At BLANC, we care deeply about the environment and really want to help you to do the same - starting with updating your cleaning and laundry products.
Harsh chemicals in the home can spark allergens, skin sensitivities and have a negative environmental impact. So we are sharing our 3 key tips to make your household chores more natural, eco-friendly and effective!
1. Always check the ingredients list
As you would for the food that you buy, deploy this tactic here and always read the label. If the product you use doesn’t give many details on its composition, it’s a bad sign – and you probably shouldn’t be purchasing it. You have no way of knowing if the product you are about to use is safe for you, or if you might be breathing in toxic chemicals. Especially important to note for children too - you could be exposing your little ones to a whole bunch of allergens without realising it.
2. Know what you don’t want
Here is a quick list of toxins to try and avoid in your daily detergents:
- Ammonia: Toxic when inhaled, swallowed or touched. It is seriously strong stuff, not to mention potentially deadly when mixed with the wrong substances.
- Antibacterials & Disinfectants: From some bleach products to Triclosan, the ingredients contained in antibacterials aren't usually very good news. Your natural household cleaners (including your dish detergent), or a bit of Marseilles soap (the black soap in particular) and water should be most of what you’ll ever need. There are now more and more natural products on the market, not just in health shops. Just read the labels!
- Petroleum Solvents: Watch out for the term "surfactant" on the ingredients list - these are derived from petroleum and are commonly found in many cleaning products.
- Phosphates: Phosphates are very harmful to aquatic life; are often found in laundry & dish detergents.
- Phthalates: Watch for fragrance on the ingredient lists. These "hormone disruptives" are often components of complex synthetic fragrances. Avoid artificial scents at all costs. They are toxic and this goes for everything from cleaning products, to shampoo, to un-naturally scented candles. Choose options that say “Phthalate Free” or products that mention the use of essential oils for fragrance.
Our Bio D range is Phthalates Free, Phosphates Free, and actually free from quite a lot of other substances. Click here for a list of all the things they leave out.
3. Discover the natural alternatives
There are lots of natural products that you can use for cleaning! These methods and products have been used for centuries, and anyone’s granny would know about their efficiency. Knowing about these alternatives will decrease the toxicity matter in your home and save you (quite a bit of) money…
- Baking Soda
Baking soda is a hero and great for cleaning so many things, from hard water to pet messes. Combine it with a little water to scrub up just about anything to reveal a nice shine.
Add some white vinegar (carefully, it gets very fizzy!) or dish soap for super strength home-made detergent to clean tiles, pots and pans, carpets, tubs, toilets and even some reluctant stains on clothing (read the label carefully first though – this is to be avoided on more delicate garments, and you’re always better off taking them to a professional to be safe!).
- Marseilles Soap
Marseilles Soap is a gentle soap made from vegetable oil (often olive or palm) as opposed to animal fat or synthetics. You can use it for basically everything from general cleaning, laundry, body wash, hand wash, shampoo - we even know people who have used it in place of toothpaste! (that is a bit hardcore for us though…) It is better to use the white Marseilles soap cube (which is made using palm oil) for laundry, as the palm oil results in a lather, which is easier to rinse out of clothes.
The black soap (vegetable-based, solvent-free and containing no artificial colourings) is often found in liquid form and is excellent to use as an all-purpose detergent. It’s a bit more concentrated and therefore more efficient on larger surfaces!
- Lemon Juice
Due to it being a natural, organic substance, it is a very eco-friendly cleaning agent which also acts as an antioxidant. Lemon juice contains citric acid and there are all sorts of things around the home that lemon juice can help to clean. To get rid of grease, lightening stains, or for your hair it is perfect! The beauty of using fresh lemon juice is that you don't need to rinse afterwards unless you want to. This means you save water as well as reduce the number of chemical cleaners in your home.
- Vinegar
Is good for just about everything! You can use both White Vinegar & Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in cleaning. White vinegar is great for mixed and general cleaning, but ACV is great for soaking toilets, showers, sinks and other tough water/mildew spots (oh, it is also a fab hair conditioner too). Add it to your laundry in the rinse cycle for a great fabric softener even put it in your dishwasher’s rinse aid compartment. Vinegar is amazing!
