Having a baby has made me question a lot of things. It has also pushed me to educate myself on raising my kids in a safer, healthier home. Our kids now-a-days are surrounded by so many toxins that I had to do what I could to minimize our exposure to them. I can’t control everything but I can control what we have and use in our home.
When I began reading about the chemicals that we are surrounded with I was pretty overwhelmed and I felt like throwing out everything we owned. However, I knew that wouldn’t work out because I still needed products to clean the house so before I became too overwhelmed I came out with a plan on how I would clear my home of these toxic cleaning products.
Steps I took to clear my house of toxic cleaning products:
- I went to the Environmental Working Group site and looked up all the cleaning products I owned in their Guide to Healthy Cleaning. I wanted to make sure all our cleaning supplies were rated with A (non-toxic), or at the very least B.
- I started making a list of the cleaning supplies that needed to be replaced. In my case, that ended up being every single product we owned. Even the stuff labeled as “natural” was not so natural after all.
- Then I made a list of the cleaning supplies that I actually needed and used.
- I searched on the Guide to Healthy Cleaning for the products I needed. My requirement was that they had to have a good “green” rating and available on Amazon (because it’s hard to find non-toxic options in stores).
- I ordered from Amazon everything I needed. I added some through the subscribe and save program so I could save 15% off and what wasn’t available through that program I just bought at regular price.
If your budget doesn’t allow you to replace all these products at once then replace one at a time, starting with the one you use the most. - Once I received all the new, safer cleaning supplies I disposed of all the ones we had at home.
I have to be honest there was one product I didn’t replace because I couldn’t find a replacement for it. It’s the Clorox ToiletWand. I keep telling myself I’d replace it but to be honest, I hate cleaning toilets and I love the convenience of having this dispenser next to my toilet, cleaning it frequently and disposing the sponge (the regular brush just grosses me out). Since writing this post I have developed a toilet cleaner recipe I use on my toilet, check it out here.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed about all you have to replace, the first thing you should do is take a breath, and take baby steps. It’s better to make this change slowly then try to do it all at once and get so overwhelmed that you don’t change anything at all.
Once I made the switch it was easy just to keep buying the same products. In the last 3 years I have tried different brands but it has been a lot less overwhelming to look for different options because I wasn’t worried about having to replace everything I own fast.
Pinterest has also been a great tool to find ways to make my own cleaning products. Although, if I’m honest, I haven’t any in a while. I just stick to buying them because life with two small kids is busy.
One last thing, I learned that even brands that promise natural, safe, non-toxic products might sneak in some not so nice ingredients. It’s a good idea to read labels or at the very least check their rating on the guide mentioned above. The same company might have one non-toxic product and another one with a toxic ingredient so I recommend that instead of buying everything from the same company you check each product separately. This is how I ended up with products from different brands.
For those of you that don’t feel like looking up each product, here’s the list of the non-toxic products we use in our home. You can find a more comprehensive list here.
Non-toxic cleaning supplies:
To buy the product just click on the picture.
*You can use Dr. Bronner’s Organic Castile Soap for most of your cleaning needs but I personally just use it to make foaming hand soap.
Well there you have it. I hope you’re now inspired to stock your home with non-toxic cleaning supplies without feeling overwhelmed and support companies that offer these great alternatives for our family and kids.
Do you have a non-toxic cleaning product or recipes you love? Share it in the comments.
jessica | piganddac says
Looking forward to your DIY recipes 🙂
Carolina says
Thanks Jess! ! 🙂
You can check out the foaming hand soap one here: https://mamainstincts.com/diy-organic-foaming-hand-soap/
Shannon says
Thanks for the recommendations-I’ll be sure to check them out!
Carolina says
You’re welcome 🙂