Safe & Nontoxic Cleaning Products
Why use toxic cleaning products when you can use healthy, nontoxic and safe cleaning alternatives? Here are some green cleaning ideas to help you be clean, healthy and make a planet difference:
All-Purpose Cleaner
Seventh Generation and Sun & Earth make non-toxic cleaning products which you can use for kitchens, bathrooms, tubs, floors, counters, tile, carpets, spills, stains, and other.
White Distilled Vinegar
Inexpensive and versatile, white distilled vinegar is a very powerful nontoxic disinfectant. Use it to remove stains, grease, mildew, wax buildup, polish some metals, clean coffeepots, toilet bowls, brick, stone, and windows. Also, one tablespoon during rinse cycle makes a fabulous fabric softener.
Window Glass Cleaner
Seventh Generation makes a wonderful nontoxic window cleaner.
Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Use baking soda to deodorize every room of the house, unclog drains, removes certain stains, and clean and polish jewelry, chrome, silver, copper, tin, stainless and tin.
Hand Dishwashing Liquid
Seventh Generation, Ecover, Earth Friendly, and Sun & Earth produces eco-friendly dishwashing liquid that can be used to clean pots, pans, dishes, glasses and anything else you don't want in the dishwasher.
Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
Seventh Generation makes a great nontoxic dishwashing detergent.
Laundry Liquid
Earth Friendly, Seventh Generation, & Ecover, all make eco-friendly nontoxic laundry liquid.
Lemon Juice
Use as a natural deodorizer and cleaner for aluminum, copper, porcelain and clothing.
Table Salt
Use to remove rust and, when combined with lemon juice, cleans copper. When salt is combined with vinegar, it polishes brass.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Use in diluted form to remove stains from dirty whites and other clothing/fabrics.
Happy cleaning!
Your Cleaning Products: Are They Toxic?
Have you ever considered that your household cleaning products may be toxic for your body? Unfortunately, many chemicals used in cleaning products are very harmful and toxic and really need to be banned from the market. Conventional cleaners, from chlorine bleach-based detergents to drain cleaners, have been associated with numerous childhood health problems, including ADHD, asthma, birth defects, and reproductive problems. Let's take a look at common ingredients found in conventional household cleaning products and the impact they may have on your body:
Aerosol propellants: carpet cleaners, air fresheners, spray starches, furniture polish and waxes, insecticides, conventional oven cleaners, and upholstery cleaners. These types of aerosol propellents cause irritants to eyes, throats, and lungs, contributing to asthma and other lung diseases.
Alkylphenolic compounds: all-purpose cleaners and laundry detergents. These compounds are endocrine disrupters, proven to mimic hormone estrogen and reek havoc on a woman's hormones regulating reproductive and development.
Ammonia: conventional window cleaners, metal polishes and cleaners, furniture polishes and waxes. Ammonia irritates the eyes, skin and respiratory system, resulting in respiratory problems, like pulmonary edema, bronchitis, and pneumonia. In addition, ammonia can cause cataracts and corneal damage, chemical burns, and skin cancer.
Chlorine bleach and chlorine byproducts: dishwasher detergents, tub and tile cleaners, toiletbowl cleaners, laundry detergents, and other. This is one of the primary causes of household poisonings in the US.
Formaldehyde: air fresheners, disinfectants, and spray starches. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen in humans, and can severely irritate or burn eyes, nose, skin, throat, lungs, and mouth. In addition, this toxin contributes to asthma, skin allergies, and even pulmonary edema.
Perchlorethylene, or PERC: carpet cleaners, spot removers, degreasers and dry-cleaning fluids. PERC is a bioaccumulative toxin, meaning it can be stored in our fat tissue. When inhaled by pregnant women, this toxin can be very damaging to babies in the womb and contaminate breast milk.
Petroleum distillates: hand dishwashing liquid, lip gloss, perfume, plastics, paint thinners, stain removers, solvents, artificial fragrances, furniture polishes, and oven cleaners. Exposure to this toxin can pose risks to the respiratory, liver, endocrine, cardiovascular, immune and gastrointestinal systems.
Benzene, a toxic emission of burning coal and oil, has been correlated with childhood leukemia. In addition, it can damage a baby in the womb.
Toulene, is another highly toxic petrochemical solvent, and a known carcinogen, neurotoxin, and eye and skin tolerant. It can be found in an array of products, like adhesives and sealants, paint and varnish removers, vinyl flooring, undercoats and primers, bathmats, waterproofing compounds, and industrial particleboard.
Phenol: laundry detergents, all-purpose cleaners, air fresheners, disinfectants, metal polishes and cleaners, and dryer sheets and fabric softners. Known to be a mutagen and suspected carcinogen, phenol can severely irritate or burn eyes, skin, eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and nose. Such toxins can interfere with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen, causing bronchitis. Higher exposures can lead to build up of fluids in the lungs, resulting in pulmonary edema. Internal consumption, in large volumes, can lead to cold sweats, convulsions, coma, circulatory collapse and death.
In my next post, I'll post greener and healthier alternatives for household cleaning products, so you and your body can be safe. Read another post about greening your home here.