In fact, for as long as I can remember my mother always made a large portion of our cleaning products when I was a child. I remember specifically the smells of ammonia, vinegar. And I'm pretty sure we were the only house on the block that would clean windows & mirrors with newspaper but she might have been onto something!
Here's a few basic tips and beginner basics for those of you that want to ditch the harsh chemicals!
Green cleaning is safer for you, your family, the environment, & WAY easier on the wallet. In my opinion it is also lightyears more effective than the expensive stuff on the cleaning aisle. It's the time/money balance that most people care about, but adding safety into the equation... green cleaning should be a no-brainer.
Let's say your the type that spends a few extra bucks for some of the "gentler" brands.
(Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, BabyGanics, Green Works etc)
You're still doing it wrong, unfortunately... and you're wasting more money than everyone else.
In truth, the brands listed above are advertised to be so safe and natural but one look at the ingredients shows they're hardly better.
The above listed products score anywhere from a C to an F on the table below.
Call me paranoid, but I don't really like to play the "50/50 chance" game so I prefer to make my own cleaning products. I'm also pissed that they cost so much more and have catchy names and slogans; yet they're just as unsafe. Well played. Even good old fashioned Clorox scores better than some of these spendy cleaners.
 |
| These 512 products are all categorized as All Purpose Cleaners. You can see the greater majority score poorly. The majority of the 61 products scoring an A are good old fashioned baking soda and castile soap. |
Many household cleaners contain toxic chemicals that may cause both short & long term health problems. Children are also the most vulnerable age group when it comes to chemical exposure during developmental stages. Certain chemicals may interfere with the development of the neurological, endocrine & immune systems -- so that's basically the entire body in case you aren't aware of the various systems.
Ok, so I don't know about you but I'm certainly not about to eat or drink any household cleaners and children old enough to do chores are probably not all that enthused about cleaning and I really doubt that they'll indulge either but just touching the toxic cleaners & of course breathing them is toxic enough. And if you have younger children who aren't quite old enough to help clean -- they're still at risk.
- Younger children have higher respiratory rates than adults, therefore they absorb more air contaminants per unit of weight, meaning they experience a higher inhaled dose.
- According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside a typical home is 200-500 percent more polluted than the air outside mainly due to toxic cleaning products.
So in short, EVERYONE IN THE HOME IS AT RISK HERE.
So what do we do?
I'm glad you're still following along and I hope you're about to fill your garbage can with all the toxic cleaning products in your home.Baking Soda.
It's cheap. I get a HUGE bag for around $7 at Costco.
Baking soda absorbs and eliminates odors.
It's amazing to sprinkle in a greasy pan before washing, I use it to clean cast iron and it's also amazing as a carpet deodorizer.
Beyond that, I clean almost my entire bathroom with baking soda.
I drain the water out of the toilet by adding a bucket full of water first, sprinkle baking soda and then use a pumice stone to scour any really set-in rings that the baking soda didn't get off.
I typically add a few drops of lemon, cleansing blend or melaleuca essential oil just to give the baking soda a little more power. It has been about 3 years since I have purchased any type of bathroom cleaner.
White Vinegar.
Even cheaper. Coming in around $2 a gallon/.
I use vinegar in place of fabric softener -- and NO my clothes do not smell like vinegar and I haven't missed paying for, or using fabric softener either. White vinegar is naturally antifungal and antibacterial. Which means it's a really safe alternative to clorox-wiping your entire kitchen countertops. Vinegar is amazing for cutting down grease and dissolving mineral deposits, too.
Which is why I love it to clean my stand up shower!
Castile Soap.
The most gentle yet efficient thing on earth. Really.
They even make a tear-free version to bathe newborns/babies with.
I ditched the Johnson & Johnson garbage a LONG time ago. In fact it's so bad that I feel guilty even throwing it in the garbage can. Castile soap lifts dirt, cuts grease and eliminates tough stains. There is a million DIY's on pinterest using Castile Soap -- the possibilities are SO endless.
Salt.
Even cheaper. Salt is basically free.
Salt is an amazing scouring agent - bet you didn't know that eh?
Pouring salt mixed with hot water down the kitchen sink will deodorize and keep grease from building up. Salt mixed with lemon essential oil also works amazingly for tea/coffee stains.
Coconut/Olive Oil.
I mostly use either of these for DIY dusting sprays and/or furniture polish.
I typically use equal parts of olive oil + white vinegar and a few drops of lemon or orange essential oil for my dusting spray which I also use to polish leather furniture.
For everything else
I use a protective blend concentrated cleaner -- which costs me about $2 for 32oz. I use this mixture to pre-treat laundry, clean countertops, mirrors, windows, floors and anything else you would use an "all purpose" cleaner for. Due to copyright drama that's about all I can tell you -- if you'd like to purchase some for yourself it's about $15 for 12 oz and I use 1 TBSP per 12 oz. of water. Costing you about $0.63 per 12 oz of cleaner. Click here to get in touch with me in regards to purchasing.
Essential Oil Must Have's For Cleaning
Lemon
Lime
Wild Orange
Douglas Fir
Eucalyptus
Melaleuca (Tea Tree)
Cleansing Blend
Thyme
Peppermint
Protective Blend
Protective Blend Cleaner Concentrate
Lastly, I'm not even going to talk about air fresheners that much because I would rather have every room in my house smell like fresh dog shit than *ANY* air freshener on the market. But in case YOU aren't aware, here's a pretty good idea. The products scoring an 'A' are products like arm & hammer fridge deodorizer. In other words, baking soda scores and A yet again.
The most products in the F category are the Air Wick Brand. Febreeze and Renuzit take up almost the entire D category. Seriously. Just don't use them.
Oh, and if you want to see for yourself checkout ewg.org
No comments:
Post a Comment