THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DISINFECTING YOUR HOME vs. JUST CLEANING YOUR HOME

Five eco-friendly alternatives for disinfecting your home

With the world suffering from health related angst, our immune system may very well be terrified, or even in panic. Don’t you think? Of course, we all do the best we can. But honestly, that may not always be enough. And if we all can agree on something, that is the importance of taking care of our body and how doing that prevents us from all the health issues. That’s one of the reasons why keeping our homes clean and disinfected is of such importance. Although the two of them are very much connected if you think of it, they are not exactly the same thing, that’s why it is important to understand their difference.

While cleaning is simply a matter of removing dirt from the surface, disinfecting is the elimination of germs and bacteria that can be found in the environment or on certain surfaces. Although this process does not remove 100% of the germs from a specific area, it does greatly reduce.

While we are busy sorting our disinfecting products, let’s not forget that we also should be vigilant of our carbon footprint. To do our part when cleaning and disinfecting, we should select eco-friendly products or use those already available in our pantries. 

Here are 5 alternatives to disinfect with eco-friendly products:

1.Boiling water. Immerse small items, such as the glass containers, in boiling water (100°C) for 20 minutes.

2.White vinegar and water. The windows, the kitchen sink and the microwave are some of the places you can disinfect using a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and water.

3.Hydrogen Peroxide- 3% hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the freezer, refrigerator and dishwasher. Just put the hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spray the inside of the appliances, let it sit for 5 minutes and remove it with a clean, dry dishcloth.

4.Eco-friendly brands- Concentrated disinfectants packaged in reusable bottles, made with biodegradable ingredients.

One of our favorites is JAWS Disinfectant, an ultra-concentrated product that contains no bleach, phosphates or ammonia and can be used without rinsing. It also comes in a reusable empty bottle with 2 refill capsules to make 2 bottles of cleaner Video.

Another one of our favorites is the All-Purpose Home Cleaner from Meliora. This concentrated cleaner has a people- and planet-friendly formula and could basically replace all the products you use for cleaning your house. With the starter kit, you receive a refillable glass spray bottle and 3 Home Cleaner Refill Tablets. To start using it, you just have to fill up the bottle with warm water, shake and clean. It is that easy!

5.The product we already love- If we think about the items we use on a daily basis in the kitchen, we realize that we need to pay more attention to prevent them from becoming a focus of disease transmission. We must always keep in mind sponges, brushes, towels, and cutting boards. On the other hand, we must always keep clean and disinfected spaces such as the refrigerator, the sink, countertops and kitchen table, light switches, the trash can and the floor. You can read more in detail about this in one of our previous articles. 

Now knowing the damage we cause to our environment, we can realize that with small changes we can have a big impact and that by simply selecting environmentally friendly cleaning products we are doing our part.

Making a better choice in terms of cleaning products will allow us to have healthier homes and happier families.