During this Covid-19 / Corona Virus lockdown it’s important we keep extra vigilant about our cleanliness and hygiene. Of course washing our hands, refraining from touching our faces and limiting exposure to other people is important but we also need to be keeping our safe space decontaminated from pollutants. Using a lot of shop-bought cleaning products is not only pricey but it’s going to affect our health as most accessible cleaning products are made with toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans, other animals and the environment. As the covid-19 (the corona virus) affects the lungs first it’s important to keep our respiratory and immune systems in full health with natural cleaning agents that work just as well at cleaning our homes. Here’s how I clean my home top to bottom to make sure I’m living in a clean and healthy space (find full video below):

Kettle

Limescale build-up can be really tricky to manage but it’s important to keep your kettle clean because this calcification not only damages the item, giving it a shorter lifespan, but is also bad for us to ingest too much of and can lead to health problems like kidney stones. Instead of pouring harmful chemical products into my kettle, I use distilled vinegar which works far better, isn’t detrimental to my health, doesn’t require any elbow grease at all, comes in sustainable glass bottles, and is a fraction of the price. This can also be used to get rid of the limescale around your taps, shower head or anywhere else you see build-up. Just soak it for 1hr to overnight and you’ll see it completely dissolve before your eyes.

Dishes

I use a cotton scrubby or wooden brush with replaceable heads and package-free dish soap from my local bulk shop to wash my dishes. You can find a link to my favourite low-waste products here. I also make sure not to keep the water running when washing dishes, only using as much as I need when washing a few items and plugging the sink or using a washing up bowl when washing many.

Surfaces

I clean all surfaces in my home with my DIY cleaning spray which is made using only a couple of simple and inexpensive ingredients: distilled vinegar, water and an optional scent from something like citrus peels or cinnamon.  You can see exactly how I make it in this video.  It’s super effective as vinegar is a natural disinfectant and deodoriser so it’s perfect as a multi-purpose cleaner and it a mild acid so can remove stubborn stains, unclog drains and remove grease, grime and that strong glue left behind when peeling off stickers to repurpose jars. It’s super effective but also very gentle on all surfaces. I pretty much go to town with this spray and use it on my countertops, walls, cabinets, and anywhere else that needs a wipe down. It’s non-toxic so safe for asthmatics, animal companions and children.

Glass, Windows & Mirrors

My cleaning spray is also perfect for cleaning glass, mirror and windows and leaves a streak-free shine. I use a scrap of cotton fabric from cropping one of my old t-shirts to clean glass because it doesn’t leave those bits of fibre some other cleaning cloths do. All you need to do is make sure you work in the vinegar spray until it’s evaporated to make sure you don’t leave any streaks. It’s also great for polishing chrome and removing grime and water stains, leaking your sink, tub and shower sparkling with minimal effort.

Toilet

To clean my toilet I sprinkle in a bit of citric acid and bicarbonate of soda which fizzes up and begins to deep clean, disinfect and deodorise the toilet nicely. I then add some distilled vinegar and scrub any stains or marks away easily. You can also leave this mixture in the toilet overnight to and scrub in the morning for a deeper clean. When you flush it’ll also help clear out the drains and remove any build-up or smells coming from the pipes.

Floors

To clean my floors I vacuum first then use some warm water with a few drops of liquid castile soap which is high-strength and I’ve been seeing around more and more in health food shops and grocers to refill in our own jars and containers, which is great as currently they only come in plastic when bought online. One of these bottles lasts me around 1 year as I don’t need much at all to wash all the floors in my home.  

Laundry

To clean my laundry I make sure to put my loads on shorter spins and at 30 degrees. This is all you need to wash a normal load of laundry and can make your times last longer, too. My clothes always smell fresh and clean and I only use higher temperatures for particularly muddy or dirty washes.

Plants

To keep my plants happy and healthy, I use banana skins to dust them. This keeps them shiny and dust-free and they also seem to thrive when I clean them this way. It’s easy, costs nothing because I’m using the scraps from what I’m already buying and I can compost them afterwards. The perfect low-waste hack!