I was wondering if you ladies had any tips on using non-toxic products to clean my house. I would really like to cut back on the cleaning supplies that are harsh that i use. I now use vinagar and water to clean the floors and glass and windows. I use baking soda to scour the pots and clean the stove and fridge. I have visited some organic clening product sites but they are a little expensive. Any home-made solutions you have come up with that work? Thanks so much.
Thank you everyone for the great advice. Thank you gloria for the info on melaluca. I dod some research and found a site with info and making your own cleaning solutions with things like peroxide,borax,vinagar,liquid soap,lemon juice and baking soda. I am trying them out. I will let you know how it goes.
I've noticed several people talking about Simple Green. Please read the following article about household products' toxicity:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/...
Hi T.,
My life has changed drastically for the better when I detoxified my house. I tried the home-made stuff, then I tried the store bought because the home-made was so time consuming ...but I nearly bankrupted us!
Most natural, non-toxic products ARE expensive but I found a line of products about 4 years ago that are safe, work better and are cheaper than Wal-mart! I liked them so much I started representing the company last year. (P.S. My company is not multilevel marketing like a lot of companies that tout non-toxic. It's the same company that Gloria and Patience talked about earlier.) Rosanna said that Simple Green is non-toxic and it does clean well but it is not non-toxic to humans, only to the environment. It is terribly dangerous to little ones. Please be careful when reading labels. Some groups that care about the environment don't care anything about people. Funny, huh???
My cell is ###-###-#### if you want to talk or you can email me and I can call you.
Hope I can help!
M. Howe
Hi T., I found out about a company that sell safer, less expensive cleaning products through this website and you can make money by refering customers to them www.livetotalwellness.com/gloryland I have a in home daycare and just learned about all the many toxic chemicals there are, and how harnfull they are to our children. Call me and I can share more information with you ###-###-#### G. G.
If you use dawn dish liquid to wash your dishes that is a safe way to clean dishes! Using clorox wipes are a safe way to clean and its fast and easy! Not a loud smell its a fresh smell! Their is really no other way than to use chemicals to really get germs and viruses gone! The best way to get rid of dirt and germs is to clean with a couple of chemicals! What is it that you are really trying to do? So I can understand better. I could probably help a bit more vinager will leave a funky smell in the home! But some chemicals are best to clean the home to have it sanitized!
T., I am in a similar situation- I want to use less checmicals but can't afford to pay a lot- and I found a really good all-purpose product. It's called Simple Green. It was in the spray cleaner section, and it's an all-purpose spray. It's about $3.60 I think (from what I remember), but it is concentrated, so you dilute it to make a lot more. The bottle says you can make about 5 gallons of general cleaner. So I just bought an empty spray bottle for a couple of bucks (one-time purchase, of course) and I'm good to go. The thing about Simple Green is that while it's not as pure as made-at-home stuff, it's non-toxic and biodegradable, so it's a big step in the right direction. And it smells nice- like those scented markers we had in elementary school!! Anyway, my son gets quite irritated by harsh checmicals, and this doesn't seem to bother him. There's a website, www.simplegreen.com, but I haven't been to it so I have no idea what's on there!
Hope this helps!
oh my goodness... you definitely do NOT have to use things like Clorox or Dawn to kills germs and viruses... I have a product called Sol-u-Guard Botanical, it's made from the herb, thyme, and it is a hospital strength disinfectant and kills staph, salmonella, HIV-Aids virus on contact, etc... Also economical, so there are alternatives... PLEASE don't use Clorox!
Try the Method cleaning products from Target. The products are non-toxic, bio-degradable, naturally derived and not tested on animals. They do cost a little more than your average products, but I feel it's worth it in peace of mind for my little one.
Good luck!
Also check out Method products at Target and Seventh Generation natural cleaning products.
Good luck!
K.
Hi T.,
To sanitize, all you need is rubbing alcohol. Just make sure it's not left to evaporate on surfaces (so your little ones can't get into it). It's a lot cheaper than the household cleaners, and the only down side is that it'll dry out your hands if you are not wearing gloves.
Also - lemon juice is a good bleach (for removing stains from surfaces) and it smells good, but leaves a sticky residue so it's not a one-step cleaning product. Hydrogen peroxide is a good bleach & germ-killer as well. Hope this helps!
Actually distilled white vinegar is used as a deodorizer. You can put some in a bowl and leave the bowl in the counter in a room for a couple hours and it will absorb all the smells. You're on the right track with the baking soda. That also cleans the stainless sinks incredibly well. You can make a paste with it for stubborn spots on just about anything. If you mix the vinegar and baking soda together it will foam up and you can use that to declog a slow drain. Among many other things. Lemons and salt are really good cleaners as well. Try searching for Heloise. Or check out ask.com and search for natural cleaning tips. There's a boatload out there!
