5 homemade or natural degreasers to clean the kitchen

When cleaning, we often use products that also “dirty” when cleaning. They contain harmful chemical compounds that accumulate on surfaces or in the air at home and can affect our health and the environment. Among those products are degreasers or grease removerswhich often have a very strong odor and can be irritating to the respiratory tract or skin.

Why use natural degreasers

If we look at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) guide for cleaning products, of the 22 commercial degreasing products analyzed by this organization, only 4 were free of harmful substances and offered clear information on their composition, while up to 18 contained compounds that pose a high or probable risk to health or the environment or they did not offer clear information about what they contained.

Substances that grease removers may contain include: etalonaminesirritating to the skin and respiratory tract, or the alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammoniumwhich in addition to the skin can irritate the eyes.

They also contain fragrances based on phthalates and synthetic musks that act as endocrine disruptors. According to the same Environmental Working Group, fragrances are also one of the five most allergenic of the world.

An added problem with fat-removing products is that we often use them in the form of a spraymaking it easier for us to inhale these compounds through the air.

5 homemade or natural products effective against fat

Since grease becomes encrusted and often difficult to clean, it may seem like we need to use strong products to remove it. But there are ecological degreasing cleaners that combine innocuous substances and natural fragrances that allow it to be cleaned just as well.

We can also eliminate fat with ingredients we have in the pantry or simple products that, alone or in combination, have a degreasing and descaling effect.