Eco-Me Cleaning Supplies
Eco-me, a company offering mix-your-own-cleaning-supply-kits for home, body, baby and pets, has come out with a new pre-mixed line featuring simple ingredients. No, I mean REALLY simple ingredients — think vinegar, baking soda and olive oil.
Has anybody tried these? The packaging is pretty. I'd love to know your thoughts on how well they clean.
Labels: home
27 Comments:
Last year, I switch to cleaning with 4 products: vinegar, baking soda, olive oil, and I do buy a non-toxic, biodegradable multi-purpose cleaner (read: degreaser, floor cleaner, etc.)
The multi-purpose cleaner I buy is $10 and makes 50 Liters!
I spend a whopping $10 per month on house cleaning supplies!
Our house is clean, the products work beautifully, and we aren't absorbing any chemicals through our bare feet as we trot through the house.
We gave the Eco-Me cleaning supplies to my mother-in-law last year for christmas in a shopping basket with the vinegar, baking soda and oil olive. She is still raving about. It motivates her to clean. I love the smell her house every time we visit.
I haven't cleaned with anything other than vinegar and baking soda (with slight exceptions) for nearly 4 years now. I love it. I love that harsh chemicals aren't around us!
I am completely smitten with the homemade all-purpose cleanser featured in Craft Magazine. It lasts a long time, and the tea tree oil in it makes my whole house smell amazing. Plus it works better than any other cleanser -- green or not -- I've ever used.
Hi Gabrielle, We met briefly at Mile High Mamas last week!
I've been using vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and a few other natural cleansers for years now. They work like a charm. No need for harsh or harmful chemicals.
These Eco-Me supplies are super cute, but I'm sure with your mad skillz you could make labels with your family on them. Ooo that would be too cute! And, honestly, you can make them for a lot less at home.
My husband bought me the Eco-Me home kit to make our own and they work really well! I burnt popcorn in our microwave and the all purpose cleaner took the smell out within 10 minutes. I would definitely recommend them!
I have no idea about these products, but holey moley is that a cute baby!
If you end up trying these I would love to hear what you think. I may just have to order some as I run out of my other green products. I definitely love the idea of getting back to exactly what my Grandmother used (even though Method is great) I still feel better about using very basic ingredients.
I have never used this particular brand but it sure sounds a lot like the simple recipes I use at home to clean my own house. I don't think I would buy them when you can make them SO easily yourself! And yes, they work!
I don't need fancy packaging to clean my house and do laundry. All you need is what you listed. I switched to this way of cleaning about a year and half ago and I have noticed a big difference in my kids health. They are not as sick and not sneezing as much in the house. If you are a big label reader like me you will find that there is tons of unhealthy ingredients in the smallest products including toothpaste, hair products, etc... People should really educate themselves. Just because it says organic doesn't mean it's good for you.
The combo of vinegar and baking soda work wonders on keeping drains clean, and cleaning the toilet. And I also use vinegar mixed with water as an all purpose disinfectant. But I have gone back to cleanser for scrubbing the tub, nothing else that I have tried does quite the same job.
I think yes, packaging is adorable but how eco friendly is it to order online (energy), have it shipped; yes most likely in a recycle-able cardboard box with some kind of compostable packing material but isn't less more to begin with when it comes to recycling? And then who knows what kind of emissions the delivery truck has?
Again, packaging is to DIE for but paying (most likely) 70% less for a box of baking soda, a bottle of vinegar and a spray bottle seems more earth friendly to me. Anyone else agree?
I don't know this line, but the ingredients are what I use to clean--vinegar, lemon juice/lemons, baking soda, and a multi-purpose cleaner that you could literally eat and be okay (Dr. Bronner's, been around 100+ years). I switched last year when I was pregnant because I worried about breathing in fumes. It didn't make sense to me to need a different cleaner for a toilet vs. a sink vs. a tub when they're made of the same material (in my bathroom, anyway). And there's no reason to use specialized products for everything; that's simply marketing. The only thing the cleaners I use don't do is hard water deposits--but for that, you'd need the really nasty stuff anyway.
Give making your own a go--much cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than even buying packaged products! I'm not going back to traditional products.
p.s. Kat has it exactly right; the irony of many environmental-leaning products is that, really, the most environmental solution is to either do it yourself, get it locally, or use what you already have. Less producing = less waste.
The Eco-Me products are great and last a long time. I use them frequently bit I also still use plain vinegar and baking soda for quick cleanups- I don't want to use up the Eco-Clean stuff!
I'm tempted to buy them just because they have two of my kids names on them. Now all I need is a product named Claire and I'm set!
Just wondering if anyone can point me to a website that explains HOW to use vinegar, baking soda, olive oil and lemon (etc.) to do each of my particular household cleaning tasks? I'm totally game for the "mix it up yourself at home" idea, but I'm clueless where to begin.
Like, what do I put on the floors? How much? What do I put on the shower? How much?
Am I the only modern-day cleaning product idiot out here in cyberspace who isn't quite sure how to make this change? Thanks for any input!
Well, everybody seems to love the natural products, and they even mention how they being cleaning with baking soda, vinegar and olive oil for years, but why they don't give the mixing recipes to those like me, who don't have any idea how to make them, but will love too, to clean with all those natural ingredients?
(by the way, I'm using my husband account, if you would like to share some of those recipes with me you can also email me at martabtte@hotmail.com thanks!)
Marta
Here are the recipes I have been using for a while:
All Purpose Cleaner
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon washing soda (NOT Baking Soda)
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup liquid soap (I use unscented Dr. Bronners)
Mix everything but soap in a spray bottle and shake. Add 1/4 cup liquid soap last. Mix gently. Apply and wipe clean. The mixture may appear clumpy/cloudy at first but it should clear up in a day or so.
I use this primarily for sinks, toilets, and appliances. It does leave a bit of a residue, but I just spray and wipe everything a second time with either the vinegar cleaner or the glass cleaner and everything shines.
Milder Vinegar Cleaner
2 T Vinegar
1 C water
Mix together in a spray bottle
I use this for play mats, my son's bath tub, for counter tops, etc.
Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Mix together in a spray bottle
Plain vinegar and water works too, but the alcohol sure makes things shiny. Be sure to wipe with a microfiber cloth or old newspapers.
Soft Scrubber
Baking Soda
Dr. Bronners Liquid Castile Soap
Combine baking soda and soap to form a frosting like consistency. Scoop the creamy mixture onto a sponge, wash the surface, and rinse. This scrub works great on tubs and kitchen sinks. Throw in a few drops of tea tree oil if your shower or tub has gotten mildew.
Floor Cleaner
1 T borax
2 T liquid soap
1 gal warm water
Mix together to dissolve the borax and mop.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Baking Soda and Vinegar: Sprinkle baking soda into the bowl, then squirt with vinegar and scour with a toilet brush. Cleans and deodorizes
Borax: Sprinkle with 1/4 c. borax and let sit for 10 minutes. Scour with brush.
Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 55 oz. box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup Mule Team Borax
2 Cups Oxygen Cleaner (the cheaper the better -- fewer additives)
1/2 cup Simple Green
1/2 cup Water Softening Powder (optional) or a cap full of liquid Calgon added to wash
Mix all the dry ingredients first and then add the simple green so it doesn't clump. Use 1/4 c. for each load. For cold washes dissolve it a bit by shaking it in a jar of hot water before adding it to the load (not necessary, but it will insure the detergent all dissolves). Actually, I have never had luck getting the Simple Green to spread out through the detergent, so I keep it in a little squirt bottle and add a squirt to each load. This also works great for cloth diapers.
Oh, a few other things:
1. Buy GOOD spray bottles. They don't have to be expensive, but should be durable. Home Depot has some good ones.
2. I keep a caddy with a canister of borax, one of baking soda, 3 spray bottles (glass cleaner, all purpose cleaner, and vinegar cleaner), a small bottle of Dr. Bronners (which I refill), a few sponges, lots of microfiber cloths, and some regular old rags. It comes from room to room and I have everything I need to clean anything. Simple, cheap, and functional.
Thanks for sharing all your recipes, Erika! I will definitely be trying all of them.
For my wood floors with a polyurethane finish, I follow the directions in Martha Stewart's good ol' Homekeeping Handbook, given to me by my gracious mother.
It instructs--
Damp mop with 1 quart water (that's 4 cups) and 1/4 cup vinegar.
I figure that's a vinegar to water ratio of 1:16 if you prefer to use a spray bottle instead and hand mop it with towells. I prefer that since I've heard water is the enemy of a wood floor. It seems easier to control the moisture with a spray bottle.
Anyone have any thoughts on the most effective way to add essential oils to your cleaning solutions? I'd really appreciate any tips.
Awesome - thanks for the awesome tips!!
Thanks for all the recipes, I can wait to try them...
I make my own cleaning supplies now. It is so easy! You could create your own cute packaging, because the simple mixing keeps my house so clean! I am a big germ hater but tee tree oil and vinegar leave me feeling at ease!
I'm all for earth-friendly cleaning! I think the trend is really going to have a lot of moms using natural and organic products and I'm one of the believers in the benefits of these cleaning solutions.
Chemical-based products can be unknowingly harmful to our bodies as the fumes crawl out of the containers. So even when we don't directly inhale them or accidentaly drink some, we still get affected by the polluted atmosphere it creates in our homes. Babyganics helped me realize that here's their link if you want to know more about it. Hope it helps: http://blog.babyganics.com
Nice One. . I really enjoyed read this one. .
I used Various types of Glass Cleaners for my home but they are not properly work, now i find a new one Greenglassclean, it's really a nice glass cleaner . .
Thanks
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