Non Toxic Bathroom cleaner recommendations?

"Rico" (ricorich) 02/08/2016 at 12:05 • Filed to: None

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Does anyone here use any non toxic or all natural bathroom cleaners that they would recommend? My girl has asthma (sucks to your assmar!) but also loves having a pristine bathroom, her use of commercial cleaners like Tilex/Clorox/Scrubbing Bubbles while leaving her bathroom as clean as she wants requires her to use a face mask and even then it usually triggers her asthma.

Before wasting money trying to various brands out there I figured I’d ask Oppo and see if you guys had any recommendations.

She doesn’t want something that she has to make herself as most googling comes up with home made recipes of borax and peroxide or vinegar and tea tree oil etc. She wants something she can buy in spray form from either Amazon or a big box retailer like Target.

She’s under the impression that these less toxic cleaners won’t clean as well but I told her she could use them for general cleaning and leave the toxic stuff for small spots that may pop up rather than layering her entire bathroom in scrubbing bubbles.

Any thoughts?

Ash78, voting early and often > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:13

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We use Method products a lot, especially in the kids’ bathroom. But IMHO, the peroxide-based ones are the best combination of low odor and maximum cleaning without the hassles of bleach or harsh cleaners.

They’re not technically non-toxic, but the fumes are minimal (and even pleasant).

None of the overtly Hippy Products seem to work very well in terms of actual cleaning effectiveness (Seventh Generation, Method, DIY, etc)

BJ > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:15

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Bleach? It’s not non-toxic, but it works well.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:15

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My wife has started using this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Organic-…

It works pretty well for cleaning as far as I have seen. You do have to mix it but its not hard.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:15

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i hear good things about gasoline

jariten1781 > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:16

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Simple Green is decent stuff. I buy it in concentrate and dilute to whatever strength you need. Have 3 or 4 spray bottles of differing strengths sitting around. Beats wasting money on various strengths of pre-diluted stuff. Very good on grease/oil; ok/acceptable on mineral deposits. Didn't even realize it was a non-toxic/biodegradable/whatever hippie nonsense for a long time, just got it cause it worked.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:16

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My wife is transitioning us over to this brand:

http://www.mrsmeyers.com/product/househ…

Mrs. Meyers. We’ve used their dish soap and hand soap with great success so far (and she loves the smell of it).

This stuff is going to become the cleaner brand of choice for the house.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BJ 02/08/2016 at 12:18

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Yeah I always just use diluted bleach as my all purpose cleaner. Cheapest and easiest to work with. Just need some ventilation (open a window) and then it is safe to use. Typical dilution is 7 parts water, 1 part bleach I believe.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:18

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Bar Keepers Friend, perhaps? It’s not non-toxic, particalarly, but it’s not fumey. I think the idea of having something in spray form may be asking too much, when a spray bottle of water and light powdering with a powder cleaner/powder cleaner on a rag will get the same thing done without the lung attack.

Autofixation > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:21

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My girlfriend uses the green works and has bad asthma. It works quite well.

Rico > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/08/2016 at 12:23

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Her bathroom has no window and no active exhaust vent unfortunately which compounds the issue.

misfitmascots > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/08/2016 at 12:25

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We have been using Meyers products for a while, I also strongly recommend them.

Rico > Ash78, voting early and often 02/08/2016 at 12:26

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Clorox and Lysol do have a peroxide based cleaner, maybe we can try that. Thanks for the tip. It’s not really for a “save the Earth” purpose but yeah anything that has low fumes is the goal for her.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > jariten1781 02/08/2016 at 12:31

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Simple green is iffy in confined spaces at anything like a powerful strength though. That alkaline vapor cough...

Rico > jariten1781 02/08/2016 at 12:32

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I thought about this but how effective is it on mold and mildew? General all purpose cleaning and degreasing is one thing but I find mold/mildew/soap scum to be a little more annoying to deal with.

Rico > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/08/2016 at 12:34

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I use BKF at home along with Ajax or Comet for really tough cleaning. I’ll recommend BKF to her but I’ll be honest I’ve never used it on tile, only for the tub.

Rico > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/08/2016 at 12:35

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I’ll forward her that link, thanks!

Xyl0c41n3 > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:36

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Baking soda and vinegar work wonders for cleaning.

People were cleaning things long before there was Unilever or Dupont or Johnson & Johnson. Simple doesn’t mean ineffective.

The thing about using ingredients you have at hand to clean is that sometimes they require more elbow grease.

jariten1781 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/08/2016 at 12:36

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Yeah, my 'in the house' bottle is like 1:10 I think. My wife goes through a lot of it. I tend to just grab the 1:1 bottle most of the time because overkill beats doing it twice.

Rico > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 02/08/2016 at 12:36

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Yeah a concentrate isn’t bad, I mean more like having to mix peroxide and vinegar together along with borax and whatever else. That can be annoying but just adding some water and some concentrate is super easy and economical.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:37

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yeah man good luck!

We had decent results with the “Simple Green” at walmart at one point too. My wife is mildly obsessed with this Meyers brand now though.

Rico > Xyl0c41n3 02/08/2016 at 12:39

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I told her baking soda and vinegar can clean pretty much everything and anything. Maybe I’ll try to make that point again!

Rico > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/08/2016 at 12:41

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You raise a good point, I’ve only use simple green outside and in a kitchen with tons of ventilation and never really felt any side effects. Then again I can take a deep breath in a room that’s just been layered with Tilex and not feel a damn thing.

Rico > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 02/08/2016 at 12:42

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Someone up top just mentioned that Simple Green does emit odor but I’ve never noticed because in the 2 places I’ve used it there was always tons of ventilation.

Xyl0c41n3 > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:43

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Yep! They’re pretty awesome. The only thing with vinegar is some people don’t like the tart smell it has. I, personally, like it. It reminds me of working in a darkroom. (There’s a vinegary smelling acid that’s used in developing photographs). Plus, once you’re done, and once whatever you cleaned with vinegar dries, it doesn’t smell vinegary at all. It just smells clean.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:43

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That soapy feeling you get from Simple Green on your hands, concentrated? That’s your skin doing the lye thing and becoming soap. Fun stuff, it is.

Rico > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/08/2016 at 12:45

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So...that wasn’t my hand lotion working really well for me?

jariten1781 > Rico 02/08/2016 at 12:46

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It’s fine on soap scum if it’s mostly soap concentrate not minerals. Takes elbow grease if there’s a lot of minerals.

It’ll do surface mold/mildew fine, but no liquid gets the deep mold down in the grouting IME. Gotta have an abrasive for that.

Also, do you know what triggers the asthma? IIRC it was normally particulates, not vapors, which opens a lot more options.

Rico > jariten1781 02/08/2016 at 13:05

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Not sure but her asthma is bad, as a matter of fact when I get out of work today I am taking her to the ER to get Prednisone because her Nebulizer that she’s been using for the past 4 days is not working and she’s wheezing/chest is tight.

Why is her asthma so bad? Because she asked me what do I use to clean my bathroom and actually went and bought the damn thing even after I told her it’s super strong and to not use it! If you don’t have asthma and aren’t sensitive to chemicals this stuff makes your bathroom look brand new.

Rico > Xyl0c41n3 02/08/2016 at 13:18

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I use vinegar in place of fabric softener when washing my gym clothes and it works great to break down deodorant build up and keep clothes feeling nice. I get where she’s coming from, sometimes when you want to clean it can be annoying if things aren’t at the ready which is why she wants pre-made stuff.

I’m going to talk to her about it later. I’m taking her to the ER after work because her nebulizer (machine used for asthma) isn’t working for her and her wheezing is getting worse. All of this started because she went and bought something I use to clean my bathroom even after I told her the smell is way to strong for her! Even though it practically killed her she keeps raving about how beautiful it made the bathroom look lol

Xyl0c41n3 > Rico 02/08/2016 at 13:24

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I use vinegar with my laundry, too! Stuff always comes out smelling awesome.

And... OMG, your poor girlfriend! :( I don’t have asthma, but I’ve had pneumonia before, and the feeling of not being able to breathe is nightmarishly awful. I hope she’s better soon! *fingers crossed*

Frank Grimes > Rico 02/08/2016 at 13:26

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non toxic to humans or germs?

Rico > Frank Grimes 02/08/2016 at 13:30

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Maybe non toxic wasn’t the right term, more like less toxic/non fuming? Maximum cleaning with less dangerous chemical vapor.

Rico > Xyl0c41n3 02/08/2016 at 13:32

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I had asthma as a kid thanks to my cat Pepper, which we had to give away. But I outgrew it by my teenage years because a lot of my friends had cats and I had no issues but from what I remember it was horrible! And thanks I hope she gets better soon!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rico 02/08/2016 at 13:44

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Well if you haven’t tried diluted bleach, it is definitely worth a try I suppose. I generally have no problems with a 7:1 ratio and leaving my windows shut. It will definitely smell like bleach and would burn open wounds but should be breathable.

Rico > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/08/2016 at 14:12

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Instructions unclear - poured bleach in open wound.