Carpets & Flooring
CRI Articles
IEHA Articles
The Clean Trust Articles
Features
It’s easier than ever to make a big impact on the cleanliness of your home without making a big impact on the environment.
1. Choose a cleaner that’s greener. Significant improvements have been made in eco-friendly options, even among some well-known retail brands. Check labels and choose products that are biodegradable and labeled “phosphate free.” Avoid ingredients like EDTA, butoxyethanol, and bisphenol A.
2. Use antibacterials, sanitizers, and disinfectants sparingly. They aren’t needed every time you clean. Many germs can be killed or removed with a good scrubbing and soap and water. Save germ-killers for use in the kitchen after handling meats, raw eggs, and other foods that can carry harmful bacteria, in bathrooms, or after someone in the family has been ill.
3. Forego (or reduce) your use of paper towels, disposable wipes and other products that will be discarded, and opt instead for good quality cloths that you can wash with a phosphate free laundry detergent. (No fabric softener is needed.) To minimize time in the dryer, use the heavy spin cycle to wring out excess water, or line dry.
4. Eliminate chemicals altogether where you can. Specialty microfiber cloths are on the market that can handle everything from dusting to cleaning windows with nothing more than a little water.
5. Be on the look-out for other ways to go green when you clean. In the kitchen, an inexpensive foil liner at the bottom of your oven will catch greasy messes and keep your oven clean longer. For carpeted floors, try a non-electric carpet sweeper between vacuuming sessions.
The Housekeeping Channel (HC), a for-profit educational LLC, provides the information on HousekeepingChannel.com as a free service to the public. The intent is to disseminate accurate, verified and science-based information on cleaning and housekeeping.
While an effort is made to ensure the quality of the content and credibility of sources listed on this site, HC provides no warranty - expressed or implied - and assumes no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product or process disclosed on or in conjunction with the site. The views and opinions of the authors or originators expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of HC: its principals, executives, Board members, advisors or affiliates.
