Tackling bacteria and dirt with good bacteria, YOKUU is turning the cleaning world upside down with probiotic cleaning products. Saskia brought in billions of cleaning aids and discovered this new natural and sustainable way of cleaning. Meet Acid, Fluffy, Dikkie, Sweet and Jackson, the microbes that battle the dirt in your home. YOKUU's ‘clean less, live more’ promise is music to our ears.
Cleaning with bacteria?
In cooperation with YOKUU
A year ago, during a visit to Artis Micropia, I was introduced to the phenomenon of ‘good’ cleaning bacteria. I didn't know what I saw when I was there at an exhibition to see for myself how microbes, i.e. good bacteria, can be an effective cleaning agent. So when Belgian start-up YOKUU approached me if I wanted to try their probiotic cleaning products, I did not hesitate for a moment. Cleaning is definitely not my favourite thing to do, but my experience at the microbe museum made me super curious about it. I would love to try this at home!
Unboxing my new waste-free probiotic cleaning products
I am sent a box with the cleaning products at home. I open it and find in it my starter pack with three refillable sprays (all-bathroom and glass cleaner) and three pearls containing apparently fifteen billion bacteria. You dissolve the little pearl-shaped tablets with tap water in the reusable spray bottle. I read that with one dissolved pearl you can clean probiotically for about four weeks. If you run out of the bottle, don't throw it away. You can reuse the bottle indefinitely: put a new pearl in and voila, you can scrub again. This way, you'll never have waste cleaning products again. At the bottom of the box I also find a bag of probiotic floor cleaner that allows you to clean all types of floors, good for about 25 buckets. So I have something to do!
Getting started with YOKUU, cleaning with probiotics (good bacteria).
Cleaning with bacteria: what about it?
YOKUU was conceived and set up by bioengineer Joris Jansen. Joris has been researching microbes in the indoor environment. Joris: ‘The outcome of my research was that we can all get a bit dirtier and sterilise everything a bit less. Contact with dirt, such as mud, pets and various bacteria, actually trains our immune system. In addition, overuse of disinfectants and conventional chemical cleaning products causes environmental pollution and an imbalance between humans and nature. Bringing good microbes back into our hygiene model is better for our planet as well as our health.’
Even better than ‘just’ cleaning?
‘YOKUU has a direct cleaning effect, just like other products. But we also go one step further. After brushing, bacteria remain on your surface. These form an ecosystem of good bacteria, giving the ‘bad’ ones less of a chance. Bacteria are also the waste cleaners on duty in nature. When a tree falls over, for example, it gets cleaned up thanks to bacteria that break down organic waste. In the home, they actually do the same thing - they keep breaking down dust and other organic particles (such as odours) so that your house stays cleaner for longer.’
Joris Jansen, bioengineer and founder YOKUU
YOKUU won't reveal too much about their secret cleaning formula, except to say that it uses five bacterial formulas that are 100% natural and non-GMO. Meet the cleaning aids in my starter pack:
- Sour: bad microbes don't like to come near her. Acid produces lactic acid and likes to be in more acidic environments such as yoghurt. Acid is also often used as a dietary supplement because she has a positive effect on intestinal flora.
- Fluff: removes dust and reduces dirt adhesion. Fluff likes to dwell in the feathers of birds. There it eats fluff by producing special substances such as keratin.
- Dikkie: champion at getting rid of fats! Dikkie loves to eat fats; he is a real glutton. When cleaning oil-contaminated soils, Dikkie is often used as a resource. All those fatty oils do like Dikkie!
- Sweet: the ideal ally for a healthy home. Sweet is a real sugar fanatic! That's also why she enjoys fermenting food. In addition to eating sugar, Zoetje produces vitamins so she is applied in food for humans and animals.
- Jackson: champion at getting rid of odours and very important in building natural balance at home! Jackson is a real fighter. In agriculture, he is used as an organic alternative to chemical pesticides on plants. Pathogens prefer not to come near him. Besides fighting, Jackson is enormously skilled at breaking down starches and proteins.
Cleaning with YOKUU: my experience
Within a minute you are ready to start your cleaning job: you fill the bottle with tap water, pop in the pearl with forest bacteria and you're ready to go. The pearl dissolves in the water immediately. Shake the bottle once and you can start cleaning right away. All surfaces become sparkling clean and fresh. YOKUU cleaning products hardly smell, a very light pleasant and refreshing scent is noticeable. It is not as strong smelling as you are used to from cleaning products.
The promise of YOKUU
Have you also become curious about YOKUU and its sustainable cleaning formula? It gets even better when you know this. Here's what you need to know about YOKUU:
- Around 15 billion forest bacteria in a bottle that naturally remove dirt. Joris: ‘In the forest, rotten apples, smells and other dirt disappear like snow in the sun. The forest is home to trillions of bacteria that clean the forest 24/7. Bacteria recycle dirt into nutrients to survive. A circular chain that sustains itself in nature’.
- The cleaners are free of microplastics and chemical ingredients.
- YOKUU products are vegan which means it contains no animal ingredients, the ingredients have not been tested on animals and no animals were used in the manufacture or distribution of the product.
- Your home stays clean for longer. The bacteria remain on the surface and ‘eat’ the organic waste for days more, up to seven days.
- It is safe for children. Did you know that 10% of the calls to the Belgian poison control centre is by household products. Even if a little one unexpectedly ingests some YOKUU cleaning product, there is no cause for great alarm.
- YOKUU is a member of the organisation ‘1 per cent for the planet‘. Every year, they donate 1% of their sales to charity.
- YOKUU is working hard to obtain an EU Ecolabel or other seal of approval, but because probiotic cleaning products are so new, that takes a longer breath in relation to laws and regulations.
- Joris and his team continue to investigate whether they can find more good bacteria in nature. Recently, they also probiotic dishwasher tablets.
Also trying YOKUU?
You can order YOKUU cleaning products in the YOKUU webshop and are on sale in a number of shops in Belgium and the Netherlands. View current outlets here. My starter pack costs 35.95 euros, a refill pack (3 pearls) costs 11.95 euros.
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: Cleaning the toilet with Yokuu's toilet bombs.
- Also see: zero waste craft tip: make your own clay.
- Also see: tips for breastfeeding.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl.
