I have long been wanting to write an article on how I keep my home clean. So here are a few snippets of how we do things at Au Naturel Handmade. Eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning is a breeze! Scroll to the bottom for a video on how The Wunder Bar works.
Meet Our Eco-Cleaning Arsenal…
My husband loves to make sourdough bread with turmeric. Which is not always a good idea…
A few weeks ago my white dishtowel was discovered covered in bright orange turmeric stains.
#funfact When the Wunder Bar comes into contact with turmeric, it changes to reddish purple. I only thought to take a before-photo AFTER I had rubbed the Wunder Bar all over the cloth, so the turmeric stains are a strange shade. This photo does not even come close to showing just how bad it looked!
I then popped the cloth in a small container with enough water to cover it, and left it for a few days, without much hope of salvaging it. Well, the after-photo speaks for itself. Spotless and fresh, no trace of turmeric!
Laundry
Dark clothes get washed with soapnuts. These are berries, containing naturally occurring saponins, which you can purchase from Faithful to Nature (I get the Fancypants ones, they are always fresh and sticky. Don’t use dried up, old soapnuts). I only wash in cold water, so as the machine is filling up I make a tea with the soapnuts (they are in two small cotton bags with approximately 5 soapnuts in each – I have a 14kg washing machine). Once the machine is full, the tea and the bags get added and they are left in there until the wash is complete, no need to remove for rinsing. The same soapnuts then get reused for the next load. You will know they are finished when they become soft and mushy.
White & lightly coloured clothes are washed with the Wunder Bar in liquid form. Whites stay white and fresh this way, and colours are bright and clean. I have found that synthetic fabrics tend to go dingy/brownish when washed with soapnuts, so any nylons/fleece etc (especially lightly coloured items) get washed with the Wunder Bar. Soapnuts do not discolour natural fabrics. Any stained garments are treated with the liquid Wunder Bar and then added to the wash. Add a half a cup of vinegar in the final rinse, and your washing machine drum will sparkle like new!
Non-toxic Dishes
Did you know that detergents leave a film on your dishes, which you then ingest? Our dishes are washed by hand with the Wunder Bar, diluted into a liquid. We use nothing else. For the dishwasher, a scoop of biobleach, a strong solution of The Wunder Bar, and the peel of half a lemon work a treat, no bad smells, and squeaky clean dishes. Some people like to add vinegar as a rinse-aid, while others worry that it will eat their pipes.
DID YOU KNOW?
We used to make a liquid Dishwashing & Household Cleaning Soap, BUT in an effort to reduce the plastic waste filling our planet, we developed The Wunder Bar, which can be used as a solid bar OR AS A LIQUID SOAP!!
Super quick & easy to prepare, The Wunder Bar comes wrapped in paper. All you have to do is chop up as much as you need, cover it with boiling water, and in a short while you have a powerful, liquid cleaning agent!
It is so awesome, that it inspired us to create shower gels and liquid hand soaps the same way – we are the FIRST in South Africa to provide you with truly zero-waste liquid soap, wrapped in nothing but paper.
PLUS as its made with all-natural ingredients, it is completely biodegradable and safe for the whole family!
Toilets, walls, floors, and just about everything else…
Bathroom
#ProTip: In the shower, I like to slosh vinegar all over, and leave it for a a while. Then I lightly rinse, pour liquid Wunder Bar everywhere , and start scrubbing. This gets the dirt off with very little effort, especially as we have white unglazed tiles in our shower, that absorb everything.
For the toilet, after washing with liquid Wunder Bar, I spray with a mix of vodka and lemon essential oil. It also makes a great air freshener to leave in a spray bottle in the bathroom; add whatever essential oils you like.
Eco-Friendly, non-toxic cleaning for your entire Household
Vinegar and bicarbonate of soda clean everything else. I do not rinse; the vinegar remains as a freshener and antimicrobial agent. On mould-prone walls, I wash and rinse thoroughly with liquid Wunder Bar, then wipe down with neat tea tree oil on a cloth and vinegar. Be aware that essential oils will remove paint on appliances.
This is all you need to keep your home and clothes sparkling and fresh. Any vinegar will do – I use the cheapest spirit vinegar as I go through quite a bit. I have used apple cider vinegar for walls before – the smell was really strong, quite overwhelming when I was washing, but afterwards the home smelt amazing, super fresh! Cheap spirit vinegar does not smell much at all.
Did you think eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning would be that simple?
Happy eco-cleaning! – Melissa
