The Environment Needs a Reetha Revolution, and Here Is How You Can Join It Too!
“The earth is a fine place and worth fighting for” — Ernest Hemingway
Mental and physical health of my family has always been the highest priority for me. So I have always tried to grow/buy food that is free of chemicals as much as practically possible.
But, this also caused me a lot of angst, because here I was, on one hand only wanting clean food for me and my family, but on the other hand actively pumping out chemicals daily by using bucket full of cleaning products — dish detergent, clothes washing powder, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner, toilet cleaner — all flowing out from our house into mother earth.
It made me a hypocrite to judge a poor farmer using chemicals to enhance/save his livelihood, and I on the other hand, with all possible resources available to me, still choosing to use even more chemicals just to keep my own house clean. When I and my own family feel sparkling clean, why should I give a thought to my active contribution in poisoning the earth’s resources and other species? Was I any better than someone who cleans their own house diligently and throws the garbage outside? I guess no.
Thus started my research on whether there is any alternative to all these cleaning products. After going through myriads of articles, blogs and videos, and experimenting a few things, my house is finally ‘almost’ free of these unnecessary chemical concoctions.
So here are the details of what and how, for people who would like to break the hypnotic influence of corporates, pushing products to us, products we absolutely do not need.
When it comes to natural, environment friendly cleaning agents, you only need 2 things in your house-
1. Reetha/Soapnuts — This is a blessing from God, Allah, Bhagwan and all the heavenly bodies to us mortals. Embrace it, and you will be blessed 😍
2. Baking Soda
In addition, white vinegar and lemon can act as further cleaning and disinfecting agents if you feel the need.
Preparing the Reetha solution
Approximately 500gms of reetha in 3 ltrs water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for approximately 30 mins. Let it cool. After smashing and removing the reetha pulp by hand (discard the seeds), I keep the settled down thicker liquid for dish washing, and the thinner liquid above for other purposes. You can filter to make things quicker/easier. Repeat the process with the leftover pulp to prepare more reetha solution. For repeat use, just pouring hot water and smashing a little is enough. This reetha pulp can be reused multiple times.
Dishes — I directly use the reetha solution to wash the dishes. It does a fantastic job. If you feel comfortable with a thicker liquid, you can try out the lemon and vinegar process from padhuskitchen .
For most Indian households with maids — You might get a push back from your maid, who will find myriad reasons for not switching from the detergents (mine tried to highlight for a long time that its not ‘good enough’), but keep at it, and they will come around when they realize that you will not be waivered in your determination.
For houses with dish washers, I would suggest to pour some reetha water (similar to the clothes washing machine method below) in the machine and see how it goes. If you have really greasy utensils, you might have to add some baking soda for a better outcome, as suggested here.
Clothes — Just pour half a glass of reetha solution in the machine, and job done.
There is also another popular method of using reetha for washing clothes. You can put in a few (6–8) reetha in a sock, and tie a knot. Just toss this in the washing machine with the dirty laundry. That's it! You can reuse the same reetha for another load. I think this would work better if the reetha is soaked in warm water for sometime before using.
My husband was aghast when I offered to hand-wash his white, fancy t-shirt with reetha. But after a lot of convincing he relented. When it came out all shining and bright, he was a convert, just like me 😁
Bathroom Sink/Floor/Walls — Fill the reetha solution in a spray bottle, and use it to clean/scrub the sink and the walls. I sometimes also use baking soda for the sink.
Remember that moistened baking soda (resulting in a think paste) does wonders to clean any surface. So you can make any surface slightly wet, sprinkle some baking soda, dab it around with an old toothbrush, leave it for at least 5 mins., and then scrub/wash off.
Toilet — Drop approximately 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Wait for sometime (I give it at least 15 mins to do its job), and then scrub. For rest of the toilet bowl you can spray reetha water from the spray bottle, or sprinkle some baking soda.
This is for a weekly cleaning schedule. If the toilet is cleaned daily, then you would need very little of this stuff.
Floor — I mix approximately 500 ml of reetha solution with half a cup vinegar. This bottle can be kept in the fridge, and mix small portions of it to the water being used for mopping daily.
Shampoo — 3/4th glass of reetha solution is enough to clean the scalp. This will not foam like the commercial shampoos, but will get the job done, without the drama!
You can apply fresh Aloe Vera (doesn’t take much to grow in a pot), wait for sometime or even over-night, and wash off with reetha water. Let your hair dry naturally and see how smooth and shiny it feels. You wouldn’t ever need to turn to anything else for your hair.
The same can be used for pet dogs. Just increase the quantity according to dog size and fur length.
** Be careful to not let it get into the eyes. Also, if you have heavily oiled your hair, you might need to use reetha with Shikakai to get the oil out completely.
Face/Hand/Body wash — I have used reetha solution for face and body wash a few times, but haven’t fully transitioned to it yet, mostly due to lack of right containers and enough amount of reetha solution. I am still getting in the schedule of preparing enough in batches to last for all the household requirements for a full week.
A good scrub with Besan and rinsing off with Reetha. Who needs expensive face and body washes?
Car Wash (or any other random cleaning requirements around the house) — I use the last boiled cycle of reetha solution for car or other cleaning purposes, and after this, the batch of reetha can be discarded, back to earth🍁
Make sure to either buy dried reetha or dry it at home. Stores sometimes end up selling reetha which is not completely dried. If you try to boil this reetha, it will become sticky and a bit difficult to handle. I had to sun dry them on my terrace when I got such a batch once.
Happy cleaning!
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make” — Jane Goodall
