Green Cleaning has gone main stream! Every bulk store and grocery chain stocks at least a couple of eco friendly brands. Biodegradable accessories, such as natural fiber sponges and cloths, are the perfect match to pair with green cleaners.
It is an oxymoron to clean with a biodegradable cleaner using a synthetic sponge. Happily there are plenty of companies producing creative natural choices for all natural, biodegradable cleaning accessories, both in regular retail stores and online.
Natural Fiber Biodegradable Sponges
Great choices abound from companies like Twist, who manufacture natural sponges for cleaning with plucky names such as the Naked Sponge, Dish Dumpling, and Ravioli Scrubby. Each made from natural fibers like bamboo, hemp, and cotton. Twist’s Loofah Scrubby, great for pots-n-pans is natural sponge on the inside and loofah on the out.
Other natural sponges choices include the Natural Value brand created from recycled cellulose or other recycled fibers. Natural Value brand also makes a natural walnut scrubber. EcoSponge and the compostable Pop-up Sponge, which expands in water, are other eco friendly sponges. ScotchBrite has a new, natural line called Greener Clean.
Natural Fiber Cleaning Cloths and Towels
Washcloths for Kitchen and household cleaning made from natural and sustainable fibers like bamboo and hemp are also washing out the cotton and synthetic competition. Reusable cleaning cloths can substitute or supplement for paper towels or sponges. Bamboo boasts as a bacteria resistence fiber, perfect for regular cleaning use.
Twist also manufactures cleaning cloths along with their sponge line. Green cleaning consumers can also choose from recycled cotton fiber cleaning cloths from brands like “ecofriendlycleaningcloths” made from 99% recycled material, which are great for cleaning everything from windows, to dishes, to counters.
Also, EcoTowl manufactures a kitchen towel to match their eco sponge. Even ScotchBrite the largest manufacturer of synthetic sponges worldwide is getting in on the green revolution, launching a line of eco friendly sponges and cleaning cloths made mostly from bamboo. These are found in Wal-Mart and Targets nationwide.
SKOY cleaning cloths, manufactured in Europe from cotton and wood cellulose are suitable for all kinds of cleaning. On their website they state: “1 Skoy Cloth Equals 15 Rolls of Paper Towels in an Average House.” Literally, millions of trees can be saved, if consumers choose eco friendly cleaning cloths and towels.
Recycled T-shirts Are Great Green Cleaners
Some of the best green cleaning accessories are old t-shirts. After a t-shirt has seen its day, is worn out and ready to be discarded, try using it for cleaning cloths. Cut it up into the size of wash cloths that are needed, hem the edge or not, and "voila"—a super-cheap, recycled rag has been created.
Recycled Newspapers for Glass and Window Cleaning
Newspapers, after having been perused, can be reused, as a paper towel substitute, when cleaning mirrors and windows. This is definitely “old school” and is a technique that homemakers in the Great Depression used. (They also used old newpapers in the outhouse; but that is not being reccommended here.)
Bottle Cleaning Brushes Made from Coir
Natural bottle cleaning brushes made from coir or dried coconut husk are available. They look very similar to their synthetic bottle cleaning cousins, but are all natural and biodegradable with wooden handles. These can complete the all natural kitchen ensemble for green house cleaning.
Green Cleaning is all the rave and has now become main stream with green cleaning products found almost every store, but cleaning accessories like sponges, scrubbers, washcloths, and towels are also available with a variety of inexpensive choices to add to the green home.
Pamela Palmer - Pamela Palmer is a "Green" blogger and freelance writer, teacher, wife of a very patient man and mother of two energetic, young adults. ...
Join the Conversation