Clean & Green: 101 Hints and Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Home

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Simple swaps and innovative ideas for cleaning and maintaining your home that won't cost the Earth. We all want to do our best for our homes and the planet, but it's often hard to find the time and energy to think of alternatives. Nancy Birtwhistle makes it easy with 101 indispensable tips, ideas and recipes that will help you to live a more eco-friendly life without giving up on any home comforts. It takes years and years to break down, is toxic and the fumes can irritate the eyes, throat, lungs and skin.

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Here, Nancy shares some natural swaps to boost your budget and banish harmful toxins from your home. Toilet cleaner Nancy Birtwhistle at home … ‘I made the point of making it affordable.’ Photograph: Richard Saker/The Observer Bulk-buy ingredients Stir until the liquid is clear and the crystals have dissolved, then simply add the eco-friendly washing-up liquid and tea tree oil and mix well using a small whisk. In a bowl large enough to take the woollen jumper when folded, give 2–3 squirts of hair conditioner and add the vinegar then fill with lukewarm water. Lay the folded jumper onto the bowl of water. No need to submerge it – leave it to absorb the water in its own time and sink to the bottom of the bowl, then leave overnight. The vinegar and hair conditioner will soften the woollen fibres, making them lax and pliable. The next day, pour the water off the jumper and gently squeeze it to remove the excess. Do not rinse, wring or spin.

Nancy Birtwhistle's cream cleaner

It was a filthy washing machine that prompted Nancy Birtwhistle to embrace the power of eco-friendly cleaning. “I was nearly at the point where I thought I needed a new washing machine, because it was a disgrace,” she says. “And that’s the sort of culture we’ve become: ‘I’ll replace it.’” Instead, she gave it a thorough clean and switched to homemade detergent. She says her machine no longer gets gunked up from chemical overload.

Nancy Birtwhistle: 8 Secrets For A Sparkling Clean Home Nancy Birtwhistle: 8 Secrets For A Sparkling Clean Home

Mix a thin paste and dab it over the stain, massaging it in circular motions with gloved hands. The residual stain will lift and so will the odour. If you can air-dry the item, even better.After a run-in with a rubber parking bollard (“These things happen”), Birtwhistle dabbed some bicarbonate of soda on the mark with a damp cloth and it was as if it had never happened. It also works on walls, skirting boards and appliances. Home-brew pesticide Citric acid will dissolve limescale and kill germs. Photograph: kali9/Getty Images Deep-clean the loo The next day, pour the water off the jumper and gently squeeze it to remove the excess. Do not rinse, wring or spin. Lay a large clean towel onto a flat surface and on top place the very wet jumper. Gently pull at it lengthways and sideways, stretching the fibres as you go. Take your time in gently remoulding your favourite jumper to its original size and shape. My Pure Magic is not harmful, it kills germs, destroys limescale (which bleach alone doesn’t do) and smells fresh. Once you are satisfied that it looks as it used to, take the towel and start rolling from the bottom, nice and tight, until the jumper is concealed in a huge towel and jumper sausage. Rolling tightly will extract much of the remaining moisture. When the towel feels quite wet, unroll and transfer the jumper to the second towel, which again has been laid out on a flat surface. Nancy Birtwhistle’s plant feed with added benefit

Green Living Made Easy by Nancy Birtwhistle | Waterstones Green Living Made Easy by Nancy Birtwhistle | Waterstones

And my homemade cream cleaner is perfect for granite worktops and sanitary ware, being non-acidic and only slightly abrasive.

A horrible job – and one for which Birtwhistle used to use harsh chemicals in a big plastic bag. There are two methods, she says. “One is to simply put them out on the lawn overnight. The best results I’ve had is to do it when the grass has just been cut, and cover the shelf with grass clippings as well. It creates a sort of steamy environment and then the next day they just wipe clean.” One of her social media followers from South Africa gave her this tip. However, if you don’t have a garden or grass, “submerge them in washing soda overnight”. Stained casserole dishes