With so many cleaning products on the market today, how do we know which products to use or not use for non-toxic cleaning in our homes? I’ll share with you several ways that have worked for my family, that maybe will be of some inspiration for you too.
DIY Household Cleaning Products
Our cleaning products have so many chemicals that are super hazardous to our health. For instance, toilet bowl cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner contains chemicals that have harmful fumes for breathing and can be irritating to the eyes and if mixed with other household substances then they can create poisonous gases. Not to mention if you get them on your skin, it can cause severe irritation or even chemical burns. Making our own products are a much safer option.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Homemade toilet bowl “cleaner” is super simple to use, and completely nontoxic. A few ingredients you can use:
- Baking Soda
- Castile Soap (or Sal suds)
- White vinegar
- a few drops essential oil
Let sit for 1-2 minutes, and then scrub out with your toilet brush.
All Purpose Cleaner
When it comes to a general all purpose cleaner, I prefer to just use soap and water. Doing this there are no harsh chemicals, no harsh fumes, and it’s completely safe. I like to use this method below for all of my common cleaning that needs a little bit more grit, like sinks and drains, tough spots on counters, tub etc. You can also see this on my YouTube channel.
- baking soda
- sal suds
- water
Floor Cleaner
This is one of my favorites, and I have done for literally years, and it works great every single time. I have hard floors. Some of which is tile, but mostly vinyl planking. When we had dogs in our home, I loved using my steam mop. I just felt like that was an amazing tool for sanitizing the floors. And with little kids, that was important to me. I would still use my mop for bigger messes, but the steamer was a win the rest of the time.
But now that our dogs have passed on, and my kids are a little bigger, I’ve found that my mopping frequency has been greatly reduced. I used to mop literally every day. Now I mop about once a week. We do not wear shoes in our home so this helps keep things tidy.
So now, my steam mop is partially retired and my mop and bucket are my new go to. And this is my solution for floor cleaner that I use every time:
- 1 cup cleaning vinegar
- 1 teaspoon natural dish soap
- fill bucket with warm or hot water (from tap)
Of course I never actually measure perfectly, but I’ve done it so many times that I know my measurements would be close. So if you see me make it in a YouTube video, please don’t hold it against me!
Glass Cleaner
I’ve gone through so many methods to clean glass. I’ve used seventh generation glass cleaner and I’ve used vinegar and water. But over the years I finally settled on the method that I stick with today… It’s completely nontoxic, in fact I only use water. Microfiber glass cleaning cloths.
I don’t even use the expensive brand that made microfiber cleaning popular. Because I find it’s a little expensive being that I have kids that won’t care for them properly in the laundry or simply, they will lose them. So I searched Amazon, and tried these ones. And they actually work. So much so, I actually bought multiple sets. Cleaning with only water for the win!
Laundry
After some trial and error, I’ve created my own recipe for laundry powder that really works super well. This came after having little ones with sensitive skin, and needing something that was more gentle on such sensitive skin, that worked good for super dirty clothes and didn’t break the bank.
But what about the deep stains? Of course for the not so normal stains, like ink pen marks, I’ll treat accordingly. Hello Pinterest! But for the majority of stains, I just take some of my laundry powder and water and mix into a paste. Then I work it into the stain and let it set. Sometimes even over night. Then I wash, check the stain, repeat if necessary, and I don’t dry until I’m confident that the stain is gone. In most cases, it’s gone on the first try.
If you would like to see my YouTube Video about 8 Tips For A Healthier Home, please watch and subscribe.
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