A look at a few of the alternative cleaning products available. Sometimes they are called “chemical free”, however, they are all chemicals. They are also called ‘natural’ although they are man made. Some of them can cause skin irritation or worse. However, you know what you are buying, while with some commercial products it is unclear what they contain.

I have listed some common cleaning agents below, however, I thought I would give a quick introduction to some of the science behind cleaning first.

There are many other alternative cleaning products and different ways of using them. However, I have only given the basic usage here.

Often they are the same “active ingredients” as in commercial products. For example, sodium percarbonate is the active ingredient (15%) in some commercial clothes whitening products and I have even seen 10% vinegar cleaning products that cost a lot more than pure vinegar.

These cleaning products can sometimes be bought loose (bring your own container) at some stores. For example, Uncle Sid’s Zero Waste Store in Lowestoft.

There are actions of cleaning products that I have not covered here – water softening, chelating, changing the nature of the surfaces you are cleaning to stop dirt sticking etc. Although there are whole research departments in large chemical companies researching cleaning products, it is important to note that the marketing department often have more of a say about what goes in than the scientists. They even come up with good scientific names for some of the ingredients to improve sales.

All the products listed quickly break down into harmless chemicals in the environment. However, be aware they can kill plants and insects when concentrated.

Water

This may be stating the obvious, but water is the main cleaning product. Some of the ‘dirt’ dissolves in water or is simply washed away. However, some dirt is not soluble or sticks to surfaces. What the cleaning products usually do is convert the ‘dirt’ into a form that is more soluble, stops it sticking to surfaces so that the water can do its work.

Remove Surface ‘Dirt’ First

Although some cleaning products mainly act as catalysts (something that speeds up a reaction without getting used up) they are often used up in side reactions. It is therefore better to remove any surface ‘dirt’. For example, remove excess oil and fat. We pour it into a jar at the side of the oven, and people used to have dripping pots. The oil/fat can be reused later. Large amounts of fats/oil can also clog up sewers by creating fatbergs.

If you want to remove limescale from the toilet bowl, then give it a quick brush to remove any loose limescale. The cleaning product can then act on the limescale that is stuck on. It also roughens the surface of the limescale, allowing the cleaning product to penetrate deeper.

Time

Chemical reactions take time. They are speeded up by using hot water, but it is still worth waiting for a while – 20 minutes is often quoted.

Cleaning Product Types

Acids

React with limescale to produce carbon dioxide and a soluble residue. Beware that they can also tarnish metal and damage marble.

They also act as a catalyst for several reactions, for example breaking down fats.

Examples: Citric Acid, Vinegar

Bases

As with acids they are good for breaking down fats.

Examples: washing soda, bicarbonate of soda

Oxidizing Agents (bleach)

These chemically burn the dirt and tend to have a whitening effect.

Strong oxidizing agents are effective atot killing many bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Examples: sodium percarbonate.

Soaps/surfactants

These tend to be long molecules that have one end that ‘likes’ water (hydrophilic) and the other one that ‘hates’ water (hydrophobic).

They are good for ‘dissolving’ oils and fats. they are not actually ‘dissolved’ but form very small oil droplets suspended in water – called an emulsion. This allows fats to be washed away by the water.

One important class are soaps. These are actually the result from using a base (see above) to break down fats.

Some Common Cleaning Agents

Citric Acid (acid)

Good for removing limescale and general cleaning. Dissolve about 1 tablespoon of citric acid powder in a cup (250ml) of hot water. It can be put into a spray bottle.

Should not be used on marble or some stone or metal surfaces – they can be chemically similar to limescale and can be attacked by acids.

Vinegar (acid)

Very similar to citric acid. Dissolve one part vinegar to ten parts water.

Should not be used on marble or some stone or metal surfaces – they can be chemically similar to limescale and can be attacked by acids.

Bicarbonate Of Soda (base)

Its chemical name is sodium hydrogencarbonate (NaHCO₃).

Do not confuse with baking powder. Baking powder contains bicarbonate but mixed with cream of tartar.

It helps break down fats, but also has general cleaning properties.

If used in its powder form, then wipe the surface to be cleaned with a damp cloth first. Then rub in the bicarbonate of soda. As well as cleaning it also acts as a mild abrasive i.e. hopefully it scratches the dirt but not the surface you are cleaning.

It can be diluted with water and used to wipe down surfaces. It is useful to clean stained plastic containers.

Many people also use it to remove unwanted smells. For example, some people keep a small open jar of the powder in the fridge, or sprinkle into smelly trainers.

Washing Soda (base)

Its chemical name is sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃). Note that this is a stronger base than bicarbonate of soda – really recommend using gloves.

It is a stronger base than sodium hydrogencarbonate and is better at breaking down fats. It is often found in soap powders.

As well as washing cloths it can be used to remove greasy build up from pots and pans, oven racks. It is also good at removing coffee and tea stains.

Add about 1 tablespoon full to a cup (250ml) of water.

Sodium Percarbonate

Chemical formula: 2Na₂CO₃ · 3H₂O₂

The main use is as an oxidizing agent. However, when dissolved in water, it produces hydrogen peroxide (an oxidizing agent) and sodium carbonate (another cleaning agent – see above).

To use, dissolve about one tablespoon in a litre of water.

Oil

It may be strange to use this as a cleaning product, since it is often the thing that you want to remove. However, I use a bit of oil to dissolve the glue used for labels on jars (I make a lot of jam and other preserves) or sometimes thick greasy deposits.

I remove most of the label and as much of the glue as possible after soaking the jar in hot water. I then put a few drops of oil on and rub off with soapy water. This does not work so well on the rubbery type of glue used on some jars but works well for most others.

Bacteria, Fungi and Viruses

The main purpose of cleaning is not to kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. It is mainly to wash them away in the water, remove ‘sticky’ patches that they may to adhere to and remove possible food sources. There are ways to sterilize and disinfect, but that is a slightly different topic to cleaning.

Bacteria and fungi can reproduce very rapidly if a food source is available. So you can try and kill all of them, however, if some food is left they will recolonize it and multiply rapidly.

Rinsing

Although we have plenty of water at the moment, it is important to realize that it is a very valuable resource and not to waste it. One thing to remember, it is better to use several small separate lots of water to rinse than one large amount of water.

To illustrate this, think about a 1 litre (1000ml) container with 1g of contaminant (dirt). If you fill it up with 1000ml of water to rinse it, leaving 1ml of ‘dirty’ water left, you will have 1/1000g of dirt still in the container.

Now think about putting 100ml of water in the container to rinse it. Again, you leave 1ml of ‘dirty’ water. This ‘dirty’ water will contain 1/100g of ‘dirt’. Now rinse again with another 100ml of water – you have 1/10,000g of ‘dirt’. Repeat and you have 1/1,000,000g of ‘dirt”. So using less than 1/3 of the amount of water you have decreased the amount of ‘dirt’ 1,000 times more than using a single 1,000ml rinse.

Mixing Cleaning Products

We are often told not to mix cleaning products. The main reason for this is that some ‘bleaches’ contain hydrochloric acid and others contain an oxidizing agent. This will react to produce chlorine gas. This was used as a chemical weapon – it strips the lining of your lungs, and you drown in your own body fluid, so not really recommended.

Others will neutralize each other, for example, an acid and a base. I have seen people recommending mixing citric acid (or vinegar) with bicarbonate of soda. The bubbles of carbon dioxide released help lift the dirt. However, the reagents no longer act as an acid or a base. Some commercial products have foaming agents, which I assume carry out a similar role.

One of the problems of using single agents dissolved in water is that the water does not stick to surfaces long enough to be active. This is one of the reasons some commercial cleaning products are thicker.