Essential items for your pantry

We now know that cleaning products found in stores can pose risks to health and the environment. But why?

The main reason for their harmfulness lies in their composition. Indeed, they contain volatile ingredients that can be toxic to the skin and respiratory tract, contributing to indoor air pollution. By degrading indoor air quality, these products have impacts on the health of all household occupants. In addition to being harmful to health and the environment, they can also weigh heavily on our budget.

When we start making our own household products at home, we often feel like amateur chemists. The necessary ingredients are few, but their names can sometimes be intimidating, and it's not always clear what they are for.

These products are available in natural product stores, hardware stores, herbalists, or online: so you will have no trouble finding them!

Important: these natural and non-toxic alternatives can sometimes be irritating. Therefore, use these ingredients with caution and, above all, respect the correct dosages.

Let's discover them together!

​Baking soda

This product is essential for a natural home. Whether called "baking soda", "sodium bicarbonate", or "bicarbonate of soda", it's always the same ingredient, scientifically known as "sodium hydrogen carbonate". Its versatility and low cost make it an indispensable ingredient.

What is its composition?

• It consists of salts and rocks: entirely natural and biodegradable!

What does it look like?

• It is a very fine white powder with no odor.

What are its powers?

• It acts as a cleaner, degreaser, and deodorizer, providing shine to all types of surfaces.

For what uses?

• It is suitable for both household tasks and cooking and cosmetics.

What are its particularities?

• There are different types of baking soda: the most common are food-grade baking soda (available in supermarkets) and technical-grade baking soda (found in natural product stores or hardware stores). The packaging always indicates the type of baking soda.
• Technical-grade baking soda is not more concentrated but it is less pure: more abrasive, it is used at home or in the garden and should be handled with care. Therefore, it should not be ingested. Conversely, food-grade baking soda can be used for all applications.

White vinegar

The second essential product, versatile and perfect for household cleaning: white vinegar, also known as household vinegar, alcohol vinegar, or crystal vinegar. It's all the same!

What is it made of?

• It consists of water and acetic acid, usually obtained from beet sugar and corn.

What does it look like?

• It is a colorless liquid.

What are its powers?

• It acts as a cleaner, disinfectant, degreaser, descaler, and stain remover.

For what uses?

• In recipes for household cleaning products.
• To occasionally replace the rinse aid in the dishwasher.
• As a natural fabric softener for laundry.

What are its specificities?

• It is sold in the grocery aisle of supermarkets, usually in 1-liter bottles.
• You can also find it in bulk in natural product stores or in 5-liter cans in hardware stores.

Marseille soap

This timeless and unparalleled product in terms of hygiene and cleaning is an essential item for an ecological and natural home. Originating from Marseille and made with olive oil from the region, this soap emerged in the 17th century to replace soaps made from animal fats.

However, it is important to choose it carefully, as there are now many counterfeits on the market.

What is it made of?

• It contains at least 72% vegetable oils (olive and coconut), as well as water, salt, and glycerin.

What does it look like?

• It can be purchased in liquid form, as a bar, or directly in flakes or chips to facilitate its use in recipes. Its color can vary from green to brown. If you see white or light yellow, it means it contains palm oil. It is important to note that palm oil cultivation is associated with significant deforestation and the disappearance of many species.

What are its powers?

• Versatile, it is used from the kitchen to the bathroom to clean, wash, disinfect, and shine.

For what uses?

• It is used in recipes for detergent and dishwashing liquid.
• It cleans and removes stains from all surfaces.
• It is also used in cosmetics and for body hygiene.

What are its specific characteristics?

• It is preferable to avoid Marseille soap containing palm oil (Sodium palmate or "palmitate of isopropryl"), additives, or dyes, which are not environmentally friendly. For this, it is recommended to buy from natural product stores or artisanal shops.

Tips: Making soap flakes

• To obtain Marseille soap flakes from a bar, it's simple: just cut it into cubes and grate it with a simple food processor. It's better if the soap is very fresh and soft for this operation (it cuts easily with a sharp knife). Protect your face as this operation generates a fine dust that can irritate the nose.

Black soap

It is a highly concentrated soap, even more powerful than Marseille soap, which will become the best ally for your floors and your homemade cleaning product recipes.

What is it made of?

• It is called so due to its dark color, as it is composed of a highly concentrated mixture of oils (olive, linseed, hemp, etc.).

What does it look like?

• It can be found in liquid soap or brownish paste form; the only difference is that black soap in paste form is more concentrated and less user-friendly. For the recipes in this application, we always use liquid black soap.

What are its powers?

• It acts as a cleanser, degreaser, and nourisher. Additionally, in the garden, it helps repel aphids and insects from your plants.

For what uses?

• It is used in recipes for homemade dishwashing liquid, for cleaning floors and stubborn stains, as well as for making scouring creams.

What are its specific characteristics?

• It is readily available for a price ranging from 5 to 10 euros per liter.

Scents and Essential Oils

By making your own household products, you will discover that cleanliness doesn't necessarily have a smell, contrary to what commercial product brands want us to believe. Thus, freshly washed laundry doesn't necessarily need to smell like flowers.

However, if scent is an important factor for you, you can use scents or essential oils sparingly.

Scents

These are mixtures of natural or synthetic aromatic substances, alcohol-free, that can perfume your products. You can easily obtain them online, in aromatherapy shops, or herbal stores. It's important to note that, generally, natural scents do not endure in cold saponification products. Only synthetic scents have this capability. Therefore, this has no impact on our cleaning products.

Essential Oils

These are obtained by distillation or extraction of plants. Regardless of the production method, their yield is low: several kilograms of plants (even thousands for some essences) are needed to produce one liter of essential oil, which makes them precious.

I generally advise against using essential oils in household product recipes because they do not dissolve in water, thus polluting groundwater, and their production requires a lot of resources.

However, when diluted in a fatty substance or alcohol, essential oils can still be used. Nonetheless, it's crucial to always respect the recommended dosage, as they are highly concentrated in active principles (antibacterial, sanitizing, etc.).

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Sodium Percarbonate

Also known as "solid oxygenated water", "sodium percarbonate", or simply "percarbonate", it is the best alternative to bleach, which is toxic.

What is it made of?

• It is composed of a cleaning agent (soda crystals) and a bleaching agent (hydrogen peroxide).

What does it look like?

• It is a granular white powder (but be careful not to confuse it with bicarbonate).

What are its powers?

• It is known for its stain-removing, whitening, and degreasing properties.
• It dissolves very easily and quickly in water and leaves no residue. Therefore, it is not polluting.

For what uses?

• Whitening white clothes.
• Cleaning cotton, sanitary towels, or cloth diapers.
• Cleaning bathroom grout.
• Making dishwasher tablets.
• Scouring toilets.

Soda Crystals

Also known as "sodium carbonate", they are often considered the big brothers of baking soda: they have similar properties but are more potent because they are more concentrated.

What are they made of?

• They are found naturally under the name "natron" in salt-rich lakes (in the United States, Africa, Russia, etc.).

What do they look like?

• Granular white powder.

What are they used for?

• They are used for scouring household utensils, cleaning the bathroom, dishwashing, laundry, or even whitening clothes.

What are their powers?

• They have been known for a long time for their cleaning, degreasing, and deodorizing powers used in many household products.

What are their specificities?

• Although natural, this ingredient can be irritating: be sure to follow the precautions indicated on the packaging and, if possible, handle it with gloves.

Note: Do not confuse concentrated soda crystals with hydrated crystals. The latter may solidify in powder recipes (for dishwasher, for example).

Citric Acid

Citric acid is a natural organic acid found in many plants, especially in lemons. Completely biodegradable and soluble in water, it is an essential ingredient for a natural and healthy home.

How is it obtained?

• It is obtained through the fermentation of natural sugary solutions, such as corn, beetroot, sweet potato, etc.

What does it look like?

• It comes in the form of a fine white powder.

In what situations can it be used?

• It is used for maintaining household appliances, removing rust stains, and manufacturing dishwasher products or tablets for cleaning toilets.

What are its effects?

• It acts as an effective descaler and anti-limescale agent.

What are its peculiarities?

• Although natural, this ingredient can be irritating: it is important to follow the instructions for use carefully and, if possible, handle it with gloves and protective glasses.
• It can be purchased at supermarkets, natural product stores, or hardware stores.