Are you conscious of your cleaning products?

[Quincy]

Hello everyone,

I am aware that some hosts do the cleaning in their properties themselves, and that some hire cleaners to do so🧹🧽. This reminded me that a while ago, some hosts in the community mentioned using sustainable cleaning products or even homemade cleaning products!

Over the years, there have been many changes concerning cleaning products. For instance, some laundry detergents use less packaging, and are more eco-friendly. Recommendations on washing laundry are usually also noted on the back of the package, mentioning that washing laundry at a lower temperature/eco-mode can help save energy and water💧.  

About 2/3 years ago, I decided to switch over to more eco-friendly cleaning products. I decided changing my dish soap, dishwasher tablets, handwash, laundry detergent, disinfectants, and many more products to more eco-friendly ones. One of my colleagues @Francesca, even made an eco/natural soap bar which I was able to use for quite some time 🧼. 

Are you conscious of your cleaning products? Which tips and recommendations would you give your fellow hosts?

I look forward to hearing your answers.

Quincy

[Quincy]

@Sarah977, some of my family members in the Caribbean tend to create their own cleaning products. They've mentioned that eco-friendly cleaning products either cost too much on the tiny island they live on (Curaçao), or that it simply isn't available. Most of the stuff over there is being imported from the US, Netherlands, and some countries in the region, so they're very dependent on those imports. 

[Michelle53]

I used to use all eco-friendly products for laundry and cleaning. I used a particular plant-based, naturally fragrance free, cleaner that did a reasonable job, but had a bit of an odd smell. People were always commenting about that. 

Finally, I gave up and went to Clorox cleaner + bleach, for bathroom and floors.  Not particularly eco-friendly, but it does a great job (particularly with Covid protocols) and leaves a light, fresh, clean smell that people like. 

I also gave up on the elbow grease required to get stains out of toilets, and switched to the thick blue Lysol cleaner, which really works but isn't required very often.

I do use regular soap for counter tops and woodwork,  a vinegar mix for windows, and eco-friendly laundry products. 

I keep the eco-friendly cleaner for the non-guest area. 

[Quincy]

Hi @Michelle53, it's great to hear that you're still able to use some eco-friendly cleaning products in some parts of the property 🙂. 

[A--Ozkan0]

I used a highly eco-friendly brand last year and I purchased almost all of their products at once to make a revolution. But the cleaning performance was so terrible (especially dishes) that it would be the same if I used nothing. I returned to the conventional stuff unfortunately. Eco cleaning is just a wording for me now...

[Quincy]

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that @A--Ozkan0! I hope you'll find a better brand in the future!

[Jessica2362]

Hello everyone!  I use clean toxic free cleaners, laundry, dishes, dishwasher and soaps in my airbnb.  I definitely go green on all the products. We use Melalueca products, one stop shop for us. We have had good feed back  from our renters! 

[Jordan615]

One thing I did right off the bat was buy a Norwex mop and window rag. They are fairly expensive products, but work very well and use just water. Then you just wash the cloth parts in the laundry and reuse. This means there is no waste associated on a day by day case.

Now that I have been around a bit longer I am very interested in buying cleaning products in bulk to cut down on plastic packaging. 

[Deniz102]

Hello everyone, I try to buy the best products for our health. I hope everything is fine. Of course, we cannot measure exactly how these cleaning kinds of stuff are really healthy unless we are chemical researchers. Good luck.

[Владимир46]

Good afternoon.
I prefer to use the services of a cleaning lady, she prefers to work with safe detergents, although it is more expensive, but she and I have no allergies.
All the best.
Vladimir.

[Rachel1905]

I bought a steam dryer so I could sanitize my comforter every time without having to wash them.  It saves energy and tear on my comforters.  I can do two comforters while my sheets are in the washer.  

[Sybe]

@Rachel1905 That's a great tip, thanks for sharing!