A quick glance at supermarket shelves reveals a vast range of various products you can buy to clean the surfaces in your home. There are products for use in the kitchen and bathroom, as well as various remedies for descaling washing machines, dishwashers, kettles, coffee machines, etc.
Many of them are colorful and promise you a shiny result and a lovely scent without lifting a finger. You might think it’s too good to be true, and in many cases, it actually is. Many of these products are both expensive and ineffective, and at the same time, they contain a long list of problematic chemicals and fragrances that are neither good for the environment nor your skin.
If we look back just a few decades, there was only a very limited selection of cleaning products to choose from. People managed with a few products like brown soap, soap flakes, vinegar, and soda when they had to tackle dirt and grime. With an appropriate amount of elbow grease, these few products were usually entirely sufficient, and together with a mop bucket, mop, and cloths, it was all that was needed.
At some point, society changed, and women entered the workforce. There was less time to manage household chores, and cooking and cleaning, which had been full-time jobs, became tasks that had to be tackled in addition to the “real” work outside the home. But since there were no more hours in the day, everything had to be done in half the time.
The industry was quick to meet the demand for easy solutions for busy families, and in a few years, we got a dizzying range of ready meals, canned and powdered foods, ready to use when time was short. The same applied to cleaning supplies. A vast array of products, each with a specific purpose, was launched, all promising one and the same thing—a spotless home with minimal effort, so time could be spent on other activities, like more time in front of Netflix or reading news.
In those years, there was not much prestige in knowing about cooking or housekeeping, and much of the knowledge and good advice from previous generations were not passed on but ended up being forgotten. At the same time, we had more money to buy all the products, and for many of us, it has resulted in overflowing shelves filled with expensive cleaning agents and insufficient knowledge of how to effectively clean.
The focus in recent years on reducing our consumption with less environmental impact has resulted in more and more people wanting to know how to clean effectively without having to invest in a multitude of products that may do more harm than good. And there is good news because the fact is that you can confidently get rid of most of your supplies and instead keep a few things that work as they should.
In fact, most modern cleaning agents contain well-known ingredients like citric acid, brown soap, etc., so humorously speaking, the products are essentially just old wine in new bottles with added fragrance, etc., to make them appear smart and effective. We have created a list of the products you can use for daily cleaning:
Dishwashing Liquid
Can be used for many other things besides washing dishes! Dishwashing liquid is the most effective agent against grease and dirt of all the agents available. Therefore, it’s ideal to use it as a cleaning agent on all surfaces in the home where ordinary dirt, grime, and grease are stuck. A great tip for the bathroom is to make a mixture of dishwashing liquid, vinegar, and water and clean all surfaces with it. The dishwashing liquid removes dirt, and the vinegar tackles lime scale, so it’s actually all you need. The same mixture can be successfully used when cleaning windows, resulting in sparkling clean and shiny panes.
Vinegar and Vinegar Acid
Vinegar is a true wonder product in the household, where it can be used for much more than pickling. Vinegar handles lime scale far better than any other product you can buy. Always use clear vinegar for cleaning instead of the brown one, which contains sugar and spices. Vinegar, water, and dishwashing liquid are in many cases all you need for daily cleaning, as this wonder mixture takes care of both grease, dirt, and lime scale. Vinegar acid is stronger than ordinary vinegar and is used either diluted with water or where regular vinegar isn’t enough. Always read the back of the bottle when working with acids, and use rubber gloves to protect your skin.
All-Purpose Cleaner
All-purpose cleaner comes in countless versions. As the name suggests, the cleaner can be used almost everywhere in the household and on most surfaces. Like dishwashing liquid, all-purpose cleaner is effective against grease and dirt, but as it is stronger, it can be used on more soiled surfaces. It is often suitable for floor washing, but be aware that your floor, depending on the material, may need to be washed with a specific cleaner.
Toilet Cleaner
It’s necessary to clean the toilet a couple of times a week, and here it’s a really good idea to use one of the cleaning agents specifically made for this purpose. The products contain precisely the right ingredients in correct compositions needed to keep the toilet clean and hygienic. Follow the dosing instructions on the back of the bottle and always use separate cloths when cleaning the toilet.
Other products that are good to have at home include brown soap, soap flakes, soda, and baking powder. Baking powder isn’t something you immediately associate with cleaning, but it’s fantastic for removing stains from tea and coffee from kitchen sinks, cups, and pots, etc.
Always use rubber gloves when cleaning. Even if the agents you use don’t contain harmful chemicals, they can still be extremely harsh on the skin and, in the long term, increase the risk of eczema. Rubber gloves are available in all supermarkets and cost no more than a few dollars.
A final tip is to look for the Nordic Swan label when buying cleaning agents and other household products. Products with the Nordic Swan label comply with legal requirements for ingredients that apply in Denmark, so you will always be sure to get a good product that both works and harms you and the environment as little as possible.
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