5 Natural Cleaners That Work as Well as Chemical Alternatives

How safe and effective are your household cleaners? Bleach and many other harsh, chemical-based household cleaners can be dangerous to keep around, and their fumes can be damaging to the lungs. But are there any natural alternatives that work? Our findings may surprise you.

We don’t have to render the air and surfaces toxic just to get a good clean. We can disinfect toothbrushes using salt and vinegar, bathrooms with vinegar and essential oils and kitchen countertops with essential oils and dish soap. Peroxide shows promise in killing the highly contagious C. Difficile, and cleaning solutions that use silver salts can kill nearly any microbe while leaving surfaces harmless to humans and pets. Let's look at these natural cleaners and maybe ditch the dangerous chemicals for good.

Salt and Vinegar

This flavorful combination that most of us already have in the kitchen could do more than add a yummy kick to fries and potato chips. One study found a combination of 38% vinegar and 3.5% sodium chloride (table salt) was effective in disinfecting toothbrushes. Research on vinegar alone showed it may be effective as a contact lens cleaning solution — but don’t go trying this one at home; vinegar is irritating to the eyes, so it’s best to leave this experiment to the professionals. But maybe we can use it for our toothbrushes and other things that need to be disinfected?

Vinegar and Essential Oils

The Society for Applied Microbiology did a study on the effectiveness of a vinegar and tea tree oil solution compared to bleach and an “environmentally preferable” disinfectant. While bleach and the second disinfectant proved superior overall, the vinegar solution worked satisfactorily in most cases. The researchers also found that white vinegar on its own was capable of taking down Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7, making it of possible benefit in both the kitchen and the bathroom.

DIYNatural recommends mixing 1 cup of vinegar along with ½ teaspoon tea tree oil and ½ cup of baking soda for a safe and effective toilet cleaner. For harder jobs, substitute the baking soda with ¾ cup borax and use lavender and lemon essential oils in place of tea tree. Other essential oils you can use in the bathroom include rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint.

Essential Oils and Dish Soap

Essential oils appear to have a broad variety of uses, since many of them have their own strong antimicrobial properties. The ones listed above are only a handful, and some are better suited for specific uses than others. For example, the essential oil from conehead thyme has shown incredible promise as a safe disinfectant for use around food. Essential oils are super-concentrated, so a little goes a long way. CleanMySpace recommends combining 10 drops of your favorite essential oil with 1 teaspoon of dish soap and 2 cups of water for a natural alternative to store-bought countertop cleaners.

Hydrogen Peroxide

It might not have the corrosive power of chlorine bleach, but hydrogen peroxide packs a pretty good punch of its own. One study showed airborne hydrogen peroxide particles could decontaminate surfaces that had been tainted with the highly contagious and sometimes deadly Clostridium difficile. Another study found solutions of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar could kill Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the fungal infection Candida albicans.

Silver Salts

Silver has been a go-to sanitizer for centuries. It’s even been used to disinfect drinking water. Evolyse is a hospital disinfectant made from hydrogen peroxide and silver salts. It destroys all types of microorganisms, including spores and biofilms that can survive other types of disinfectants. PureGreen24 is a commercially available disinfectant that combines silver salts with citric acid. It’s safe to use around pets and children, yet effective enough to kill MRSA.

You don’t have to poison yourself and the air in your home to live in a clean space. There are plenty of natural alternatives that work just as well but are safe to use. Try these natural alternatives for yourself and clean up the way you clean your house.

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