We've known for decades that oil is running out, so why do we squander it unnecessarily? Take petrochemical-based cleaning products. Since it was formed in Belgium in 1993, the eco-friendly cleaning product manufacturer Ecover has been showing us the clean green way. It makes cleaning products that are plant-based and, therefore, renewable.
Ecover and other eco-friendly products are also phosphate-free, phosphates having the side-effect of acting as a plant nutrient when released into water courses, contributing to the choking of rivers and streams with algae. Eco-friendly cleaning products are also fully biodegradable in oxygen-poor environments, unlike many other cleaners.
With all those environmental benefits, and a competitive price, the argument for buying them becomes overwhelming, provided, that is, that they do as good a job as conventional cleaners. So do they? I hob-tested a few to find out.
l Ecover Squirteco all-purpose cleaner (around £1.85 for 500ml). This has a pleasantly astringent scent and "non-ionic surfactants" (vegetable-based detergents). It also contains alcohol and citric acid, and the whole lot will safely biodegrade in the environment without interfering with the local flora and fauna. Most importantly, though, it does the job, cleaning off the dirt from the hob without the need for much elbow grease.
l Tesco's Naturally kitchen cleaner (£1.48 for 500ml). Like all the supermarkets nowadays, Tesco has its own-brand eco cleaning product range, which is probably the best proof there is that they work. This one is a spray and contains non-ionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, perfume and limonene. It states that the cleaning ingredients are derived from coconut, olive and sugar compounds and "exceeds current biodegradability legislation". Like Ecover Squirteco, it contains no bleach. And, like Ecover, it works. I can see no difference at all between the bit that's been cleaned using this and the bit using the bleach cleaner.
l E-cloth (£4.99). Did someone work a spell over this duster? It's a bit of cloth, but it cleans as effectively as Flash. How? Apparently because it's made from "millions of tiny, clever fibres". No detergents, no bleach, no gritty scouring powder. This cloth probably did the best job of all on the hob.
According to the makers, E-cloth general-purpose cloths, glass cloths and mops can replace the need for 90% of household chemicals. Remarkable.
l AlmaWin concentrated all-purpose cleaner (£2.75 for 500ml).
This new import from Germany will stretch a long way. You dilute a tablespoon in five litres of water and then use it to wipe down hard surfaces such as tiles, doors and varnished surfaces.
The washing substances are based on plants, and it also contains salt, alcohol, wheat protein, lactic acid and sodium carbonate. As it's not a neat spray, you don't get that pleasing sense of zapping dirt, but it does the job.
l Baking powder. This contains rice flour and a raising agent, namely sodium hydrogen carbonate. It has the reassuringly gritty texture of an old-fashioned scourer, but leaves none of the scratch marks.
With the burned-on food and grease round the gas ring, it seemed to get underneath and lift it off with a rub of a cloth.
The older, more stubborn black charring on the edge of the ring proved harder to shift, but that was the case even for the supermarket bleach spray.
There was only one drawback - the powder left white smear marks on the hob once it had dried, which had to be washed off with water. Most products available at supermarkets and health food shops; AlmaWin at Entrading, West Regent Street, Glasgow.
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