Black Soap: 8 Tips For Home And Garden.
If you are considering doing a big spring cleaning with eco-friendly products, black soap is an essential multi-purpose cleaner. This 100% natural soap has only advantages as it is inexpensive and has no impact on health and the environment. Here are 8 tips for using this product at home and in the garden.
Use it to degrease the kitchen.
Black soap is a degreasing product made from vegetable oils and potash. Several types of vegetable oils can be used in its composition, including olive oil, linseed oil, sunflower oil, and copra.
This soap is sold in liquid form or in a more concentrated and pasty form called "soft black soap" or "black soap paste". When purchasing, the most important thing is to choose a raw product and not a household cleaner simply "enriched" with black soap which would be less effective...
The first tip for your spring cleaning is to use liquid black soap on a damp sponge to degrease all surfaces in your kitchen: cooktops, backsplashes, and hoods. Scrub and rinse with hot water.
2- Clean the insert of your fireplace.
If you use a wood heating system throughout the winter, you have surely noticed that the insert in your chimney quickly becomes dirty. There are different chemical products available on the market specifically designed to clean the glass of wood stoves and inserts. But if you're looking for a natural alternative, know that you can use paste black soap!
To test this 100% natural trick, you will also need newspaper and a microfiber cloth:
1- make a ball of newspaper and add a little bit of soap paste
2- rub the glass
3- rinse
4- finally, dry the glass with the microfiber cloth.
3- Polish the surfaces.
Did you know that black soap can also be used to prepare a natural multi-surface cleaner? The recipe for this homemade household product is very simple. Just dilute 2 tablespoons of liquid black soap in 5 liters of hot water.
Apply this mixture with a microfiber mop on your tiles, parquet or any plastic coating: all these surfaces will shine and there is no need to rinse!
4- Use it to wash clothes.
Another lesser-known trick is that it's possible to use liquid black soap instead of laundry detergent. But don't worry: this natural alternative doesn't require you to wash your clothes by hand!
Simply pour 3 tablespoons of liquid soap into the detergent compartment of your washing machine before starting your usual washing cycle.
For better results with white laundry, add a tablespoon of baking soda directly into the drum.
5- Keep flies and gnats away.
The arrival of good weather also marks the return of flies and gnats in the kitchen and around houseplants.
To repel these unwanted pests, you can prepare a natural repellent based on black soap: dilute 2 tablespoons of liquid soap in a liter of water and mix well.
Pour this mixture into a sprayer and spray this natural repellent on your houseplants and on the surfaces of your kitchen. You can especially spray it around your sink (a damp corner of the kitchen that attracts a lot of gnats).
6- Clean your garden furniture.
Now that spring is here, it's time to bring out the garden furniture on the terrace or balcony. If you want to give them a shine, you can use black soap regardless of their material, provided you follow the following instructions.
For PVC plastic garden furniture, dust with a microfiber cloth before using a damp sponge soaked in a little liquid soap to remove stains.
For teak or other exotic wood garden furniture, use a brush and black soap paste. Simply scrub, rinse with clear water, and let air dry.
For wrought iron furniture that may rust, the method is a bit different. Dilute 2 tablespoons of liquid soap in 5 liters of water. Clean with this soapy water, rinse and dry with a clean cloth to prevent rust.
7- Keep insects away naturally.
As we explained earlier, black soap is a natural repellent for many insects or other pests. This trick, useful in the house, is also valid in your garden.
If you notice that slugs are nibbling on your plants, you can make them flee by spraying a mixture of 5 tablespoons of liquid black soap diluted in a liter of warm water around your plants. Let it cool before doing this spraying, preferably early in the morning or late in the day.
You can use the same repellent mixture against aphids, red spiders, and other pests. In this case, spray the preparation on and under the leaves. Repeat the operation every three days until the undesirables disappear.
Note: Be careful to only spray the attacked plants. It would be a shame to scare away beneficial insects like ladybugs that are allies of the gardener!
"Get rid of weeds."
The latest trick using black soap in the garden is to make a natural weed killer. This multi-purpose soap can help you get rid of weeds without chemicals. To do this, simply collect the cooking water from starchy foods such as potatoes, pasta or rice. Add a capful of liquid soap to the still hot cooking water and pour it over the plants you want to eliminate.
