A healthy alternative:
With hundreds of cleaning products on the market, it can be overwhelming to choose what to use in your home. Whether it be for scrubbing a surface like a kitchen sink or countertop, or a natural soap to use in your laundry, the possibilities are endless.
The use of natural cleaning solutions, or as some refer to it as “green cleaning,” usually consists of products that don’t include chemicals like ammonia or bleach, both of which should never be mixed due to the harmful and toxic fumes it produces. In addition, natural solutions are environmentally friendly and often do not include chemicals like chlorine, artificial colors and fragrances, just to name a few.
These natural cleaners have become increasingly popular over the years, as it’s not only safer for daily use, but can be cheaper depending on what cleaning projects you need to tackle. However, ingredients in natural cleaners have been used by people for centuries before traditional products ever filled shelves in stores across the country.
The versatility of white vinegar, for example, is one affordable ingredient utilized in natural solutions that works for household cleaning. Baking soda, a common ingredient used in the kitchen for cooking, is also frequently mixed in with natural cleaning solutions. Just mixing together baking soda with distilled white vinegar can create a paste good for scrubbing or wiping down delicate surfaces in need of careful attention, or the powder can be sprinkled with laundry to deodorize and freshen up fabrics.
According to a 2015 study in the National Library of Medicine regarding traditional and natural cleaning product exposure and health symptoms in custodians, people had reduced odds of health symptoms associated with exposure to environmentally preferable cleaning products. The finding suggests that these natural products may represent a safer alternative to traditional cleaning products, whereas custodians, housekeepers, and other workers employed in cleaning jobs are at increased risk for several health symptoms including respiratory and dermatological symptoms as a result of traditional cleaning product use.
Leelanau Township resident Sandy Reinhardt said she has been mixing her own cleaning solutions for the last 40 years to complete projects around her home like cleaning clear shower doors and windows, her oven and other kitchen appliances. An easy mixture of a bit of baking soda and water will make a paste Reinhardt uses to clean her oven, while the white vinegar is used on the windows, outside birdbath, and glass shower doors for a spotless finish.
“I also use vinegar in fruit fly traps, which are happening now, so it repels them,” Reinhardt said.
As far as tackling outdoor projects, Reinhardt said she likes to utilize natural alternatives in her garden, too. She said scattering crushed eggshells, which are high in nutrients and calcium, around her garden and crops have helped with growth, as well as adding coffee grounds, which has a high nitrogen content. Epsom salt is another effective way to add magnesium to a garden, she said, and can boost the soil if it is deficient in the mineral.
“Eggshells and coffee grounds work great in gardens,” she said. “Here’s what my Italian grandfather used to do: He would take my grandmother’s canning jars and fill them with eggshells, then pour water over them and let them steep and marinate. Then he would spread that around his roses, and he had such beautiful roses.”
Reinhardt said she prefers natural cleaning solutions over traditional ones because she wants to avoid polluting the environment, specifically the soil that can affect groundwater.
“The water we drink is from the ground and it’s not filtered (well water),” she said. “To save the earth, I don’t want to contaminate anymore than I have to with chemicals… it (natural cleaners) probably does help my health because it doesn’t expose me to all these chemicals in other products.”
