The Platform

Friday 8th July 2016

TBB founder Donna shares what's in her cleaning routine for an eco friendly home

We have released a new DIY action, as suggested by Alison Mew, Property Manager at Hammerson.  To switch one cleaning product to an ecological version. Here's what founder Donna had to say about switching your cleaning products.

"Switching a household product to an ecologically friendly version is a simple and immediate way to do a little good. I’ve tested a huge number of products over the years, searching for ecological products that do their job really well.  I love finding a product that cleans well and smells great.  But also one that I can use without feeling I have to open the windows and wear gloves because of the chemicals.

Here's some of my firm favourites from my cleaning hamper at home…

Method Wood Floor Cleaning Liquid

My favourite cleaning product.  It leaves behind a gorgeous almond smell and takes up the dirt from my wood floor easily without causing any damage to the wood.

I use cloths to clean with this, and just pop them in the washing machine to reuse.

Method Hand Wash

Available in loads of varieties, I like to pick the one that suits the room.  So in my kitchen I have grapefruit because it’s fresh and lovely.  In my ensuite I have Lavender because I like the idea it relaxes me before bed.

You Bathroom Cleaner – by Salveco

This is a recent addition, and it actually bumped a Method product, which I thought was going to be near impossible.  I loved my Method Bath Cleaner with its lovely mint and eucalyptus smell, but You has refills and that sold it for me. It smells much more like a standard cleaner than many ec   ological versions do, whichsome people will love.  It’s anti limescale and I’ve found spraying it on then leaving it whilst you clean something else works well.

The refills are great, allowing you to keep using the spray bottle again and again.

Method wood polish

Smells lovely and makes me feel like I'm giving my favourite bits of antique furniture a little love.  It really brings out the colours of the wood, and just like the wood cleaner it smells gorgeous. 

Ecover Bio Laundry Gel

I tried to move to Ecover washing powder a few years back and didn’t like it,  However they’ve worked on the formula and now I’m happy to use either the gel or the concentrated liquid.  Both give a good clean, smell nice and are great for more delicate fabrics like silk and sports dry fit stuff.  As with all non – bios, you may need to occasionally so a white wash with some extra oomph in there, this is still better than using it all the time. 

Method Daily Kitchen

Like the handwashes, this comes in a number of varieties so you can pick the smells that suit you.  I love the clementine one for the kitchen.  It’s lovely and fresh and it cuts through grease as well as any other standard product I’ve tried.

So as you can probably tell, I love Method products.  Ecover is also one of my favourites, mainly because they were one of the first to create these products and I believe in being a loyal customer to brands who I value in the marketplace.  Their products feature in my kitchen, laundry and bathroom and I can’t see them going anywhere. 

Interestingly, Method actually bought out Ecover recently. When it first came to the market, Ecover promoted the ability to refill your bottles by taking them back to an Ecover refill machine.  Unfortunately none of the mainstream supermarkets got on board, and so this never became mass market to the extent that supermarkets would dedicate such a space to the machine in store.  Without this, Ecover didn’t quite hit the level it should have.  I hope that the buy out by Method will reopen this idea for Method and Ecover products.  Let's hope we see 'Refills coming to a Waitrose store near you…' in the near future. 

Salveco are coming into a market that is pretty dominated by Method and Ecover.  But their You range has started well. I think their refills will help to stand them apart but perhaps only for those who are actively searching for ecological products. 

I think more advertising needs to happen for these brands.  As with many eco versions, they are often the poor relative when it comes to advertising but it feels like it would be incredibly easy to make these products very popular.  The mere fact you don’t have to wear gloves is a strong selling point.  I have purchased these products for people when they have children, as suddenly people become conscious of the chemicals we use when a little one is involved. If you don’t want your children to use something it’s a pretty strong sign that you shouldn’t be using it either so why not try something different.  You may need to test a few to find the ones you love, but once you do you too can have a clean, green, chemical free cleaning hamper."

Donna

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