Eco cleaning products

[aquacycle]

Hi all,

I've recently switched at home from using my normal cleaning products to using eco cleaning products. I ordered a batch of stuff from biggreensmile.com and it was all reasonably priced.

I've been a die hard anti-bacterial spray and bleach user for a long time, but after doing some research and looking at the chemicals used in some of these, I decided to go eco and see how I get on.

I have to say, I'm VERY impressed. The first thing that I noticed was how pleasant these all smell. They all have a very light, fresh, clean scent that doesn't linger. The cleaning performance is on par with the chemical based cleaners I was using before.

The oven cleaner inparticular has impressed me. It just smells of oranges and is ocmpletely safe to use without gloves, unlike brands like Mr. Muscle and Oven Pride which STINK and are full of hazzardous chemicals. It cleans just as well too.

Overall, I'm very pleased I switched to less harmful and more enviromentally friendly products. I've still kept an antibac spray and a bottle of bleach for cleaning things like the kitchen bin, toilet seats and drains but I've cut down on using these CONSIDERABLY. I also haven't ditched my normal washing powder - I like that too much lol.

In total, I bought multi surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, oven & hob cleaner, fabric softener, laundry bleach, cream cleaner, all purpose cleaner and 2 bottles of toilet cleaner (not pictured).

Has anyone else made this switch? How do you find the eco products compare?

 

[cranraspberry]

I'm a "green home" kind of person and have replaced 99% of conventional cleaning products with a "green" version. I have never been a big bleach user, but now only keep it in a spray bottle for tub surround grout and hot tub nozzles that are prone to getting moldy. Unfortunately no greener options I've tried have been as spray and forget as bleach - they all require elbow grease.

Ecover is a great brand, and Seventh Generation makes a fantastic toilet bowl cleaner! They also have a great dishwashing liquid. Also the Bon Ami scouring powder has completely replaced Barkeeper's Friend for us.

 

[foraloysius]

I've tried several Ecover products for a while. But the scents of their products were too strong for me, they didn't agree with my asthma. Fortunately in the NL Klok products are still available (part of the Dalli group nowadays). Eco friendly and no scents!

 

[zipdang]

Ecover fabric softener, dishwasher tabs, bathroom cleaner, and lemon all-purpose cleaner are my favorites! The sunny day (under the sun) f.s. smells sooooo good.

 

[aquacycle]

The sunny day (under the sun) f.s. smells sooooo good

Isn't it just? It doesn't leave an overly strong scent on the clothes - just a nice fresh, light, clean smell which I love!

The pink one (amongst the flowers) is nice too.

 

[mamapinky]

David or anyone else, does Ecover still make Sunny Day laundry detergent? I really like it for bedding, sheets pillowcases duvet covers, but I haven't seen it in awhile, so I'm being greedy with my bottle..thanks

 

[lordkenmore]

I've used "green" cleaning products off and on for years. I think I first started seriously using them 10 years ago this summer. How time does fly... Although right now, I'm using conventional a lot--although that's more about my cash flow, which has made the "lowest possible price" very seductive...

Historically, I've been mostly happy with green detergents, although I've never used some products (like toilet bowl cleaner). I don't think the cleaning power is as strong as the best conventional cleaners, but it's often more than good enough. For laundry, for example, I seldom have nightmare loads--most of what I'm washing only needs "freshening" more than anything, and a green detergent seems to be more than up to that task.

One thing I like about green laundry detergent: typically no optical brighteners. I also like the thought of natural products being used on something close to my skin.

Ecover made the best fabric softener I've used (one bottle, about 2009). It had a nice scent, seemed to help with air dried towels as well as anything, and caused me zero skin trouble.

I used a dishwasher in 2007 for a few months that was mine and entirely mine to use/control. I played with various detergents, and found that the "green" ones worked just fine for me. Cascade was probably more powerful--but a lot of the Cascade advantage then was probably phosphates, which were soon after phased out.

Of course, this is obvious--but I'll say it, anyway: this is not black/white either/or. One can have more than one product. Green laundry detergent for most loads, and a box of Tide for the occasional nightmare load.

 

[lordkenmore]

does Ecover still make Sunny Day laundry detergent?

I don't see it listed on the US site. Assuming it's the scent you like, they do appear to have a "Sunny Day" fabric softener.

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[zipdang]

Sunny day detergent

Mamapinky, I believe when Method bought Ecover and changed the packaging some of the products were dropped. Unfortunately I think the sunny day scented laundry liquid was one of them. (It was fantastic for sheets.) The small boxes of dry oxygen bleach were discontinued as well. A shame, since it was pure sodium percarb with no fillers.

 

[cranraspberry]

It was actually the other way around: Ecover bought Method. Which kind of surprised me, because I think of Method as one of those "greenwashing" companies, like Caldrea and Mrs Meyers (those scents...), while Ecover is a brand I trust a whole lot more.

Speaking of Ecover, their dishwasher tabs are the best that I've tried! Although I'm not a huge fan of their rinse aid and prefer Seventh Generation.

 

[mamapinky]

Thank you John and David for the info on Sunny Day, yes David I agree Ecovers sunny day is wonderful on sheets and pillowcases. This was my first eco friendly detergent and I was surprised at how well it worked. I'm also irritated at ecovers pure sodium percarbonate disappearing, that was the best.now I will have to order online, but I don't think its pure, but definitely better than oxiwash with all the sodium carbonate. Oh well, thanks for the info.

 

[iej]

Ecover have been around in this market for a very long time. Their recent products are really excellent though. I have switched over to some of their laundry products recently and find them great.

The only issue I've had was with their dishwasher tablets, some of my cutlery turned dark. I'm not sure why that would happen.

 

[aquacycle]

like toilet bowl cleaner

The Ecover toilet cleaner is great! I like the fact that it's completely biodegrable and doesn't harm aquatic life.

It's VERY thick. Really clings to the toilet bowl. It has a menthol-ish smell too it. Infact, it smells more like Vick Vapour Rub than it does toilet cleaner.

I usually squirt around with the loo cleaner and give it a good scrub above and below the water line and under the rim. I leave that to work for maybe 30 mins after scrubbing, then flush and squirt around the bowl with plain bleach.

The toilet cleaner removes the dirt and limescale, whilst the bleach disinfects.

 

[aegokocarat]

I've started going down the route of eco cleaning products since I had a bad skin reaction in January.
I love the three variants of the fabric conditioner (amongst the flowers, under the sun and zero) and I am a massive fan of both their non bio powder/concentrated liquid/gel and their biological laundry products too. I use Method cleaning products as well sometimes as well as Bio-D.
Myself and mum like the dishwasher tablets and rinse aid, they don't smell and work well and I like their washing up liquid because it doesn't taint plastics or make non stick cookware "taste" so to speak.
The loo cleaner and multi surface cleaner are also excellent.
I sometimes slip into mainstream products for laundry if Fairy or persil non bio is cheaper than the Ecover but usually I still use the Ecover softener with them.
Tom

 

[hotpointfan]

Ecover

I'm a fan of Ecover too. I've got two bottles of their non bio liquid, a bottle of the bio gel, a 40 wash box of non bio powder, and some softeners, we all love Amongst the Flowers in our house!

We have tried on and off their other cleaning products, including the dishwasher tablets. The last lot we got were on offer at £4 I think, it was a couple of weeks ago so I can't remember!

I too love the natural smells that using their products give. I generally hate chemical smells. The fact that they're not tested on animals too is a bonus. I think it is Ocado that stock loads of Ecover products too!

 

[aquacycle]

Jacob, you should check out biggreensmile.com. They specialise in eco cleaning products and cosmetics. They often have a sale on. At the moment, they have 25% off Ecover products (we stocked up!) and when you spend over £10 you get to chose 2 free samples of other products to try.

I'm looking into switching my shampoo's, conditioners, shower gels and deodorants to more eco products too.

 

[aegokocarat]

Chris, salt of the earth deodorant is great, you can buy it in holland and barret

 

[mamapinky]

Isn't Biokleen a eco brand? Has anyone used Biokleen premium plus on whites? Is it worth buying? I'm thinking about ordering it. Thanks

 

[hotpointfan]

Biggreensmile

Chris, I've just had a browse and already am looking to order several things. I use anti bacterial wipes for cleaning things like the kitchen worktop, and I'm liking the look of the Ecover Multi Action Wipes. I normally pay around £2 for a pack of 40 so the Ecover ones at £1.65 seem to be well worth a try. Same with the multi purpose spray.

I like the wide variety of the products on the Bigreensmile website. I'm all for trying to be more eco friendly, hence my stash of Ecover. I'll have to make an order over this week and try out the products available.

I'm looking to try some alternative deoderants as I struggle to find them sometimes that doesn't aggravate my eczema.