With spring cleaning upon us, I thought we could do a little preparation by talking about our cleaning products. Unfortunately, many of our cleaning solutions have a whole lot of toxic ingredients hidden in them.

Poison and Politics…

Here’s the deal, in 1976 the Toxic Substance Control Act was put into place in the USA. This act is an environmental law that regulates the safety of industrial chemicals. Sounds good right? Well, no. This act has not been revised since 1976 and there have been thousands more chemicals introduced into the market since then. Companies are not required to provide health and safety information for new chemicals which limits the EPA’s ability to regulate. Long story short, chemicals are being put into products with little or no safety testing. Yikes! To make matters worse, there is a clause in the TSCA called the Confidential Business Information that says companies are not required to disclose all ingredients. I get really overwhelmed by all this dishonest chaos and turn to organizations like the Environmental Working Group who make it easy to understand this chemical corruption. Check out their Cleaners Database Hall of Shame to get the 411 on the most dangerous cleaning products out there. The EWG takes it a step further and helps us “decipher the codes” of all these ingredients and their toxic levels on their cleaner guide. Just put in a cleaning product and up comes information on the dangers of the product. So go ahead and type in your favorite shower scrub and find out just what you are inhaling after that deep cleaning.

Clean cleaning…

If you are over all this toxic talk and want to avoid all cleaning products on the market, try making your own. Here’s two of my favorite and most used cleaning ingredients that get the job done around my house.

Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium Bicarbonate or baking soda is a wonderful and inexpensive solution to many of our cleaning needs. It is a multipurpose ingredient that is used for medicinal and cooking purposes, as well as, an ingredient for toothpaste and other personal care products. Here’s some great ways to use baking soda to clean up our homes.

Bathroom Cleaner: Comet can take their hazardous ingredients somewhere else because baking soda is our super hero when it comes to bathroom cleaning. Just sprinkle your sink, tub, and toilet with baking soda and scrub with a damp sponge then rinse.

Kitchen Cleaner: Theres nothing worse than wiping harmful chemicals all over the very place you eat your food from! So, I like to use a baking soda mixture to solve my kitchen cleaning problems. Try mixing 1 cup water, 1/2 cup baking soda and about 20 drops of essential oil for fragrance (I like to use grapefruit for its fresh smell and purifying properties). You can also add some castile soap to this mixture. Wipe down all kitchen surfaces and thats it!

Odor Neutralizer: Baking soda is a sure thing when it comes to odor elimination. Got garlic odor on your hands? Sprinkle a teaspoon on your hands mixed with hand soap and wash away. Smelly trash? Sprinkle some baking soda into the bottom of your trash cans or frequently wash them out with 1/4 cup baking soda dissolved in 1 quart warm water. Then rinse and dry. Got leftovers you left too long in the fridge? Put an opened box of baking soda in your refrigerator and/or freezer. Replace every 3 months. How about some weird smell in your carpet? Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and vacuum after about 30 minutes.

Clogged Drains: Instead of all that heavy duty drain solution just try pouring 1 cup of baking soda into the drain. Follow that up with 3 cups of boiling water.

Grime Remover: I don’t know about you but I every once in awhile leave the dishes until the next morning. Oops! Lucky for me, baking soda has got my back. Sprinkle that stubborn grimy pot or pan with baking soda and hot water and let soak. That junk will come right off!

White Distilled Vinegar

White distilled vinegar is a clear liquid that cleans like a champ.  Derived from grains, white distilled vinegar is great for disinfecting and can be used on any surface except marble. Here’s a few ways I like to use white distilled vinegar to clean up my place.

Kitchen Cleaner: Clean up your kitchen sink and faucet by mixing a few tablespoons of white distilled vinegar and salt. Shines up nicely! Wipe down your counters with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar. Follow up with a wipe down with a wet cloth.

Bathroom Cleaner: Scour your tubs, bathroom sinks and toilets with a thick solution of 1/2 cup baking soda, a 2 tablespoons castile soap, and 4 teaspoons white distilled vinegar. Get tough on the toilet by pouring about a cup of white distilled vinegar into the bowl and let sit for a few hours or even overnight. Follow up by scrubbing and then flushing.

Label Remover: Got a sticky, hard-to-peel-off price tag or label? Cover the label in a cloth or paper towel soaked in white distilled vinegar. Leave overnight and then remove. The label should easily peel off.

That’s my jam,

Kristle