Alternative Cleaning Products

Women are statistically more often afflicted with chemical sensitivity because of our traditional roles as house cleaners. Because of this social history, we have been and still are exposed to some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet. I, personally, would like a new role.



I'd rather be an heiress.

Laundry  I am laundry-impaired. Always have been. Unfortunately, unless I win the Lotto someday, doing laundry is a lifestyle requirement I haven't be able to ignore. I use Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid for soap. It bubbles too much so I am careful not to put too much in the washer. Planet laundry detergent makes me wheeze so it's OUT. 


Vinegar is added for germ killing and dye setting with dark clothes, and hydrogen peroxide for germ killing with light clothes.

Borax is used for really dirty stuff, but nothing that I have to wear or sleep on as it's too strong.

Every now and then I use bleach for whites. Because I dislike dull, dingy whites and laundresses needs to use bleach to get them bright, I have few whites in my life. To use bleach, I need to seal off the laundry room, open the windows and wash the load. Then wash it again without bleach two or three times more to get the stink out. (UPDATE: NEW DISCOVERY: Vinegar neutralizes bleach. During the rinse cycle, put on a mask, open the washing machine and dump in about 1/4 gallon of vinegar. Whites come out white without any bleach smell! Same if you inadvertently get bleach on your hands while adding it - wash them in vinegar.)  I've tried hydrogen peroxide for bleach - it's never worked for me, but again, I'm cursed when it comes to laundry skills so maybe it was just me.

I did recently discover ammonia. I guess you are supposed to use it for oils instead of bleach. Am I the only one that didn't know this? As long as I wear a mask, seal the room off, open the windows, I'm fine with ammonia and the smell is gone by the end of the rinse so unlike bleach, I don't have to do multiple washings.  (Ammonia is also used to excite a compost pile into faster composting.)

No dryers here. They damage clothes and waste electricity.

Buying anything new involves washing it multiple times before it's worn. Sheets or other bedding I must wash a minimum of ten times before I can go near them let alone sleep with them due to the formaldehyde and other chemicals manufacturers use to deter mildew in storage.  I opt for organic products whenever possible, but they are very expensive. Most bedding I get is from estate sales, brand new, still in the package, for $3 to $10. Hard to pass up. This is how I end up with whites or dark colors and need to figure out how to wash them safely.

I also avoid buying anything from China as products from China tend to be over treated with chemicals. I never buy synthetic fabrics which are made from petrochemicals. Just the feel of synthetics make me cringe and they always need fabric softener or fabric sheets to stop static electricity and that horrid cling. <shiver>  I stick with mostly cottons and wools, organic if I can find it.



The All-Purpose Miracle Soap

Oven Cleaner Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid, sometimes non-aluminum baking soda, always a pumice scouring stick that gets off any baked on gunk.

Car Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid. It's environmentally safe.



Toilets Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid and Borax. For a good scrubbing or  iron stain removal, I use a pumice scouring stick.


Baths and Showers Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid for bubble scrubbing, vinegar to kill any residue, germs and mildew. (Don't use vinegar on marble - it eats it.)


Windows Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid to scrub off dirt and grime, then hot water and a little bit of vinegar for rinsing. Wipe dry with a rag.

Dishes I use Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid for basic bubbly soap and aluminum-free baking soda or scouring pads for scrubbing.

Carpets I don't have toxic carpets, only wood and tile floors and cotton throw rugs. But on occasion I rent one of those carpet cleaners and do furniture or the carpeting inside my van. I use SafeChoice Carpet Shampoo which is chemical free and odorless. I bought two gallons of this stuff two years ago and I've only gone through a half a gallon so far. First, I rinse out the rental cleaner with vinegar and water. Then I add some shampoo, turn it on, and wash nothing as I flush out residue left from the chemical shampoo. When I think it's properly cleaned and rinsed, I add the SafeChoice shampoo like normal and shampoo. If I ever run out of this stuff, guess what I'll be using? Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid. :)

Floors Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid and peppermint oil with a bucket and a scrub brush. Then I rinse and polish with a towel. I can tolerate small doses of peppermint oil. I use it because spiders hate it and I hate spiders.

No spiders...

Deodorizers and Air Fresheners These products are so incredibly toxic I don't know how anyone tolerates them. Instead of chemicals, I boil some cinnamon or cloves in a pan and everything smells like cinnamon rolls. When I have spider-treated my house with peppermint oil, people say it smells wonderful, but I don't tolerate essential oils much so I avoid using them. Although essential oils are professed to be "natural", jacking up a smell five million times its natural scent is anything but natural. I also use non-aluminum baking soda in a bowl to suck up smells, vinegar in a bowl to rid a room of paint fumes, and freshly ground coffee beans for other, more serious offgassing issues.

Wood Polish I don't have a lot of bare wood in my house, but I have used olive oil and coconut oil on furniture and wooden things. I read that's what was used in history.

My personal stash....

I love Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid. It's the only soap-like product I can tolerate. I emailed the company and told them how much I loved it and they mailed me coupons. It is expensive, and will cost you anywhere from $3.99 to $4.15 a bottle. I wait until it's on sale at $2.99, buy a case, and get another 10% off the whole lot. I also use Planet to wash wounds and kill garden pests!

So...how many different products does one really need to clean?  If you eliminate Pinesol, Lysol, Windex, Tidy Bowl, Mr. Clean, Easy Off, Shout, Comet, Dawn, Pledge, Ajax, Downy, Fabreze, Glade, Renuzit, Bounce, and Tide (I can't even do unscented Tide - it stinks!),  how much poisonous exposure would you avoid per day? How much money would you save? Probably enough to splurge for some organic food!