An in-depth guide to eliminating plastic from your cleaning products

Cleaning with plastic-free products has never been easier, as the world has begun to wage the war against plastic. It is getting easier as a consumer to change our lifestyles and help to protect the planet. 

Wherever you are in your journey, now is the right time to switch to eco-friendly cleaning. Here's our guide for all the essentials you need to clean your house with plastic-free cleaning products. Whether you need an eco-friendly way to clean your toilet or get stains out of your clothes, we have the answers.

In Your Kitchen

Eco-Friendly Surface Cleaner

To begin, you want to find a replacement for your paper towels. Unpaper towels are made from organic cotton and are reusable, they just need washing after use. When cleaning any surfaces, we recommend using a reusable towel and a cleaning sachet. By using these dissolvable sachets, you'll never need to buy another plastic cleaning spray bottle.

Save one of your old cleaning bottles and stick in a cleaning sachet. Add water, shake and the sachet will dissolve. Say goodbye to plastic bottles and hello to eco-friendly cleaning products!  

For cleaning your hob, oven doors, sink or other surface, we recommend a cleaning bar. A cleaning bar contains fine-grade pumice which gently removes build up of grime. You can also use a Marseille bar, a multi-purpose cleaning product - it does not contain any pumice but it's also free from plastic.

Plastic-Free Washing Up Products

An essential plastic-free cleaning product is Castile soap. It has a multitude of different uses and can be used to clean just about anything, including your dishes!

We recommend pairing it with either a reusable sponge or a loofah sponge to further reduce your waste. By making the switch to a reusable sponge, you could save nearly 50 plastic sponges a year from ending up in a landfill, and taking thousands more years to only partially break down.

Another alternative to the plastic scrubbie you have on the side of your kitchen sink is a wooden washing up brush with a detachable head. This brush will last for months - and once the head is knackered you only need to replace that bit! It is such an easy eco-friendly swap.

If you have a dishwasher, there is even a plastic-free cleaning product for you. Eco-friendly dishwasher tablets come packaged without plastic and do not contain any nasty chemicals.

Eco Oven Cleaner

Notoriously bad for your health, traditional oven cleaners contain harsh chemicals that are extremely bad for you when inhaled. A healthier and plastic-free way to clean your oven is by using oven cleaner sachets and a coconut fibre scourer to scrub off any grime. Both free-from plastic and without the nasty chemicals.

In Your Bathroom

Plastic-Free Surface Cleaner

Some of the products we've already talked about are equally as great at cleaning your bathroom as your kitchen. Personally, I prefer to use compostable sponges when cleaning the bathroom. They are guaranteed to break down and decompose once they've reached the end of their life.

To get your sink and surfaces squeaky clean, you can make the switch to a cleaning sachet. There are specifically engineered bathroom and surface cleaning sachets, all you need to do is mix with water in an old bottle and then spray away. 

Eco Glass & Mirror Cleaning 

To get a streak-free shine on your glass and mirrors, we recommend using unpaper towels and a glass cleaner sachet. With these cleaning sachets, you will never need to purchase another plastic spray bottle. Such a simple and effective way to cut down on your plastic use. 

Eco-Friendly Toilet Cleaners

Say no more to those bulky, plastic toilet bowl cleaners. Here are some plastic-free alternatives! You can choose from an all-natural cleaning powder or eco-friendly toilet bombs. The cleaning powder is packaged in biodegradable paper and a cardboard box and is so simple to use, simply apply into the bowl and scrub with your toilet brush. 

Alternatively, you can pop a toilet bomb into the toilet bowl and let it disinfect on its own. This plastic-free alternative is packaged in a glass jar and is refillable so you can cut down on extra waste.  

Cleaning Your Carpets

Eco-Friendly Carpet Cleaners 

If you need to get dirt, pet stains, wine spills, or any other stains out of your carpet, look no further than a natural stain remover. It ticks all boxes as it is biodegradable, vegan, and eco-friendly! To use, just rub it onto a wet stain, the dirt will easily lift and make cleaning super quick.

For standard carpet cleaning we recommend a lemon scented carpet freshener powder to make your carpets smell fresh and clean. This plastic-free cleaning product is applied by sprinkling onto your carpet and sitting for an hour before being vacuumed up.

Cleaning Your Floors 

Eco Floor Cleaners

There is now a whole range of plastic-free cleaning products versatile enough to extend throughout most areas of your home. The multi-purpose cleaners like Castile soap and Marseille soap are perfect swaps for your standard cleaning products and they work great for floors as well.

Another option is a floor cleaning powder where you add a tablespoon of powder to warm water before mopping, or switch to a floor cleaning sachet which also dissolves in water. 

Doing Your Laundry

Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent

Looking for an interesting and plastic-free way to do laundry? Try organic soapnuts. Soapnuts are a traditional way to do laundry, with the nut shells sustainably grown in India and dried. These dried shells contain a natural soap and fabric softener which is activated when you place them in hot water. 

If soapnuts aren’t for you, a simple eco swap is laundry powder packaged in biodegradable cardboard, or Tru Earth laundry strips which dissolve in the washing drum.

So how do you clean your house with plastic-free cleaning products?

There are so many cleaning products free-from plastic, from powders to dissolvable sachets, reusable cotton towels and scourers. If you're still unsure which eco-friendly swap is right for you, we always recommend trying a multi-purpose cleaning product like Marseille or Castile soap as it covers most cleaning situations. You may not have realised that finding plastic-free cleaning products for your entire home was this easy, but it really is!