Detox your home with the best cleaning supplies
Keeping our home clean is so important, but what may be even more important are the steps we take to keep our home clean. The supplies we use to clean our homes will definitely have an impact on our home environment. Many people may not realize that many of the products they use on a daily basis can actually have a negative effect on their home. Hopefully, having a better understanding of exactly what cleaning supplies are detrimental to you and your family will help you determine what products to use instead. And in some cases, it might be as simple and pure as steaming-hot water, such as in the case of a steam mop to clean your floors!
Potentially Harmful Cleaning Products
All Purpose Cleaners: Most all-purpose cleaning agents contain chemicals like triclosan, sodium hypochlorite, phthalates, and ammonia, which can cause your eyes, skin, and nose to become irritated. These chemicals are also poisonous when consumed, so you need to be careful to keep them out of reach of both your children and your pets.
Bleach: Back in the day, bleach was the go-to cleaning product; this was before studies were conducted to show just how dangerous this substance can be. The cleaning agent in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. When this chemical comes in direct contact with your skin, it will more than likely leave you with a red, scaly rash. When ingested, you can expect prolonged nausea and vomiting; it can potentially even cause permanent damage to your esophagus.
Oven Cleaners: The main ingredient in most oven cleaners is lye. Lye usually contains traces of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, or a combination of both substances. As an abrasive cleaning agent, oven cleaners can cause serious damage to both your eyes and your skin, so you must be very careful when using this product in your home. If consumed, oven cleaners will more than likely cause severe tissue damage.
Toilet Bowl Cleaners: Toilet bowl cleaners contain harmful chemicals like sodium hypochlorite and bleach. They will burn both your skin and your eyes, so avoid coming in contact with them at all costs. This is a product we see many people simply put by the toilet until they are ready to use it. Doing so puts both your children and your pets at risk.
Glass Cleaner: The cleaning agents in glass cleaners are isopropanol and ammonia. These products can cause inflammation to your eyes, nose, and throat. Some people even have adverse reaction when this product comes in contact with their skin. When consumed, people have reported severe side effects like asthma attacks.
Cleaning Products to Use Instead
Green Seal Cleaning Products: Cleaning products with the Green Seal label must adhere to a certain set of standards or they will not be allowed to continue using that label. One of the most appealing standards these products have to abide by is their toxicity levels. All undiluted cleaning products cannot be toxic to humans, which means you don’t have to stress about keeping them away from your children. These products also cannot cause skin or eye damage, which is very reassuring to hear.
All products with a Green Seal label must be biodegradable. They are often stored in either reusable containers or are made with recycled materials. Using these products will not only give you peace of mind knowing your family is safe, but it will also lift your spirits knowing you are taking a conscious effort to have a positive impact on the environment.
Eco-Scale Cleaning Products: Eco-Scale green cleaning products have a long list of standards they have to abide by as well. All products must have a full disclosure of any and all ingredients used in making them. If they are not fragrance free, then all of the fragrances found in the products must be 100 percent natural. This is great news for people with allergies. Nothing is worse than having an allergic reaction to a cleaning product in your home because the products didn’t provide a full list of ingredients or because it was scented with unnatural fragrances.
Eco-Scale green cleaning products are made with plant and mineral based ingredients; these are ingredients you will find in nature instead of ingredients created in a lab. They must be free of chemicals like chlorine, formaldehyde, and phosphates. The chances of these products inducing any kind of asthma attack are extremely low.
The cleaning supplies you use in your home will impact your home environment. Instead of choosing products that could be potentially harmful to your family, choose ones made with more natural ingredients, or even trust in the power of hot water or steam to kill bacteria. Products with either a Green Seal or that are labeled as Eco-Scale green meet high standards that will lead to a healthier home environment.
Resources— Cleveland Clinic, GreenSeal, Whole Foods Market
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