Can you pronounce all of the ingredients in your
household cleaners? Looking to simplify and purify your cleaning products? When
it comes to all-natural cleaning, vinegar, baking soda and lemons are popular
for most any type of surface.
Butyl cellosolve,
nonylphenol ethoxylate, chlorinated phenols — we read words like
these every day, but what do they mean? Can they harm our family, or are they laboratory-speak
for safe and effective?
As a new mom, I’m beginning to learn this
strange chemical language, and while I’ve always fantasized I’d speak French or
Italian someday, undoubtedly my recent lingual ventures are a bit less romantic,
albeit practical.
Chemicals
found in household cleaning products have been linked to cancer, reproductive
problems, asthma, neurotoxicity and more, and yet, products with dubious ingredients
remain on the shelves in their enticing packaging full of promises.
It’s not as
if we mean to make unhealthy choices; those hard-to-pronounce words invade our
homes with guerrilla-like tactics. One day we’re shopping at the grocery store
trying to stock up on soap and toilet paper, and the next thing we know we’re
back at home, surrounded by sodium laurel sulfate and BPA.
So how do we
protect those that we love? How do we
keep a clean — and healthy — home?
Become an informed consumer. This means knowing what to avoid as you scan
the labels.
READ MORE: Spring cleaning checklist!
How do your
products rate?
Check out the Good Guide to see how the products
you currently use rate. Not only does the website evaluate the product’s impact
on your health, but it also takes social policies and practices and
environmental impact into consideration.
Know the
origins
For example, Tom’s of Maine toothpaste was bought out by Colgate-Palmolive
and Burt’s Bees is now owned by Clorox. However, many consumers still buy these
products under the illusion that the companies are still family run or adhering
to the same principles and practices that made them so popular in the first
place.
Go all
natural
Ditch learning the lingo all together and start making your products at
home. It’s a great way to know exactly what’s in your cleaning solutions, and
it’s even a fun activity with kids. There are countless recipes for home
cleaning solutions that really work. Best of all, when you are scenting with
essential oils, you can get creative and customize your home’s aroma based on
your mood, or even the time of the year. (Floral and citrus scents are perfect
for spring, while heartier scents like pine and cinnamon warm up a room during cold
winter months.)
If making your own cleaning solutions piques your interest, know that you
can never have enough apple-cider vinegar, essential oils, or baking soda on
hand. Vinegar is a wonderful disinfectant and deodorizer. Moreover, some essential
oils — such as tea tree oil and thieves oil — even have antimicrobial,
antiviral, antiseptic and antifungal properties. Lastly, baking soda is a
natural abrasive and works magic on tubs, toilets, and pots and pans.
READ MORE: Cleaning hacks moms love
Kick back
and relax
Keep your routine simple and easy. I highly suggest creating wellness and
beauty by introducing plants into your decor, which naturally detoxifies air. A
peace lily plant is not only beautiful, but one of the best plants for the
task. For a natural air freshener without
any of the additives of plug-ins or commercial scented candles, mix distilled
water with your favorite essential oil into a spray bottle and mist the air.
Learn from
other local families
I asked some local moms to share their tried and true methods of how to
keep their home chemical-free. Here are some favorite recipes:
Carey Braidt of Germantown swears by
leftover orange peels soaked in vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner
that she uses on mirrors and windows as well. She also makes her own laundry
detergent by chopping up a bar of Fels-naptha and adding equal parts borax and
Arm & Hammer washing soda.
She advises only using one scoop per
load and happily reports that it lasts for months. If you can’t find Fels-naptha,
Jennifer Lindlief Bredin of
Beacon suggests you can use one bar of shredded castile soap such as Dr.
Bronners in its place.
When it came to cleaning the windows in her new
house, Rachel Ephraim was skeptical of the Norwex cloths. But she says they did
a great job removing the mud — while using only water.
Not up for
the task of collecting and combining ingredients? Rebecca Leibowitz of Port
Ewen turned me on to the magic of microfiber cloths and water. I recently moved
into a new home and the previous owner had left us with the long and trying
task of cleaning windows that hadn’t seen a rag in ages.
Leibowitz
promised that Norwex cloths could do the job — and with just water. I was very,
very doubtful, but I’ve never cleaned a window so effortlessly or enjoyed
cleaning so much.
I’m not
fluent in chemical tongue quite yet, and I don’t know if I really have the energy
or interest to decode a bottle of Windex. In the meantime, I’ll keep trying out
these favorite recipes and experimenting with my own.
Rachel
Ephraim is a freelance writer living with her family in Germantown.