There was a (pretty recent) time in my life that I thought recycling was a joke, I had at least 4 different brands of shampoo and conditioner in the shower at once, I had every cleaner/detergent/disinfectant crammed under my kitchen/bathroom/laundry sink and of course I thought that was okay. Why would that be a problem?
It all started so innocently... I was reading up on how to make my own perfume (just for fun!) when I started uncovering so much information on how dangerous chemicals are in PrACtiCallY everything we put on our bodies (or use in our homes). Like pretty much known cancer causing ingredients. Ew. Creepy, right? I'm sure we've all heard (and in some ways become immune to) about everything causing cancer, but I didn't realize just how bad it is. So, immediately my silly over protective mom brain kicks in and I'm all, protect my kids? ON. IT. {Now, I'm not stupid, I know I can make all these changes and someone can still get cancer or any other terrible affliction. However, I do like to do what I can to take care of mine, and, this stuff is cheap! So, why the heck not?} So, let me just throw out some reading material for you to get all creepified like me:
Top TOXIC Ingredients to avoid (and why!)
I genuinely believe that what we put IN our bodies (by way of food) is critical to our
Here is a quick run down of some of the changes we've made in the past 7 months-
1- We are all "No 'poo"- it's been about 7 months since I've used traditional shampoo and conditioner (and like I mentioned above, I was a dirty shampoo junky, so this is a pretty big deal). I now use baking soda and water as my 'shampoo' and Apple Cider Vinegar and water as my 'conditioner'. You can google no 'poo and read about this for days, literally, but here is a link to one of my very favorite blogs for all things crunchy. Just read the whole Crunchy Betty blog while you're at it. Way more entertaining than me and super informative.
2- I use the Oil Cleansing Method to wash my face. Yes, I put oil on my face. Read about it here.
3- We use only non-toxic, all natural cleaners. I pretty much rely on vinegar and baking soda and essential oils. What's that you say? You have two of the three ingredients in your cabinet already?? Handy, I tell ya. This one is SO EASY, ya'll! Use up all your Clorox, Windex and Pledge or toss them out NOW (but save your spray bottles). I'm not going into detail on what I use to clean everything in our house, but I will give you a basic general cleaner 'recipe' that I love. And a link to some more info. Read more about all this when you have time. Read me. Read me too!
Fill an old spray bottle with half water, half white distilled vinegar, add essential oil (20-30 drops). This is a fantastic general purpose cleaner. I alternate between lavender, lemongrass and orange essential oils in mine. The vinegar smell dissipates pretty quick and the EO smells amazing. It works so good on windows- use with newspapers, not paper towels! The best non-streaking window and mirror cleaner out there. And I'm not going to do the math on this, but seriously, how cheap is that? Use this everywhere. You want to know my favorite part of using this? I can hand Jack the bottle and some towels and tell him to go to town. Toxic? No. My THREE year old can use it!
4- Buh-bye laundry detergent! Here is a recipe that's been working great for me: 3 T Borax and 3 T Washing soda (dissolve in a small amount of water in the bottom of a one gallon container- you'll have lots of these when you start using vinegar for EveRyTHinG!). Add water to the top, then add 1 T Dawn liquid dish soap (not sure on the ingredients of Dawn- I mean why is it brilliant blue?). Shake and enjoy. I have a front loader and use 1/2 C per load. My mom has a top loader and uses 1-2 Cups per load. If I need an extra rinse agent, I add vinegar to the 'bleach' spot. Or for towels, baking soda poured in the 'bleach' spot really helps with that musty towel smell. Bonus- if you do one after the other, you get a free science experiment!
5- Homemade dishwasher detergent- Here is the recipe I use: 1 C Borax, 1 C Washing Soda, 1/4 C kosher salt, 1/4 Lemi shine. Mix it all up. Use 2 T per load (I add a few drops of Dawn on top of the granulated stuff- and put plain white vinegar in the rinse agent spot).
6- Electronics cleaner (not that you use this one daily, but it's so cheap, I had to share)- equal parts rubbing alcohol and distilled water. More great info here!
7- Coconut oil as moisturizer. I think most people have jumped on the coconut oil band wagon, but if not, GIT on IT now. You can eat it, drink it, swish it (oil pulling), clean with it, use it in your hair, on your body, in your food. Really, just swim in a vat of it daily for optimum coconut oil usage. Just google it, people.
I have also recently been making my own body wash, lotion and hand soap... but I feel like this is getting a little wordy so I'll give ya a little run down of that later.
Honestly, I've just skimmed the surface of ways to reduce toxic chemicals in our home. But I'm also thrilled with how much I'm saving too. I feel like I can run a household on just a few items.
If you have some ideas for me, send them over! I have a long list of more things I want to make at home.
Have a super night :)
Shut up! I do the oil cleansing method! We use as many natural cleaners as possible too..and make our own laundry detergent! And food, oh man, I could go on and on, we aren't perfect, but we keep "junk" out as much as possible! I just got a soda stream to try making our own soda! Brandon uses plays along, but Im pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy most of the time ;)
ReplyDeleteHa! Well said- Chris plays along nicely, but I'm sure he would have no part in this madness if I didn't make him! Lol. We eat a paleo diet- and we do a pretty good job of not buying pantry food, just sticking to meat, fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds... but of course we're far from perfect. :) Let me know how that soda thing is, I've wondered about that! Wish we lived closer, we could discuss this over coffee and tattoos :)
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