In this post I’ll share which of my favourite natural cleaning products I used to complete the exit clean on my house in our recent house move, and how they performed.
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Moving house.
It’s right up there as one of the top stresses in life, alongside death of a loved one, divorce, major illness and job loss.
There’s the decluttering, packing, farewells, relocating, unpacking and resettling.
And of course, the cleaning.
Earlier this year we made our BIG family move from the small town of Roxby Downs to the city of Adelaide, 600 km away. It was a move that had been quite literally years in the making yet, still involved much work and effort in decluttering and packing our belongings and cleaning the house we’d called home for over 10 years.
I contemplated outsourcing the exit clean to save time, but with the ever-increasing costs of our new house build, and my desire to leave the house looking as good as new for the new tenants (coupled with the belief that we were best placed to make that happen), we decided to complete it ourselves.
I also secretly wanted to put my favourite natural cleaning products to the test to see if they were up to the big task of a leave-no-surface-spared exit clean, and they didn’t disappoint!
In this post I’ll share which of my favourite natural cleaning products I used to complete the exit clean on my house and how they performed.
Why Use Natural Cleaning Products?
I’m not a fan of cleaning at the best of times, but I particularly dislike cleaning when it makes me feel physically sick.
Common commercial household cleaners like chlorine bleach (active ingredient: sodium hypochlorite), oven cleaners (active ingredient: sodium hydroxide) and even humble multi-purpose sprays like Mr Muscle (active ingredient: Benzalkonium chloride) make me feel faint and giddy, more prone to headaches and leave my hands dry and cracked, and I’m not alone!
With side effects to common synthetic cleaning products including irritation to the skin, eyes, mucous and respiratory system, it’s no surprise that more and more people are making the switch to natural cleaning products to improve the health of themselves and our planet.
I stopped using synthetic cleaning products over 15 years ago when I was suffering chronic migraines and have guided hundreds of participants in my Home Detox Boot Camp to do the same.
In fact I’m constantly testing new natural cleaning products that hit the market and have a small list of favourites that I used to complete my exit clean. The list was so small that all these products fitted in a standard bucket, so at the end of the clean, we just popped the bucket and contents in the back of the car with our suitcases and drove to Adelaide!
Do Natural Cleaning Products Work As Well As Heavy Duty Chemical Cleaners?
In one word, yes.
In fact in most cases they work just as well, if not better.
For example, natural cleaning products like white vinegar, tea tree and clove essential oils are more effective on moulds than chlorine bleaches (which just bleach moulds white).
Even the oven, possibly the trickiest area of the home to clean, can be cleaned perfectly with the non-toxic koh (formerly ekoworx) Universal Surface Cleaner and Diamond Sponge, rather than a toxic sodium-hydroxide based commercial oven cleaner spray. Of course baking soda and vinegar will have a red-hot go here, but the cleaning power of koh on a grimy oven truly has to be seen to be believed.
As mentioned, one of the reasons why I wanted to complete my own house exit clean was to show that natural cleaning products were up to the task.
And they totally were… the real estate agent and incoming tenants were thrilled with the result!
My Favourite Natural Cleaning Products
So what were the natural cleaning products that I used for my house’s exit clean?
The following list is a summary of the individual natural cleaning products I used to undertake an intensive clean of our house.
For a detailed list of which product I used for each cleaning task (including quantities and recipes), download my FREE eguide here.
1. Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner
A concentrated, natural, multi-purpose cleaner with Thieves essential oil blend as the magic ingredient, Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner was a godsend during my exit clean.
I used it concentrated to clean my toilet bowls, diluted to clean my floors, and I also made it into a multipurpose spray to clean particularly grimy areas like bathroom drains and toilet seats (the base beneath the plastic seat… which I removed to disinfect).
It’s a strong disinfectant, yet is gentle on the skin and leaves a pleasant, non-irritating scent after the job is done.
Click here to purchase Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner.
For instructions on how to purchase Young Living products click HERE.
2. Young Living Thieves Dishwashing Liquid
Similar to the Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner, Thieves essential oil blend is the active ingredient in the Thieves Dishwashing Liquid.
I used this gentle, vegetable-based detergent to wash many components of the household like exhaust fans, outside windows and toilet seat covers.
Click here to purchase Young Living Thieves Dishwashing Liquid.
For instructions on how to purchase Young Living products click HERE.
3. Microfibre Cloths
When it comes to dusting or cleaning down any surface, I choose microfibre cloths above any other fabric and in particular, Norwex Enviro Cloths.
What I LOVE about microfibre cloths is that they can be used damp or dry.
Used dry for dusting, the microfibres create static electricity that lift the smallest particles of dust and dirt up into the cloth and prevent them from resettling on surfaces. Used damp, they pick up dirt and grime using just water, leaving a sparkling finish in their tracks.
During my exit clean I used microfibre cloths to wipe out all our kitchen cupboards, clean mirrors, bathroom sinks, shower, bath, walls and even skirting boards.
4. koh (formerly ekoWorx) Universal Surface Cleaner and Diamond Sponge
The koh Universal Surface Cleaner has taken the Australian cleaning industry by storm these past 12 months and for good reason. It works!
Formulated by a team at the University of NSW, the koh Universal Surface Cleaner is a weak solution of potassium hydroxide. Used together with the diamond sponge (which despite its scouring capability surprisingly does not scratch surfaces), the combo is a powerhouse for many cleaning applications in the home and the results truly have to be seen to be believed!
During my exit clean I used them to clean my oven, bath tub, shower recesses and walls (the combo was effective at removing scuff marks on the walls courtesy of my children’s feet!). I also used the grout brush to clean the grout in the shower and kitchen splashback and was very happy with its performance.
Click HERE to try out koh products for yourself and receive $10 off your order.
The discount will automatically be applied once you proceed through the checkout and applies to items on sale.
5. ENJO Window Cleaner
The ENJO Window Cleaner and cloth are so quick and easy to use, especially inside, as cleaning windows this way doesn’t splash water and suds on internal furnishings.
Rather than spraying the window with water, I rinse the fabric cover in water and wring it out at about 80% before placing back on the cleaning device. The squeegee attachment removes the water beads from the windows and finishing with the window cloth ensures no streaks are left behind.
Note: whilst I washed our outside windows at the same time as the eaves using a soft broom and soapy water (the detergent was Young Living Thieves Dishwashing Liquid), I finished them off with the ENJO Window Cleaner to ensure a streak-free finish.
6. Essential Oils
I’ve long been a fan of cleaning with essential oils and there were two in particular that I used in my exit clean.
Eucalyptus Oil was effective in removing the stickers my sons had placed on various surfaces throughout the home.
I used Young Living Thieves Essential Oil blend when I needed some extra disinfecting power throughout the home. I also finished off the house clean by placing a drop of this oil down the drain in every sink, shower and bath to prevent mould growth and to leave a lovely, fresh smell for the new tenants.
Click here to purchase Young Living Essential Oils.
For instructions on how to purchase Young Living products click HERE.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to my favourite natural cleaning products, my husband and I completed our house exit clean within two days with no headaches, irritated skin or dizziness.
Better still, we left the house looking as good as new and the new tenants were thrilled to move into a sparkling clean house without the toxic chemical smell.
Over To You!
What’s are some of your favourite natural cleaning products that work as well, if not better, than commercial cleaners? Share below!
Like this post?
You might also like:
5 Simple Ways To Declutter Your House
The Health Impacts of Household Dust
Five Ways To Improve Indoor Air Quality
Six Good Reasons for a Home Detox
How To Remove Mould The Natural Way
The Magic of Microfibre Cloths
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Laura Trotta is one of Australia’s leading home sustainability experts. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering, a Masters of Science (in Environmental Chemistry) and spent 11 years working as an environmental professional before creating her first online eco business, Sustainababy, in 2009. She has won numerous regional and national awards for her fresh and inspiring take on living an ‘ecoceptional’ life (including most recently winning the Brand South Australia Flinders University Education Award (2015) for the north-west region in SA and silver in the Eco-friendly category of the 2015 Ausmumpreneur Awards). With a regular segment on ABC Radio and with her work featured in publications like Nurture Parenting and My Child Magazine, Laura is an eco thought leader who’s not afraid to challenge the status quo. A passionate believer in addressing the small things to achieve big change, and protecting the planet in practical ways, Laura lives with her husband and two sons in outback South Australia. 
