Between natural products and eco-labeled products, the alternatives are currently sufficiently varied and effective to want to appropriate them, whether it is for the office cleaning maintenance of professional premises or domestic cleaning. But beyond changing detergents or disinfectants to maintain floors, surfaces, and toilets, ecological cleaning also means adopting new practices and new methods. How do clean ecologically? This article tells you everything.
Ecological cleaning
In the workplace and at home, we are all looking for effective solutions to maintain the visual and/or bacteriological cleanliness of surfaces. But our concerns encourage us to orient ourselves more and more towards cleaning products that also preserve health (allergies, asthma, chronic respiratory diseases, etc.) and the environment (air quality, water, …). However, the use of eco-cleaning products alone is not enough to be part of an eco-responsible approach.
What is green cleaning?
In business and at home, it is now possible to clean while respecting your health and the planet, but ecological cleaning also consists in implementing good practices.
The simple rules of ecological cleaning.
- Clean regularly rather than carrying out a deep cleaning at longer intervals to prevent dirt, grease, and bad odors from becoming encrusted and requiring the use of more aggressive products.
- Limit the use of aggressive detergents. Get rid of the smell of cleanliness obtained thanks to synthetic perfumes which have no role in cleanliness.
- Respect the dosage; overdosing harms the effectiveness of an ecological cleaning product.
- Respect the recommended contact time to allow the product to act.
- Prefer rags to impregnated wipes.
- Reduce the number of detergents or detergent-disinfectants when possible by checking that each product used is essential.
- Ventilate interior spaces daily for at least 15 minutes.
- Continue to wear protective equipment, the use of natural products does not dispense with this, as they can also be irritating.
Ecological cleaning and 100% natural products
We often talk about grandmother’s recipes that may seem outdated, yet the expression refers to natural detergents with a thousand uses that make everyday life easier and allow you to clean and sanitize as effectively as using industrial household products. Among the essentials, we will mention:
- White vinegar: it cleans, stains, sanitizes, whitens, disinfects, descales, deodorizes, and can be used on many surfaces (glass, tiles, laminate, melamine, etc.) – 14° household vinegar 5 L container.
- Black soap: made from vegetable oils, it cleans, detaches, degreases, nourishes, and protects – soft black soap 5 kg bucket.
- Soda crystals: they clean in-depth, wash before work, degrease, recur, disinfect, whiten and constitute an excellent complement to bicarbonate. In addition, their antifungal and antibacterial action preserves the effectiveness of detergents.
- Baking soda: it fights against acid corrosion in pipes, descales, removes greasy dirt, traps bad smells, deodorizes and its slightly abrasive powder texture allows you to strip without risking damaging surfaces.
- Marseille soap: this natural antiseptic cleans, degreaser, disinfects, removes odors, shines furniture and enamel, revives upholstery, and eliminates pen marks on surfaces.
Ecological cleaning and Ecolabels
In terms of ecological products, labels are legion, so much so that it is often difficult to find your way around and know where to place your trust. Only eco-labeled cleaning products guarantee consumers’ performance in use and a reduction in their environmental impact.
In France, two eco-labels are issued and should serve as benchmarks for your purchases.
- The Australian Ecolabel covers the Australian market.
- The Environnement label, an Australian label
Ecological cleaning and microfiber
Ecological cleaning consists in reducing the use of cleaning products, but also preserving water resources. Microfiber meets these requirements.
Microfiber is an ultra-absorbent and very resistant textile fiber based on polyamide and polyester and composed of microfilaments 50 times smaller than cotton. It comes in a wide range of cleaning cloths for windows, floors, multi-purpose, gloves, sponges, tea towels, etc.
This microfiber cloth can be used dry on all smooth surfaces to capture dust and dirt or slightly damp to remove greasy substances and particles. Its lifespan is 100 to 500 washes, depending on the quality of its fibers. The microfiber microfiber reduces water intake and the use of detergents (it is effective without) and limits the production of waste (paper towels, traditional cloth).
We will remember :
- Green cleaning doesn’t have to be more expensive. You have to think in terms of the overall cost (acquisition, use, and waste treatment) and compare the price of an ecological cleaning product to its conventional equivalent based on a user price, taking into account dosages and dilutions made before their use.
- Except for proven infectious cases, bleach is not necessary; detergents have cleaning and antimicrobial properties that are sufficient to kill germs with regular maintenance.
Read More: The different industrial cleaning techniques
