Living Clean : Environmentally Friendly Products and Services in Norwich and Norfolk

Granny's a clean winner

When it comes to household trivia, our grannies always think they know best - but now scientists have confirmed that their quirky cleaning habits are as good as they claim.
KATHRYN CROSS Sifts through her store-cupboard and discovers some new cleaning solutions.

[Woman at sink] Lemon juice, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda - basic store cupboard fare you might think. But research has confirmed what our grannies have been advocating for years, that these ingredients can easily replace the bulk of chemical-based cleaning products we use for our daily household chores. Fifty years ago. homes were kept spotless with these few essentials, from cleaning windows to mopping up spills on carpets and removing lime-scale. But while supermarkets and advertisers constantly encourage us to purchase the latest product designed to take the time and effort out of cleaning, researchers for Which? magazine are now claiming households can ditch the bottle of chemicals in favour of more natural methods

Three scientists in an independent laboratory have scrubbed and polished, mopped and huffed using both shop-bought chemical cleaners and harmless everyday foodstuffs. The findings prove what our grandmothers have known all along, that you don't need a cupboard full of chemicals to make your house shine. [Bicarbonate of soda] Not only is it better for our health and the environment, but it can also work out cheaper as well. Dirtbusting duo Kim and Aggie from Channel 4's How Clean is Your House? have revived some of the more traditional cleaning products on their show and have been known to transform some of the filthiest homes with just a couple of lemons and a bottle of vinegar.
"You don't need to use lots of different cleaning products," says Aggie MacKenzie"1 worry about the effects on the environment of using so many chemicals."
Former Royal butler and jungle survivor Paul Burrell famously said the Queen used to encourage the use of soda water and blotting paper to mop up and disinfect any 'accidents' from the corgis.

When you look at the chemicals that can be found in household cleaning products it's staggering that millions of us are still prepared to breathe in their fumes.Although by law manufacturers must label any products that harm health or the environment they don't have to specify which chemicals they use. Multi-surface cleaners can contain endocrine disrupters, which affect the piturity gland causing birth defects and abnormalities in the reproductive system. And volotile organic compounds found in some cleaning products and air freshners can cause asthma in children.

Chlorine-based bleach gets into the water system where it can contaminate wildlife and half-used containers in landfill sites can leak chemicals into the soil and water table.
So if that news has got you reaching for the cupboard under the sink and throwing out all its contents, then these findings can get you started on a 'greener' cleaning routine.
For removing limescale from taps, researchers found that rubbing half a lemon over the taps, leaving to dry and buffing up outshone the power spray alternative leaving them "very clean and shiny".
Red wine, grass and bloodstains on carpet were cleaned with lemon juice and wiped with a damp cloth, and this method was found to do an "exceedingly good job" where the chemical spray needed two applications to match it. Soda water proved very good at removing a coffee stain from a carpet and cost 0.16p per use compared to 2p per use with the spray.
[Lemon] Lemon juice in a bowl of water was also found to do a great job on cleaning microwave ovens. Just heat the mixture on high for three minutes and then wipe away the dirt inside. A vinigar/water mixture was used to descale a kettle and was found to do the job just as well as the chemical equivalent while being nearly six times cheaper.
When cleaning windows and mirrors, researchers found that one part distilled white vinigar to nine parts water buffed up with pieces of scrunched-up newspaper was as effective as a shop brought spray.
The scientists admit that in many cases using the natural alternatives was more expensive and more difficult to use, but for helping the environment there was no contest. Tigger, the manager of the Greenhouse Trust in Norwich , said he hoped more people would start to source "greener" products for their home and steer away from petro-chemical ranges.
"We stock a range called Bio-D which is entirely made from natural ingredients like coconut oil, is totally biodegradable and uses no animal bi-products.
"the industry which supplies chemical products has an enormous marketing capacity and many people buy what they are told to buy, but it makes more sense to use either more specialist eco-friendly products or the traditional methods."

Here are some other top tips that the EDP has discovered:
• Watermarks on wooden surfaces can be removed by rubbing half a brazil nut on to the offending area, first ensuring the surface is completely dry. Alternatively, try applying mayonnaise on a soft cloth or toothpaste on a damp cloth to the watermark.
• For grubby fingerprints on your walls rub the mark with slightly moist, stale white bread.
• [Vinegar] Spruce up wooden furniture by washing with a solution of water and white vinegar, leave overnight to dry, apply quality furniture polish and buff the surfaces.
• [Bottle of wine] Remove hard water marks by pouring a can of fizzy cola down the toilet bowl; leave it for an hour, then flush.
• A glass of white wine - not for you, for your glass shower doors - will rid them of stains and limescale.
• To make a sweet-smelling bath scourer mix 300ml of borax with 300ml of salt and two tablespoons of finely ground dried rosemary or lavender.
• A solution of one part borax and three parts water will get rid of mould and mildew.
• For polishing silver place the tarnished pieces in a pan with a few strips of aluminium foil in the bottom. Add one tablespoon of salt and one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda and enough water to cover. Leave for a few hours, then rinse and dry.