Cleaning Products Explained

Posted on Jul 19, 2014 | 0 comments

The cleaning products you use to clean your family home are far more important than you think. Many of the cleaning products that we have become accustomed to using give off very harmful toxins.

The History of Cleaning Products

First, let’s have a look at the history of cleaning products. It may shock you to find out that humans and Clorox were not put on the earth at the same time, but it is true!!

In fact, right up until the 1930’s baking soda, white vinegar, salt and lemon juice where the common cleaning products found in households.

It was the chemicals developed for warfare during the Second World War that found their way into North American cosmetics, cleaning products, pesticides, building materials and many, many more everyday things.
Then our advertising geniuses promised these new chemicals will get your “whites whiter”, your “toilets twinkling” and your “countertops cleaner than clean.”

Guess what they really did/do? They fill up our houses with toxins, really bad ones.

In the mid 80’s, Harvard scientists released a 5 year study revealing that the pollution inside the average American home was up to 5 times worse than the outdoor air. That was in the 80’s…

And it is no secret that allergies and asthma are a common problem in the USA today.

The Chemicals in the Cleaning Products

Currently there are 85,000 synthetic chemicals being used.

Another 500 or so new synthetic chemicals are being introduced each year.

Most of these you can find right in the average North American home (thanks to our genius marketers!). Think about how you clean your toilets, sinks and tubs. It goes down the drain, right? They then end up in water treatment plants and eventually, back in our houses via kitchen and bathroom taps. Shall I also mention that using that stuff in your home releases toxins that definitely damage your air quality?

Most of these chemicals have such long lives, traces of them are routinely found in rain water, snow, sediment and surface water.

Are These Chemical Cleaning Products Sustainable?

No!

Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

These chemicals (and our genius marketers) turned us into a disposable society as we were encouraged to buy new and improved chemicals that our homes just would not be clean without. Buy more, you need it they promised us. In turn, our landfills started overflowing, the quality of our air went way down and our health care problems blossomed. Not to mention what goes into creating these chemical cleaning products.

Sound sustainable to you?

Are there Safe Cleaning Products?

Yes!

Here is my handy little table to help you make your own:

If you do not have enough time for that, I will be honest and say that I do not, here are some great product lines that I love and use (these are affiliate links – thank you in advance for supporting this blog!):

• Method
• The Honest Co.
• Seventh Generation
• Mr. Meyers

These companies sell all sustainable, natural products that actually give better cleaning results than the chemical (created for warfare, don’t forget) cleaning products. They also use all recycled material – which I love. It is true, try it and see!

I grew up using these chemical products. When I had my first baby, a friend asked me what I was using for cleaning now that the baby was here. I curiously asked her why and she pointed out to me the ginormous list of chemical ingredients on the bottles of these chemical cleaning products and explained that they were releasing harmful toxins into our air. She then introduced me to Method and I tried it. Wow, what a difference! Not only could you breathe easier in our house (and I had not realized that we were not breathing as best as we could be), but it truly felt much more clean, really!

So now that you have read this, go take a look in your cleaning cabinet and find out what is in there! If you are not up for trying your own, run to the store (or order above on my affiliate links and help support this blog!), buy some (they are affordable and a lot of the time are around the same price as the chemical products) and try it today!

Please comment and tell us how your transformation into a natural household is going! And we would love to hear any tips you may have too!

Cheers and Happy Cleaning!
Malibu Mama Loves Xx

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