Swapping to low waste household cleaners wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be. I tried a few different things before I found the best option that worked for my goal of reducing plastic waste. Though it took a few goes to get to a good alternative, it was so worth it. I ended up finding a product that could cover almost all of my household cleaning usages in just one bottle! Here’s what I tried and how it all went for this month’s plastic free-ish challenge.
Low Waste Household Cleaners – Plastic Free-ish Challenge #8
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Household cleaners I aimed to replace
My goal for the challenge was to replace the cleaners I use most frequently. For me these were:
- Laundry detergent
- Dishwashing liquid
- Hand soap
- All-purpose spray
- Floor cleaner
Most of the time I use Eucalyptus Oil with hot water to clean my floors and it’s been working well for ages, so I wasn’t too concerned about this one but left it on the list to research for others.
If you’d like to use essential oils for cleaning or homemade skincare and other products, I recommend checking out Simply Earth. I get their monthly subscription box and love trying their different recipes each month while I collect different oils. My favorite has been the bath soak which I make quite often. Here’s my full review and more information.
Some of the products I was trying to replace.
Low waste household cleaner #1 – citrus and vinegar spray review
When I first started looking into low waste household cleaners, the first thing I came across (and found it mentioned everywhere) was a homemade citrus and vinegar all-purpose cleaner.
To make it you put citrus rinds in a jar then top it with vinegar and leave it for about a week or two in a cupboard.
Then add it to a spray bottle and dilute with water. Some people suggested half-half dilution ration, some said one-third vinegar to two-thirds water. Also, some of the recipes added essential oils for scent.
Uses: All-purpose cleaner
This didn’t work for me.
First of all, to make it I had to buy a big jug of vinegar in a plastic bottle and the bottle didn’t use any recycled plastic. So I wasn’t really reducing my plastic use by making it, and in fact, I was just giving myself an extra thing to do since I had to make it.
Another reason I didn’t like it was because I felt that it left the surface that I was cleaning a bit wet and I didn’t like that it took a while to dry. Perhaps it was because when I tried it, my dog Bella was coming towards the end of her life and I was cleaning up a lot of her toilet mess so I didn’t really want to see wet areas on the floor when I was trying to clean. But ultimately, the citrus vinegar cleaner wasn’t for me.
Low waste household cleaner #2 – Meyer’s all-purpose cleaner
I had to get my thinking hat back on.
The next thing I tried was the Meyer’s brand all-purpose cleaner. I tried the Lemon Verbena in the 32oz bottle
. It is a concentrate so you dilute with water at one-quarter cup to one gallon of water.
Uses: All-purpose cleaner, floor cleaner
I really like the Meyer’s cleaner.
The bottle was made with 25% post-consumer plastic so it was at least a small reduction compared to the vinegar bottle. The cleaner smelled amazing, didn’t leave any wetness when I used it to clean, and, since it was a concentrated solution, it had some lasting power.
It is also made with essential oils and plant ingredients instead of chlorines and harsh chemicals which I liked.
However, I still needed something for the other cleaners I was trying to replace so I kept researching.
Bronner’s castile soap
Then I came across Dr. Bronner’s castile soap.
I bought this citrus scent in a 16oz bottle two-pack
I found on Amazon to experiment. However, when I buy it in the future I will buy in a gallon size bottle to reduce plastic.
It is also sold in other scents like lavender
, peppermint
, or even unscented
.
Uses: floor cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, dog shampoo, hand wash, shaving cream, bug spray for plants, wiping down your wrestling memorabilia collection (ok that’s just me) but you can use this for just about everything.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical because of how much everyone raved about it. But it is AMAZING!
I haven’t tried all of its uses yet, but I have tried it on the floors, as an all-purpose cleaner, and dog shampoo. Coco Chanel’s fur was so soft after her castile soap shampoo!
The reason I love it is because I can use this one product for all of the things I was trying to find a replacement for. The castile soap bottles are made with 100% post consumer recycled plastic so for both of those reasons, it has been the best option for me in terms of reducing my plastic use.
Since it is a concentrated formula, you only need to use a little at a time and all of the dilution ratios for the different uses are listed on the bottle.
It also smells amazing and is all natural.
There is a LOT of religious messaging on the bottle which was really freaky and in my opinion unprofessional, but there’s a bit of a story to it which I explained in my video recap.
How I’ll use household cleaner from now on
I’m on team castile soap
all the way.
I’ll be buying the castile soap in the gallon jug from Amazon from here on out and using it for all of my most common household cleaning needs.
The only thing I’ll need to buy is Lime Away for the hard water residue. It’s pretty intense here in Italy and I tried a vinegar solution alternative but it didn’t work. I’ll also buy one-off or rare cleaning products like Draino if a drain gets clogged.
I’m really happy that I’ve been able to replace so many plastic cleaning bottles from the cupboard and very glad to have found the castile soap!
For wipes, I have still been using the bamboo towels that I reviewed here and they are still working a treat.
Out of all the low waste household cleaners I tried, this was by far the best for me.
Budget progress
I experimented with a few things this month, so it’s tricky to budget for. I’m just going to base the spending on what I’d recommend to you if you’re trying to reduce your plastic waste from household cleaners.
Cost for a one-gallon castile soap (citrus scent): $57.59 USD.
I have $283 left in the yearly budget for this challenge.
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