Green clean

Apparently many household cleaning products, such as oven cleaners, drain cleaners and even air fresheners are classed as hazardous waste. Something to do with neurotoxic petroleum-based solvents, which can cause headaches, lack of concentration and irritability.

Many shop-bought cleaning products are not just bad for us but also for the environment, seeing as anything you use is likely to end up down a sink and into the water supply. Once it gets into the lakes and rivers, anything containing phosphates will cause algae blooms, robbing the water of oxygen, blocking sunlight, and ultimately killing marine life. It’s also not a good idea to use bleaches, such as chlorine, which in wastewater can create toxic compounds.

You can supposedly clean a microwave using vinegar to loosen food grime before wiping the inside clean. The instructions read: Place a microwave-safe bowl with 450ml water and 110ml vinegar inside the microwave and microwave on full power for 3-4 minutes (it needs to boil). Keep your microwave closed for a few minutes to allow the steam to loosen the grime, then open your microwave, carefully remove the bowl, and wipe clean.

The verdict? Not terribly impressive. Some of the mess wiped off but a lot of it didn’t. Still, it was such a state it may have taken several hours with conventional cleaners. Obviously what we should have done was have two microwaves, and used nasty chemicals on one and vinegar on the other, but we figured it probably wasn’t worth buying a second for the purpose of this article. Sorry folks.

I am reluctant to write off eco-cleaning methods after just this one attempt. I’m sure they’re perfectly adequate if you clean more than twice a year. Plus, it has to be a lot cheaper than branded products. The best thing to do is probably try it yourself.

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