Eco friendly cleaning products/hints

[maree]

Well.....anyone who knows me (and my cleaning routine) will be having a peerie snigger dat I have started this thread.

This morning, given the choice between writing an assignment for a social policy module and doing a bit of tidying, the latter seemed more inviting.

As I was doon on my hands and knees trying to prise the dog/cat hairs fae the carpet on the landing, I remembered a new technique for pet hair removal I had stumbled across by accident.

Last year my ever thoughtful mother-in-law gave me a pair of crocs for my birthday. Crocs......rubber clogs. For someone like me who spends a large part of the day on their feet, crocs are the comfiest foot wear ever.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered crocs are also a useful cleaning aid! ;D. I was standing on the landing carpet rubbing my crocced foot absent-mindedly along the floor, when I noticed the pet hairs miraculously lifting from the carpet. So now.........I get down on my hands and knees, put my croc on my hand and rub the hairs from the carpet! Magic!! ;D ;D I used to do the same thing wearing rubber gloves, but always rubbed so hard the fingers wore out resulting in carpet burns on my finger tips . Useful if I had intended to carry out a burglary, but very painful.

[Admin Mal]

;D ;D ;D Good tip! You could always dance across the carpet at high speed wearing your crocs!! Reminds me of polishing my granny's lino whilst doing pretend ballet dancing wearing dusters on my feet. It's probably a similar effect <your croc-scrubbing> to a rubber broom-thingy we bought at the Ideal Homes Exhibition in Glesca some years back. <probaby a bit like this - cgi.ebay.co.uk/Magic-Rubber-Broom-Brush-Removes-Pet-Human-Hair_W0QQitemZ120098215134QQcategoryZ79657QQcmdZViewItem <copy'n'paste>

[benjiesmum]

mhay said:

A couple of weeks ago I discovered crocs are also a useful cleaning aid! ;D. I was standing on the landing carpet rubbing my crocced foot absent-mindedly along the floor, when I noticed the pet hairs miraculously lifting from the carpet. So now.........I get down on my hands and knees, put my croc on my hand and rub the hairs from the carpet! Magic!! ;D ;D I used to do the same thing wearing rubber gloves, but always rubbed so hard the fingers wore out resulting in carpet burns on my finger tips . Useful if I had intended to carry out a burglary, but very painful.

Hehe!!!!! Could you possibly do a wee video recording of this please so we can see the action required - and where do you get these "crocs" from!!!!?? ;D ;D ;D ;D

[mally]

www.rubbersole.co.uk/products.aspx?categoryid=909


www.lookatmycrazyshoes.com/index.php?gclid=CO7ImZ_h_ooCFQjalAod7gh7Eg


www.jellyegg.com/

[Admin Mal]

benjiesmum said:

where do you get these "crocs" from!!!!?? ;D ;D ;D ;D

Imelda's in Lerwick!! ;D

[benjiesmum]

Thanks for those websites mally. I particularly liked the jelly egg one. Which brings me to a further question about these 'ere crocs mhay - which style was it:

"the prima",
"the georgie",
"the pro", ;D
"the kneeler",
"the cayman",
or "the aspen" :)you were using to clean up the hairs??

I think we should be told!!!!!

[maree]

For best results: Use the "cayman" in khaki.

[mally]

Hmmm, no crocs for men ?

[Admin Mal]

I've certainly seen men wearing them...

[benjiesmum]

Crocs are great!

<Edit and continue post> but that wasn't the point of my post. There must be some good environmental friendly cleaning ideas/hints out there.

What about Granny's old secrets?

I know - cleaning copper pans (if you have such things of course!!) with half a lemon and salt. It works because I used to have to clean coppers when I worked in a(n) hotel as a student.

[Fifi]

Interesting about the copper pans and lemon and salt. Some old my old pans have a copper bottom and I've used Barkeepers' Friend for years. It's not a homemade cleaner but it is eco-friendly. I believe it's made from rhubarb leaves. It's great stuff and is so called as barkeepers in America used it to shine their bar paraphenalia. It was used to clean the Albert Memorial in London.

It's a powder and you use it on a damp cloth, or make a paste from it. It will clean various surfaces including plastic, brass, grouting, tiles, copper, chrome and glass. Great for tea or wine stains.

Lakeland stock it, but you can get it locally from the Brae Building Centre as well as one or two other shops. Geordie's DIY in Lerwick sometimes have it. Recommended by the Vegetarian Society I see!

www.vegsoc.org/press/homecare.html

www.homecareproducts.co.uk/bkf.htm

[benjiesmum]

Rhubarb leaves? Well, I never!! Well I suppose it's because they are acidic or something. I think it must be that that cleans them.

I use damp newspaper scrunched up to clean windows. Much better than that stuff my mum used to use that left white dust everywhere. It really makes them sparkle and gleam - and no smears!

[malcolm]

I tried the Eco friendly washing up liquid but gave it up as a bad job due to the amount needed to get dishes clean.

[MG]

Try putting Eco tablets in your dishwasher !

;D ;D ;D

[bod]

benjiesmum said:

I use damp newspaper scrunched up to clean windows. Much better than that stuff my mum used to use that left white dust everywhere. It really makes them sparkle and gleam - and no smears!

They say vinegar in water is good for cleaning windows - no matter what I try I still get smears on them when the sun shines and yes I have used newspaper too.

How come a window cleaner can take 30mins to do a whole house with used water and make a better job than me taking at least an hour.