Bleach, ammonia, toxic aerosols – cleaning your appliances can seem like a dangerous, and not-so-eco-friendly task sometimes! But you don’t have to bring harsh chemicals into your home to get your appliances looking, working, and smelling their best -- there are plenty of green ways to clean up your appliances and living spaces. Try these eco-conscious methods for getting all your appliances squeaky clean!
Keep an Eye on These Companies
Though many commercial cleaning products are packed full of toxins, plastics, and chemicals, some companies specialize in cleaners designed to do right by the environment. If you want the best of both worlds, Seventh Generation, Method, Mrs. Meyer’s, Eco-Me, and Better Life all produce excellent cleaning products designed to minimize hazards to the environment and your health.
Avoid These Buzzwords
Always check the label before you purchase a product for cleaning your appliances. Even if you can’t make heads nor tails of the ingredients list, environmentally unfriendly cleaners can usually be identified by warnings with words like “hazardous,” “corrosive,” or “flammable.” Products with these warnings can release toxins into the air, water, and soil when you use them, not to mention into your home, and should be avoided whenever possible.
Make Your Own Cleaner
If you want to know exactly what’s going into the stuff you’re putting on your appliances, you can easily make your own powerful and non-toxic cleaner! And it doesn’t take fancy ingredients either – in fact, you’ll probably be able to find them in your pantry already.
White vinegar and baking soda are the perfect all-purpose cleaners for almost all of your appliances. To sanitize and deodorize your dishwasher or washing machine, just place a cup full of vinegar on the top shelf or pour it into the detergent tray before running a wash cycle on high heat. Baking soda, on the other hand, can be combined with water to make a paste and used to scrub away gunk from your oven or cooktop. When you combine baking soda, white vinegar, and water into a spray bottle, you’ve got yourself the perfect all-purpose cleaner for any surface.
Lemons Are Your Friend
Not only are lemons the perfect ingredient for tons of spring and summer culinary creations (lemon zest salmon with lemon meringue pie and lemonade on the side, anyone?) they’re also the perfect organic cleaner! Heating a halved lemon in a bowl of water is a great way to clean and deodorize your microwave. Lemons are also a great degreaser for sinks and stained chrome faucets. And the best part about lemons…you can compost whatever’s left over! No waste, no toxins, no grime.
Give Your Steel a Shine
The outside of your appliances deserve to look their best too! While white vinegar alone should be enough to clean the outer surface of plastic-coated refrigerators, stainless steel appliances will need a special touch to get them looking shiny and new.
Olive oil and white vinegar are perfect for giving your stainless appliances a thorough clean and flawless shine. Spray the surface of your stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher, or oven with white vinegar and wipe it down in the direction of the metal grain. Then dip a cloth in olive oil and gently polish the appliance, again, in the same direction of the metal grain. Totally food-safe, and totally eco-friendly!
Keeping a tidy home and sanitary appliances doesn’t have to come at the cost of a healthy living space and a healthy environment! So stop fretting over your environmental impact and start your spring cleaning off with a clean conscience. For more helpful advice and guidance on all things appliance, come on in to our store. For all life’s important questions, you can always trust Aztec!