Every household requires regular cleaning. Maintaining your own four walls is not only time-consuming, but also involves a wide variety of materials and aids. Every year, each person washes around 280 kilograms of laundry, which requires around 2800 litres of water.
Is washing up by hand really sustainable?
Everyone has heard at least once in their life that washing up by hand is more environmentally friendly than using the dishwasher because it uses less water. But that's not true!
A full dishwasher saves around 50% of water compared to washing up by hand. But it's not just water that is saved. Electricity consumption is around 28% lower.
To achieve these values, however, there are a few things that should be taken into account:
- The dishwasher filter must be clean
- The spray arms must be able to move freely so that the dirt on all your crockery can be washed off and no subsequent rinsing is necessary
- The tab flap must open easily so that the detergent can take full effect
With these prerequisites, your dishes will be cleaner and the washing process more sustainable.
Are the quantities specified by the manufacturer always exactly correct?
The answer here is yes and no. There are some products that require an exact dosage in order to achieve the desired result. However, there are also products where manufacturers play it safe, even if the same result can be achieved with less product. A full washing machine normally only needs about 2 tablespoons of washing powder to completely clean all the laundry. In severe cases with deep-set stains, the amount specified by the manufacturer or an additional product may be necessary.
If you wash by hand, 2-3 drops of washing-up liquid are sufficient. Too much foam has the opposite effect. Too much foam prevents the dirt from being absorbed by the sponge or cloth, which results in a poorer end result or means a second rinse for you.
Do you wash too often?
Almost all items of clothing are put in the washing machine after being worn once and only worn again when freshly washed. This behaviour causes annual CO2 emissions of around 8 million tonnes in Germany. To offset this amount of CO2, 64,000 beech trees would have to be planted in Germany alone.
This CO2 emission is due to the fact that most Germans wash too often.
Studies show that a pair of jeans reaches its maximum bacteria count after about 2 weeks. The number of bacteria on a pair of jeans is not significantly higher after 15 months than after just 2 weeks.
Only wash jeans if they are really dirty, for example if they are stained or have an unpleasant odour.
With most items of clothing, simply airing them out is enough to be able to wear them a second or even third time.
In addition to the consumption of water, the use of electricity, detergent and the generation of CO2, washing has an impact on the condition of your beloved jeans. Washing strains the material and affects the shape and colour. If you wash your jeans too often, they will wear out faster, which means more waste for the environment and more costs for you.
Don't feel comfortable wearing your jeans several times without washing them? Put your jeans into "hibernation". A few hours or even a night in the freezer will solve this problem. Another plus is that your jeans won't lose their shape or colour and will last longer.
However, cleaning cloths and towels should be washed weekly! The number of bacteria is much higher there.
Do empty yoghurt pots have to be rinsed out?
In short: No. Although everyone has probably heard at least once in their lives that yoghurt pots need to be rinsed before disposal, this is not true.
In every recycling plant, the plastic is rinsed and cleaned of food residues. Rinsing an empty yoghurt pot is therefore a waste of water.
However, if a yoghurt pot is still half full, it should be emptied into the bin provided before disposal.
Do you really need the chemical club?
The answer is no. Many household products can be replaced by sustainable and natural household remedies. Vinegar, for example, Baking powder and lemon juice are very useful things to help you with household cleaning. Read our blog post about this The five best natural cleaning products and find out more about how you can use them in your household.
These household remedies not only help against light soiling, but also against stubborn dirt. 4 spoons of baking soda and a cup of vinegar essence will solve the problem of a blocked drain in no time at all. To do this, sprinkle the Baking powder into the drain and rinse with the vinegar essence. The resulting chemical reaction dissolves the blockage.
You can also descale your kettle in a natural way. Fill your kettle with water and a dash of vinegar essence. This mixture only needs to be boiled once and then poured off. Rinse your kettle with clean water and it will look like new again.
Does all waste have to go straight away?
Not all waste has to be disposed of immediately! Coffee grounds, lemon peel and the last leftovers in the beer bottle are sustainable and effective household remedies.
Lemon peel is used for polishing taps and removing water stains. All you have to do is rub the lemon peel over the desired area and the stains are gone.
Coffee grounds can be used as an air freshener. Place the coffee grounds in a bowl in the bathroom or kitchen to mask strong odours.
Small amounts of beer can be applied to wooden furniture and used to polish the wood.
Is hot water always necessary when cleaning?
Do you fill the bucket with hot water when cleaning to get everything nice and clean? If so, you are probably committing not one, but two environmental sins! In most cases, half a bucket of water is enough to clean a normal household. The water doesn't have to be warm either, as many all-purpose and floor cleaners are suitable for use with cold water.
If you would like to hand over the housework to someone else, come and see us and book your Suuberhero. With this voucher we will give you CHF 39.
