Cleaning swaps from Wholistic Nurse Emily
As they say, your home is your castle. We spend a lot of time in our homes so it’s important we’re keeping it clean with products that aren’t harmful to our health.
Emily Crawford, also known as Wholistic Nurse Emily, is a Registered Nurse, Certified Natural Health Professional, and a Holistic Nurse Coach. We talked to her about healthy snack swaps, and now she’s back to give us the rundown on cleaning products.
Emily’s thoughts and findings on household cleaning products
The need for alternatives
The world we live in now is vastly different than the world that existed just 100 years ago. I can look back and the world has changed so much in just the last 20 years. So much growth, traffic, buildings, changes in how we process products — this world is growing. Many times, with the growth comes toxins.
The Environmental Working Group did a study in 2004 showing an average of 200 different chemicals in newborn babies. This study showed how many chemicals we have in our daily life. Of the 287 chemicals that were found, many of them are considered to be carcinogenic, neurotoxic, and toxins that affect hormones. That study was done almost 20 years ago, so there are probably many more toxins that have been added to that list. Luckily, there are also many non-toxic options that never existed that you can use today.
We can not always escape the barrage of toxins. From pesticides, to by-products from petrochemicals; these toxins exist in our world. What we can do is make sure we have a healthy detox pathway as well as try to minimize the toxins we use in our daily life.
When you are out and about during the day whether its driving in traffic, visiting the mall, or even the gym, you are surrounded by toxins. This is not meant to scare you, but rather to educate you on what is in your environment so that you can make better choices.
When you get home, that should be your safe haven. So let’s talk about what we can do to make our homes as clean and non-toxic as possible.
All-purpose cleaner
Having an all-purpose cleaner to use all over the house is great! Let’s look at this Green Works one, because if I was just trying to find one that looked less toxic, to the everyday person this one looks good. But when you look a little deeper it has preservatives, dyes, and fragrance. These ingredients take a toll on our endocrine/hormonal health as well as can have respiratory effects like increased allergies and asthma, and increase our risk of cancer, just to name a few.
A better option for an all purpose cleaner would be this Nantucket Footprint All-Purpose Cleaner. I love this company because their products come in strips that you add to water to reconstitute. You purchase a reuseable glass spray bottle and then a box of cleaning strips — so no plastics. The strips come in a plastic-free, compact , lightweight, and 100% compostable box. It’s environmentally-friendly and has ingredients that are friendly to your health as well. This cleaner is highly efficient without having any phosphates, phthalates, parabens, artificial fragrances, no triclosan, and no sodium lauryl sulfate just to name a few. This company also has a glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, and laundry detergent and they sell reuseable glass spray bottles as well as microfiber cloths.
Laundry detergent
Laundry detergent is the next household item that I would consider important when choosing to live a more toxin-free life. If your detergent has “fresh scent” or really any scent on the label , chances are it’s bad for your health. Fragrance is one of the biggest disruptors for your endocrine system. It also wreaks havoc on your respiratory system. With laundry detergent it is important to find one that is healthy for the environment because our health relies on the health of the organisms around us, but it is equally important to find one that is good for your health as well.
As I mentioned above, I love the Nantucket Footprint products and they have a laundry detergent. I also love the laundry detergent from Molly’s Suds. I like to combine all their products together to really get clean laundry. I use the peppermint essential oil detergent and love the oxygen whitening powder to get out dingy colors. I also use their Active Wear detergent for any exercise clothes that get a little too sweaty and need some added cleaning support. I have found with laundry that it isn’t just about what detergent you use, it’s also how you wash your clothes.
I always do a hot water pre-soak with detergent and oxygen whitener for my towels. I make sure to immediately move them to the dryer after washing. And then using wool balls with essential oils while they dry adds a little fresh scent to them if you want a nice smell.
For laundry that has gotten that musty, wet odor stuck in them I love to use the Laundry Additive from MicroBalance. It has ingredients that rinse away mold spores, bacteria, and foul/musty odors from your clothes, towels, and also your washing machine.
Did you know? You should also wash your washing machine. I routinely do a rinse cycle with baking soda and vinegar and a little bit of the EC3 Laundry Additive to keep my machine clean and working properly.
Home fragrances
We can’t talk about household health without talking about throwing away your plug ins.
Glade PlugIns are literally the worst for your health. If you have any hormonal challenges or any allergies, I would highly suggest to ditch all the synthetic fragrances. Look through your home and switch out any plug ins and also candles or other fragrances and switch them out for better options. You can use candles that are paraben- and phthalate-free, with cotton wicks and a soy or beeswax base like the Chill Pill Stress Relief Candle in the All is Well Shop. Many commercially made candles have ingredients that are just not necessary to provide you the atmosphere and smell you desire. I love using an essential oil diffuser to keep my house smelling fresh and also choosing oils depending on how I feel as well.
Hope these suggestions have helped to turn your home into a safe space.