Do Natural Cleaners Really Work?

Do Natural Cleaners Really Work?

You’ve heard about natural cleaners and all the amazing things about them. You’ve also heard about the toxins in cleaners found all over, and the havoc they wreak on our bodies.

But… the question is… do natural cleaners really work?

Let’s break it down in this post. I love nontoxic living, but my favorite part is learning about the why behind the swaps we are making. I love learning about why things work, and why they are better options.

First things first, let’s define cleaning, and disinfecting.

Cleaning is when germs, dirt and grime are removed from a surface. Disinfecting is when harmful bacteria and viruses are killed on surfaces.

Now let’s talk about some of the popular natural cleaners.

Vinegar: overall is a great affordable all-purpose cleaner with some disinfectant properties.  Due to the acetic acid in vinegar, it breaks down stains, dirt, and oils well. It also breaks down some bacteria and germs.  To maximize its ability to break those things down it needs to sit on a surface for 30 minutes before wiping it off. Vinegar shouldn’t be used on granite or wood countertops.  

Castile Soap: This is a budget friendly natural cleaner. It works by binding to the grime/germs and then you can wipe them off the surface. It is safe to use on all common household surfaces and is very gentle on the skin.

Essential Oils: Have many properties that make them the perfect addition to your homemade natural cleaners. On Guard essential oil blend has been studied and proven to have disinfecting properties. A couple of my other favorites for cleaning are lemon and tea tree.

Why Natural Cleaners?

I know this post is about if natural cleaners actually work. However, I wanted to touch on why you should even be thinking about using natural cleaners.

The popular cleaners we see today in stores are full of chemicals that have many negative effects on the environment and on our bodies. This statistic is very eye opening to me, “Cleaners who have regularly used cleaning sprays over 20 years were found to have reduced lung function equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a day over the same period”.

Cleaners that contain toxic chemicals can harm our body in many ways. Here are a few: headaches, endocrine disruptors, chronic respiratory problems, allergies, and many others.

Using natural cleaners gives you all of the benefits of using other cleaners, but without the harmful effects.

Cleaning nontoxically is not only affordable, but it truly is very easy and doable!