Maintaining a clean and healthy environment at home has probably never been at the forefront of everyone’s minds more than it is at the moment. But many of us want to keep things spick and span in a more environmentally friendly and health-conscious way. That was the motivation behind the creation of Busy Bee Natural, a green cleaning company based in Cardigan.

Its founder, Karen Stinton, was inspired to create more natural cleaning products after her husband became ill,

“My priority was reducing his exposure to any harmful chemicals, particularly when it came to the air he was breathing. After lots of research and experimenting, I developed some green cleaning formulas using traditional, natural ingredients like essential oils, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

They’re all handmade in small batches by us here on the premises and fully tried and tested – we know they work because we use them for all our domestic and commercial cleaning services, whether that’s in offices, shops, holidays cottages or homes. It’s all about helping people enjoy a cleaner, healthier environment, wherever they are.”

Essential oils, like lavender, orange, lemon and eucalyptus feature heavily in Busy Bee Natural’s products. Not only do they smell great, the essential oils have a surprising range of properties that can keep your home clean and safe, being antifungal, antiseptic, antibacterial, antimicrobial and even antidepressant. In fact, they’ve worked so well in a professional setting that Karen has now made them available to buy from her online shop, providing a welcome alternative for anyone who wants to reduce their use of chemical cleaners.

As well as doing their bit for the environment, Karen and her team are passionate about supporting the local community. During lockdown, the team stepped up to safely take over cleaning services for charities that were unable to visit elderly clients.

They also provide a befriending and home help service which developed as a natural extension of visiting older and vulnerable people’s homes to clean. They’ll do everything from walking the dog and cooking meals to simply having a friendly chat over a nice cuppa.

So, if you want a bit of help to keep the house in shape, some eco-friendly cleaning products or need more support to cope with the daily chores, you can find out more on the Busy Bee Natural website, or give Karen a call on 01239 801012.