Along with a cloth, a multi-purpose spray cleaner surely has to be the mainstay of your household cleaning arsenal, your desert island must-have, your ride-or-die. After all, a good spray cleaner can be used on all surfaces, from toilets and floors, to toys and countertops, which is why it’s worth taking the time to work out what you want. The options seem to be endless these days—first you have to decide on whether you want a conventional cleaner, a natural cleaner, or a probiotic cleaner—and then there’s a bouquet of scents to select from. Here’s everything you need to know.
These days, the number of fragrances that your home cleaning products can come in is almost unlimited—gone are the days when your only choices were lemon and pine. But did you know that the smells that we associate with cleanliness differ from culture to culture? In France, for example, where historically lavender was used for household cleaners, that’s the scent many French people associate with cleanliness. In Brazil, cleaning products traditionally use floral scents, such as gardenia and tuberose, which are more commonly found in high class perfumes in North America. Obviously, a product’s effectiveness isn’t dictated by what it smells like, it’s purely there as a signal that something has been cleaned, so pick whatever scent you like, and enjoy it!
Many people are keen to choose products that are made from naturally derived ingredients, rather than synthetic ones. And, it’s perfectly possible to find great natural cleaners. Oils from plants like coconut and corn can be used to create surfactants (the scientific name for the ingredients that help dislodge dirt), and ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda and beeswax have been used to clean homes for centuries.
You might have heard that probiotics—found in fermented foods, such as yogurt and kombucha—are good for your body. Did you know you could apply the same principle to cleaning your home? The idea is that the “good bacteria” colonize an area, getting rid of their “bad” counterparts that create unpleasant smells. What’s more, probiotic cleaners keep working for several days after they’ve been applied, meaning they can give everything a seriously deep clean.
