Cleaning Up On Cleaning Products

Article by healthybalance.com staff
Posted on February 09, 2010

Are you concerned about the safety of the common cleaning products you use around the house. You should be!

The average American home generates more than 25 pounds of toxic, hazardous waste each year—mostly from household cleaning products purchased at the supermarket. According to the EPA, very few of the registered chemicals found in your grocery aisle are even tested for their effects on human health.

In fact, a study monitoring women over a fifteen year period found those that did not work away from home had a 54% higher death rate from cancers. Why? The study surmised that the women who spent their time minding their homes cleaned more often—and, therefore, had more exposure to toxic cleaning products.

How can you keep a clean house without endangering your health? Well, three simple items you may already have on hand can come to the rescue: baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice! Varying combinations of these can tackle grease and grime, freshen up lingering odors and even help with windows.

Vinegar: it does do windows.

A natural all-purpose cleaner, vinegar mixed with an equal amount of water cleans and deodorizes safely and inexpensively. Keep a spray bottle with this mixture for windows, walls, sinks, toilets, stovetops and countertops. The vinegar scent disperses quickly—but if you want to mask it, add a few drops of natural—not synthetic—essential oil. Be sure to dilute the vinegar and test on a small area if you are going to apply to upholstery or other delicate materials. At full strength, it will get rid of toilet rings—and eat away tile grout!

In the laundry, vinegar’s a great fabric softener. Add half a cup to the rinse cycle—it also eliminates traces of detergent that otherwise hang around and irritate your skin.

Baking soda gives your grocery budget a raise.

Baking soda is not just for leavening cookies and baked goods. Like vinegar, added to your wash load (1/4 cup) it works as a fabric softener. Minor clog in the kitchen or bathroom sink? Sprinkle a half cup of baking soda on the drain. Then, flush with a cup of vinegar. Baking soda also works as a scrubbing powder for stubborn sink scum.

If a naughty pet pees on your sofa or mattress, start the clean up process by soaking up what you can with cleaning cloths and then liberally sprinkling the area with baking soda. The baking soda will absorb more of the urine than you could otherwise remove, making ultimate clean up a little easier.

When life hands you lemons, clean your home.

Like vinegar, lemon juice dissolves soap scum and hard water deposits. Mix it with baking soda and vinegar to form a paste that scrubs tough stains on dishes and counter tops and shines up brass and copper. Lemon juice can also lighten stains on fabric.

Mix a half cup of lemon juice with a cup of olive oil for a freshly scented, harmless furniture polish. Stinky garbage disposal? Solve the problem by running a whole lemon peel through it.
Clean these cleaners out of your cupboard.

Some of the most toxic cleaning products you may want to avoid include:

• Carpet cleaners (cancer and liver damage);
• Chlorine bleach (poisoning and disorders of the reproductive, endocrine, and immune systems);
• Degreasers with petroleum distillates and butyl cellosolve (lung and nerve damage);
• Drain cleaners (severe corrosives damage eyes, skin, mouth, and stomach and can be fatal if swallowed);
• Ammonia and ammonia based glass cleaners (can irritate skin, eyes, and respiratory system);
• Mold and mildew removers (can damage lungs, eyes and skin);
• Oven cleaners (can severely damage eyes, skin, mouth and throat); and
• Toilet cleaners with chlorine and hydrochloric acid (can be harmful if you simply breathe them in during use!)