You really can eco clean everything in the bathroom without using chemicals. We use traditional plant oil soaps to clean the walls, tiles, the floor, doors, cupboards, the sink, taps, taps with limescale, the loo, the shower tray and the bath. We have two plant oil based soaps: Olive Oil Soap, also known as Savon Noir, which comes from Morocco, and our 100% British Hemp Oil Soap.
We use Soapnuts for cleaning mirrors, the shower screen, windows and to wipe the sink surround and the Hemp Oil or Olive Oil Soaps for everything else.
You are free to add essential oils to increase the anti-microbial action of the soap, such as grapefruit seed extract or to add a delicious fragrance such as pine oil, lavender or citrus oils. We tend to use our soaps as they come.
How to Clean Tiles and Ceramic Splash Backs with Hemp Oil or Olive Oil Soap
Just wipe the tiles over with diluted soap with a hot well wrung cloth. The tiles will gleam in an instant. If the grout is dirty, scrub it with water containing dissolved hemp or olive oil soap, or with neat soap. You can leave the soap on for a while (not letting it dry) to lift more dirt. Then wipe the tiles with a hot wrung cloth, rinsing as needed. Job done!
How to Clean Mildew from Tiles
Make up a potent mixture of plant oil soap, clear vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. It is best to tackle tiles like this straight after a shower when they are covered in condensation and the room is hot and steamy. For a moment, the mildew will be really happy. Then scrub the potent mixture over the tiles and into the grouting between them. Make sure that the extractor fan is turned off, leave the room and close the door to retain the heat and steam and to leave the mildew sweat and release its grip in soap. Return in 10-20 minutes, scrub the grouting and the tiles again and rinse them.
In the kitchen, the tiles might not have the benefit of much steam, so just leave the soap to work for a while longer, making sure it doesn’t dry out.
It is impossible to turn silica seals, usually found around draining boards and between the bath or shower and the wall, from black to white. Most silica sealants shrink and the mildew stains it black. Sorry! You can by non-shrinking silica, which delays this tendency, or use traditional materials.
Make your Sink the Envy of your Neighbours!
Plant oil soaps are ideal for cleaning sinks made from ceramic, steel, stone. If you have a glass sink, you will need to use your home prepared soapnut liquid and follow the directions for the shower screen.
Use a cloth which been wrung in hot water. Use a dab of the soft soap neat. Rub it around the sink with the cloth. The rinse. Dry the sink if you are due for an inspection!
Taps Look Positively Artist When They Are Clean
Taps are mostly made of chromed brass, stainless steel, or brass. If you regularly wipe your taps with a cloth containing a small splash of soapnut liquid, they will remain sparkling and limescale free. To achieve this exulted status, you will need to work out how often the taps need this attention according to your water hardness and water usage!
I am not among the exulted and if the taps don’t respond quickly to their soapnut liquid polish, I dilute a blob of hemp oil soap with some vinegar or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and paste it around the encrusted parts of the tap. I busy myself with some other task, and return to rub the soap and limescale off and give the tap a quick polish. If your taps have suffered serious neglect, the soap and vinegar mixture can left on for hours or overnight.
The Shower Tray, Bath or Bidet made Spotless with Natural Soap
Use biodegradable soap for cleaning shower trays made of stone, ceramic, stone-resin. I do not recommend using plant oil based soaps to clean shower trays or baths made of GLP/Acrylic. Plant oil based soaps can stain acrylic if they are not completely washed away. So if your shower tray or bath was surprizingly light in weight when you bought it, when tapped it sounds like plastic and if it does not feel excessively cold to touch, it could be Acrylic. Use a cloth wrung out in hot water and soapnut liquid to clean it. Don’t forget to rinse.
If you can proceed, with cleaning you stone, ceramic or stone-resin bath or shower, follow the same method as for cleaning a sink, outlined above.
Eco Cleaning the Toilet
Clean ceramic or steel parts with diluted plant oil soap. Clean any acrylic parts with soapnut liquid.
Flush the toilet by pouring a jug of warm (not hot) water down it. You don’t want to crack the bowl, but you do want to give the soap a better chance to work than it would have in cold water. Add some hemp oil soap in to the bowl and scrub all around with a toilet brush, including under the rim of the bowl and near the water inlets.
The soap can be fortified with the addition of vinegar and if foam is required, bicarbonate of soda. Give the bowl a brief scrub and leave the mixture to work. It is great when you can manage to do this before you go away for a weekend, but I haven’t managed yet! On your return, scrub the bowl again and flush. I usually try to leave the mixture working in the bowl for several hours, then I get impatient!
Wipe the toilet bowl cover on both sides which your chosen cleaner, continue on both sides of the seat and around the outside of the toilet bowl. The cloth should be washed after use.
A blob of hemp oil soap also cleans the toilet bowl wonderfully anytime.
The Shower Screens Prefer Soapnut Solution
Use Soapnut solution for cleaning shower screens, whether of glass or acrylic. Soapnuts are a dried fruit and they are very renewable.
To make your soapnut solution.
Place 2 large handfuls of soapnuts in a medium saucepan and half fill it with water. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. The water will turn a deep amber colour. Allow the contents of the pan to cool slightly.
The place a funnel into a bottle, and pour in the liquid, soapnuts and all from the saucepan. Place a cap on the bottle of soapnut solution and do label it ‘Soapnut Solution for Cleaning’. It looks rather like vinegar and you don’t want that in your salad dressing.
Retrieve the soggy soapnuts from the funnel and lay them on a large plate to dry again quickly. I leave my soggy soapnut plate on a shelf over a radiator. They will give you another 2-4 brews.
How to Clean your Shower Screen with a Soapnut Solution
Pour some solution in a bowl. Dip a soft clean cloth into it, wring it lightly, then rub it over the shower screen. Use a clean, dry lint-free cloth to polish the glass dry. Actually I use two sheets of newspaper for the whole operation, the first to apply the soapnuts solution, and the second sheet for polishing the glass dry. It is fine to add the used newspaper into the compost bin afterwards.
Mirrors and Windows also Prefer Soapnut Liquid
Follow the same method as for shower screens as outlined above.
Washing the Walls with Natural Soap
Plants soaps are used to clean wall which are painted in vinyl, emulsion paint or eggshell.
Use hemp oil or olive oil soap in its diluted form for cleaning washable surfaces. Dilute a spoon of soap in hot water. Wipe the walls in a cloth wrung out in this hot soapy solution. Rinse the cloth frequently in the soapy water and carry on. Rinse the wall in fresh water or water containing some vinegar if you are about to repaint it.
Floor Cleaning Made Easy with Soft Soap
Soft, plant oil based soaps are the traditional product for cleaning floors made with traditional materials, such as parquet, tile, flag stone, linoleum / marmoleum, waxed wood, painted wood, waxed wood, bare wood, slate, marble, terrazzo. Equally traditional soaps are great for cleaning floors made from modern materials such as PVC or lino.
If there is lots of dust, pet hair, plant matter, soil or other loose matter, gently sweep or hoover the floor first. To wash the floor, add a spoon of traditional soap to 1/2 a bucket of hot water. Use a mop, a floor cloth or whatever you normally use to wash the floor. Change the water if it appears dirty.
If the floor is very dirty, pre-treat stains, or really grubby areas with the neat soap. Allow time for the soap to work. Wash over the floor once, and take a second pass if needed. If the soapy water gets very dirty, pour it away and make another soapy solution.
Clean the bucket after use. Thankfully, with regular cleaning one pass is enough for most floors and most of the time there is no need to rinse, so you can put your feet up instead! Floors normally do not need rinsing!
Cupboard Doors, Knobs and Handles
Use a tiny dab of neat soap on a well wrung cloth on stubborn finger prints and wash the surface with diluted hemp soap. Easy. Use the time you have saved to track down the culprit.
