicals, just a bit of elbow grease (microfibre cloths are great). Try some of these tips.

 

http://www.howtocleananything.com/general-cleaning-tips/old-fashioned-home-cleaning-remedies/

 

Works a treat. And smells nice. And if you find there's a gradual built up of stainage or lime scale in the loo or sink, splosh some white vinegar in there and leave it for a biter even overnight. Dirt cheap and dissolves the limescale really well.

[BlueStringPudding]

Works a treat. And smells nice. And if you find there's a gradual build up of stainage or lime scale in the loo or sink, splosh some white vinegar in there and leave it for a biter even overnight. Dirt cheap and dissolves the limescale really well.

 

The other thing to add is that when I first bought the boat I used BioMagic in the pootank. It's a biiiiiig tank! Trouble was I couldn't buy it locally where I lived and the mail order postage costs were prohibitive so I stopped using it and went on to the more organic version of blue on occasion and sometimes nowt at all in the tank.. Over the last 6 months or so the macerator has been less efficient than usual. Then by luck the marina I went to a few weeks ago sold BioMagic. I hadn't used it for maybe three years. I bought some and sloshed it in the tank. But I also keep the bottle in the bathroom and once a week or so splosh some into the loo bowl. Sometimes flushing it through, sometimes letting it sit there in the bowl overnight. Lo and behold, the macerator is flushing properly again. Might've been coincidence that whatever might have been partially blocking it has now gone through, or maye the BioMagic has helped. Whichever, I'm gonna keep using BioMagic again as long as I can find local suppliers on my travels.

 

Here's their site: Biomagic I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had good experiences of BioMagic

Edited June 20, 2012 by BlueStringPudding

[keble]

.

 

Here's their site: Biomagic I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had good experiences of BioMagic

we've just started using it in the Thetford. Very pleased so far!

[Zayna]

Wow, thanks all, tons of information here.

 

Can I just ask please, why are microfibre cloths better than just an ordinary dishcloth?

[carlt]

Wow, thanks all, tons of information here.

 

Can I just ask please, why are microfibre cloths better than just an ordinary dishcloth?

They are much more absorbent but eco-friendly they are most definitely not.

 

A cotton dishcloth is made from a sustainable material and is fully biodegradable.

 

Microfiber cloths are made from unsustainable oil products, emit toxic fumes if burnt, are not biodegradable and are not recyclable.

[Lady Muck]

Wow, thanks all, tons of information here.

 

Can I just ask please, why are microfibre cloths better than just an ordinary dishcloth?

 

It's the way they are knitted out of really fine fibres. They are very absorbent, plus if you looked at one through a microscope you would see that the millions of tiny fibres work like a very effective brush - the surface area is far greater than a normal cloth.

[Nightwatch]

When I was in Cleaning Management, at one time microfibre cloths were being introduced into the industry. There was an enormous resistance to using the cloths as there was not a need for additional chemicals and products to enable the cleaning of the majority of surfaces. As office furniture is, in the main, not wood but laminates and other man made materials there is certainly not a need for polishes and the like.

 

We found it rather good on glass, where glass cleaners had been used in the past. Once you have 'got rid' of any residues left on the glass you are left with just the natural product (glass) leaving it shiny and smear free. On the otherhand, mirrors were/are a pain in the proverbial.

 

The biggest problem I had was convincing the 'traditional' cleaning operative to put away the chemicals and go chemical free.

 

I will add though that if surfaces are oily and caked in grease you do have to use a degreasing agent of some kind. Finish off with the microfibre. Same goes for hygiene areas.

 

Fantastic for tiled walls and floors.

 

Do not use in conjunction with chemicals. You take away the microfibre advantages.

 

As far as eco friendly construction, I don't know.But I do know that I have one in the garage, one on the boat, some at home that have been with me now for more than four years and used on a regular frequency, some may say not frequent enough though, and are still going strong.

 

Is that eco friendly. Reduced chemicals, long lasting.

 

When they first came onto the commercial market they were about £3.00 a shot to buy from suppliers.

 

Use damp, rung out in water, hot or cold or warm or tepid.

Martyn

 

edited to add the LM is correct in every way.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Nightwatch

[Zayna]

I didn't realise what a can of worms I was opening when I started this thread!

 

I daren't even mention shampoo and shower gel...

 

Thank you all for your input, I'm very new to all this and have lots to learn. I can't wait till I can show you what we've (nearly) bought...