When it comes to kitchen cleaning, you might be concerned about using strong chemicals
that may pose health risks to your family. A good alternative you might want to consider is
switching to more natural cleaners and disinfectants, giving you peace of mind while
getting the job done.
Here are four natural alternatives that you can use to clean your kitchen safely!
1. Alcohol
Put away your cocktail glasses, because this is not about mixing drinks. Alcohol is an excellent natural disinfectant that you might find in many household cleaners, including hand sanitiser. However, alcohol is only effective against germs, bacteria, and viruses when the concentration is 60% or above.
Hence, if you wish to make a cleaner using alcohol, it would be ideal if you can get your hands on some rubbing alcohol, aka isopropyl alcohol. Keep in mind, though, that most drinkable alcohols do not have a high enough concentration to be used as disinfectants.
How to use: Mix two parts isopropyl alcohol with one part water to make a disinfectant solution that you can spray on your kitchen surfaces. Just be sure to let the solution sit for at least 30 seconds before you wipe it away because it takes the alcohol some time for its disinfecting properties to work.
2. Vinegar
A bottle of vinegar can go a long way. This household staple is often touted as an essential for multipurpose cleaning because ofits high acidity levels that can kill some food-borne pathogens like E.coli and Salmonella. It is effective against mildew that growsin moist areas of your kitchen, and can also be used to get rid of tough grease stains. It is also food-safe, which makes it thebest choice for cleaning kitchen surfaces when you would typically use bleach.
How to use:
Mix a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar with water and put the solution in a spray bottle. You can use this versatile ‘miracle solution’ forcleaning virtually anything in your kitchen, be it the refrigerator, greasy stove tops or microwave. After using your plastic cuttingboards for raw meat, you can disinfect it with your vinegar solution too. Other uses for vinegar in the kitchen include boilingtogether water and vinegar in your dirty stainless steel pots and pans to restore their shine.
3. Lemon
Lemons not only smell great and refreshing, but the citric acid in the fruit can cut through grease stains and restore the shine in your old copper cookware. While lemons alone are not strong enough to be a disinfectant, it can be mixed with vinegar to give it more potency. When life gives you lemons, use it to clean your kitchen!
How to use: Sprinkle baking soda on your dirty stovetops and squeeze some lemon juice on it, letting it sit for a few minutes. Then, use half a lemon to scrub the area, and the stains should be removed! You can also microwave lemons in a bowl of water for a few minutes, letting the water boil. Then, let the hot steam sit in your microwave for about 10 minutes before wiping down the interior. The lemony steam should have softened the stains, making your cleaning job a lot easier.
4. Essential Oils
Essential oils not only smell amazing but have antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic properties. They can possibly enhance the cleaning power of homemade cleaning products with just a few drops, and effectively eliminate mildew and musty smells. There is a wide range of essential oils on the market, but a universal favourite is tea tree oil, which can be used for daily cleaning in your kitchen.
How to use:
Make an all-purpose cleaner with equal parts white vinegar and water, adding to it a few drops of tea tree oil (depending on the volume of the solution). Shake to combine, and you can use it as a spray for your kitchen cleaning purposes. If you wish to make some homemade cleaning wipes, you can fill a glass jar with this solution and soak in about 20 squares of clean scrap fabric. Keep the jar sealed and pull out a ‘wipe’ whenever you need to wipe up a dirty countertop! You can reuse the scrap fabric by simply washing it with your usual load of laundry.
While these natural alternatives are useful to an extent, they often require some time to take effect.
If you wish to clean your kitchen with effective cleaners that are safe for you and your family, consider Natural Plus Kitchen Cleaner and Natural Plus Ultra Dishwashing Liquid.
They use 100% plant-based active ingredients, has antibacterial qualities and can remove grime and grease without leaving behind harmful chemical residue. What’s even better, Natural Plus products use Advanced Nano Fast Cleaning Technology, which will give you faster degreasing power, saving you time and effort!
