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I don't subscribe to facebook.   I hope vinegar is on the tip list.  Our Hardwoods were refurbished with stain and 3 coats of polyurethane.  I use a healthy splash of vinegar in the mop bucket, as directed by the guys that did the work.  Several years have passed, the floors shine like when they were first restored.  A
 
green products

I don't subscribe to Facebook, either. (and won't) My floors were refinished the same way 22 years ago. I clean them with vinegar and water also on the advice of the floor guys. The reason offered was that if a person uses oil based cleaners and at some point the floor needs a new coat of polyurethane, the floor will have to be sanded to remove the oily residue. Using vinegar doesn't cause a buildup and a new coat of polyurethane can be applied over the old one. Twenty two years later, the floors shine like new, including the high traffic kitchen floor.
 
I never ever will buy Ecover products again unless they get rid of those horrible smells! The lemon all purpose cleaner contains limonene, a lot of people with asthma are allergic to it. I'm glad we get Klok products here in the Netherlands, not only friendly for the environment, but also no obnoxious scents!
 
For those not on Facebook

It looks like this page can still be opened even without being on Facebook. At least, it worked for me when I tried opening in an Incognito window.
 
I'll be interested to follow this blog!

At one point, I used a lot of "green" products. At my peak, I used green laundry detergent, dish detergent, dishwasher detergent, and even paper towels. I'm now back to using conventional most of the time--mainly because of cost. And I suppose the conventional has more cleaning power. But the green products worked quite well for me. (And, of course, it doesn't have to be one or the other for most of us. There is no reason why one can't have, say, the green laundry detergent for day to day use, and a bottle of Tide for those loads that are beyond horribly filthy.)
 
I'm a lover of Ecover products, their laundry and dishwashing products in particular, but I've been trying some new products made by a company called Violet's.
I have tried the washing powder, fabric conditioner and linen/ironing mist.
The washing powder so far, I'm really liking, it does a nice job on white laundry and you only need 25ml of it (the blue scoop is included with the powder)
The fabric conditioner, again, I really like it, it smells clean and fresh but after drying, there is no residual scent left, but laundry does smell kind of super fresh, if that makes any sense?
Lastly, the ironing spray, which is lovely, and its nice to use on things that are being stored away as well.
All of Home scents and Violets products are scented using essential oils and are made in the uk, and are cruelty free.

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Proir

To the Second World War..most common cleaning products in the home were "green"
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Washing Soda (soda crystals)
Borax
Soap (bar, flaked, liquid)
Bon Ami
Bar Keepers Freind
Brillo Pads (with soap)
Most would be surprised at how much you can get clean with just the above list.

There were some that were not so green, but the above were the most commonly used to around the house.
It's my understanding that since then..80.000 chemicals have been introduced to the home by way of cleaning and personal care products. Many of these have not been fully tested. Some have been tested, but often times singularly, not when mixed with other agents.
 
I've been using Eco cleaning and laundry products for well over a year now and have tried many brands. My favourite products so far are made by Attidue. They do an amazing job, better than their harsh chemical counterparts but sadly my local health food store is discontinuing the range. Ocado stock a huge array of Attitude products but don't deliver to my area yet.

I bought trial sizes of the Violets powdered detergent, softener, whitener and laundry liquid. I'm afraid the products didn't live up to the rave reviews they got on the website. I found the smell of the powder to be overly "soapy " and the lavender musty rather than fresh. The liquid detergent left my laundry smelling a bit too "hippyish " if you get my meaning.

Luckily I have a few bottles of Attitude laundry liquid stashed away and have some spray cleaner and washing up liquid on order. I've been using the co-op's non bio powder for my whites, it does a brilliant job but I'd quite like to go totally OBA free. I tried Ecover powder which did a good job, sadly , as with all Ecover laundry products, I really dislike the smell. The laundry gel smells the worst, like really cheap washing up liquid, which is a shame as it performs really well. It's a pity Ecover couldn't make their laundry liquids in the same scent as their washing up liquid as that smells lovely!,

Anyway, here's the link to Attitude' s website , in my opinion the hands down winner of my year long Eco trials

ATTITUDE | Vegan & Clean Products

Vegan & EWG Verified products that we make better for our health and the environment. Discover them now.
www.attitudeliving.com www.attitudeliving.com
 
Well, being totally honest, so far the powder and softener have worked fine for me, bottoms of white socks were very clean after my usual 60 deg whites wash.
I havent had any musty or "hippie-ish" (as you put it) smells on my laundry (though I dont mind earthy smells.), the Grapefruit and Lime scented ones I have leave very little scent on laundry actually in my experience, and it worked a lot better for me than Bio-D which couldnt shift basic stains that Ecover does. Prior to ordering Violets detergent to try, I was using Tesco non bio tablets and experienced no issues with cleaning power either.
 
I'm please you're getting on well with Violets. I had high hopes as it got great reviews, even in the press. I've not tried the unscented detergents yet that came in the trial pack, I'll maybe try them when the Attitude stash gets low.
 
I like the fact that it doesnt suds up much and rinses out well meaning it saves me time as I dont need to use the extra rinse function on my machines when using it (not that I minded anyway being honest)
I would add it to the mix of products I use without any hesitation, but i would never use bio-D again
 
When you know what you are doing it is easy to go "green

That is when to use acids(vinegar, lemon juice) or alkaline (soda crystals, soap, Borax) or neutral.

One can go online or to any library and pick up housekeeping manuals from the 1800's and early 1900's that are full of various recipes for cleaning products that would work well enough today. Mrs. Beeton made a good living listing these sort of things in her books.

In France people have been cleaning with vinegar, Savon de Marseille and soda crystals for ages and still do. Vinegar besides killing mold and mildew is a powerful disinfectant. So is lavender, thyme, rosemary and a host of other herbs.

Once you understand the chemistry behind housecleaning the products to use becomes simple. For instance a vast amount of household cleaning is really nothing more than the application of a base (alkaline) solution to fats/oils causing a "soap" reaction. This is the basis for everything from oven cleaners to grease removers and even drain openers.
 

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