Eco-Friendly Cleaning Basics for a Holiday Home

Owners of second homes often want to clean in a gentler way, partly for the environment and partly because they do not want guests breathing fumes. The trouble is that the shelves are full of products that call themselves green, natural or eco-friendly, and the words themselves tell you very little. This page looks at what those words can and cannot mean, what public bodies say about labels, how far vinegar and baking soda really go, and what a home on a septic system needs to avoid. It sits alongside the main guide to cleaning a holiday property.

What "eco-friendly" can and cannot mean

On its own, nothing. There is no single legal definition of the phrase on a bottle, and in some places regulators actively discourage it. The US Federal Trade Commission's summary of its Green Guides says marketers should not make broad, unqualified general environmental benefit claims like "green" or "eco-friendly", because broad claims are difficult to substantiate, if not impossible. It advises qualifying them with specific benefits, and says a claim that a product is "non-toxic" needs competent and reliable scientific evidence that it is safe for both people and the environment.

The same summary says that certifications and seals that do not clearly convey their basis are likely to suggest general environmental benefits, and that a marketer with a third-party certification must still be able to back up every claim. In plain terms, a leaf on the front of a pack is not proof of anything. The Green Guides are a US document, and other countries have their own consumer-protection rules, so a claim that is tolerated in one place may be restricted in another.

A useful habit is to look for the specific claim rather than the general mood. "Made with 30% recycled material" says something checkable. "Planet-friendly" does not.

What public bodies offer instead

If you want something with a check behind it, the clearest example is the US Environmental Protection Agency's Safer Choice label. Participation is voluntary. EPA says it reviews every chemical ingredient of a labelled product regardless of its percentage, against criteria that include carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, toxicity to aquatic life and persistence in the environment. The review also covers performance (labelled products must perform comparably to conventional ones), packaging, pH to limit skin and eye irritation, and a cap on volatile organic compounds. EPA says nearly 2,000 products currently qualify, and that it audits labelled products annually. It also offers a fragrance-free version of the label.

Two honest limits apply. First, the label addresses ingredients and performance against EPA's criteria, and EPA's own wording is "safer", which is not the same as "safe". Second, it is a US scheme, so availability elsewhere varies. If you live outside the United States, look at what your own country's regulator or consumer body publishes about ecolabels, and read the criteria behind any label before trusting it.

Vinegar and baking soda: what they can and cannot do

These two are the stars of home-cleaning folklore, and both are useful in a narrow way.

The New Mexico State University Extension guide on home cleaning products describes vinegar (acetic acid) and lemon juice (citric acid) as very mild acids used to dissolve hard-water deposits, remove mild rust stains and eliminate soap film from sinks and shower doors. It also makes a point owners often miss: although vinegar is widely used as a disinfectant, the packaging cannot claim that because vinegar is not registered with the EPA. In other words, vinegar can help with limescale, but it should not be relied upon where the aim is to disinfect. The guide lists baking soda as a mild alkali and a mild abrasive, suitable for light jobs, not a substitute for a detergent.

A BBC Future article quotes university chemists in the same spirit. Nathan Kilah of the University of Tasmania says acids are good for cleaning up bases and bases for cleaning up acids, which is why the popular fizzing mixture of baking soda and vinegar mostly cancels itself out. Dario Bressanini of the University of Insubria says baking soda is not a detergent and that most of the uses he sees for it do not work. The article notes that supermarket cleaners often have extra properties such as breaking down fat or lowering the surface tension of water.

The practical reading is simple. Use vinegar or citric acid for scale and soap film on surfaces that tolerate acid, use baking soda as a gentle scouring powder, and use an ordinary detergent for grease. Do not mix vinegar with bleach, because acids and bleach release chlorine gas (the full explanation is in the main cleaning guide). If hygiene is the concern, for instance after an illness, the NMSU guide says EPA recommends using EPA-registered products whenever possible, and only products with an EPA registration number can make public health claims.

Lower-impact habits that need no label

A few habits cut the amount of chemistry going down the drain regardless of what is on the shelf.

• Measure rather than pour. The BBC piece quotes Bressanini saying the most important thing is to measure your cleaning products and not flush unnecessary product into the sea, and to use things selectively. More is rarely better.
• Match the product to the job. The BBC's author makes the point that not everything needs bleach, and that a floor does not need to be as clean as a pillow.
• Ventilate. The NMSU guide advises plenty of ventilation when cleaning bathrooms: leave the door open, open a window and use the exhaust fan if there is one.
• Never mix products. NMSU says never to mix any kind of cleaning chemicals, since this can cause an unstable reaction.
• Keep products in their original containers, with the label on, and latched away from children.

None of this requires special products. It does require attention, which is easiest to build into a written routine such as the one in changeover cleaning for holiday lets, or into the arrival and departure checklists.

Homes with septic systems

Many rural and coastal second homes are not on mains sewerage, and here the choice of products matters more. EPA's guidance on caring for a septic system says everything that goes down a drain ends up in the septic system, which contains living organisms that digest and treat household waste, and that pouring toxins down the drain can kill them. EPA's advice includes avoiding chemical drain openers (use boiling water or a drain snake instead), never pouring oil-based paints, solvents or large volumes of toxic cleaners down the drain, and flushing only human waste and toilet paper. It also says to spread laundry across the week rather than doing all of it in one day, because that gives the tank time to treat waste.

A holiday home adds a complication, a sudden week of heavy use after a long gap, so a qualified septic professional is the right person to advise on an old or unusual system. EPA's page is written for the United States, and practice varies elsewhere.

Spotting greenwashing

A few questions help when you pick up a product. Does the claim name a specific benefit, or is it just a general mood? Is there a recognised third-party label, and can you find the criteria behind it? Does it make a "non-toxic" promise that nobody could realistically prove? A product can be lower impact and still be an irritant, and one marketed as natural can still be a poor cleaner.

The short version

"Eco-friendly" on a label is a marketing phrase, not a guarantee, and regulators such as the FTC discourage unqualified use of it. A recognised label with published criteria, such as EPA's Safer Choice in the United States, is a better guide than a general claim. Vinegar and baking soda are useful for specific, mild jobs but are not disinfectants or all-rounders. Measure products, ventilate, never mix, and take extra care with the drains if the home has a septic system.