Green Cleaning your home for your benefit and ours

Why a Green Home is Good For You
Certain ingredients in cleaning products and air fresheners can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a common source of indoor air pollutants and can result in irritation of the eyes, skin and respiratory system and contribute to other health issues long term. Immediate health effects often include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat; headaches; dizziness; and fatigue. Certain chemicals may result in disorders of the nervous and reproductive systems or be associated with cancer and heart disease.

Health effects from indoor air pollutants are sometimes experienced immediately upon exposure but they may possibly only become evident years later. A good resource for more information is the EPA Indoor Air Quality website. The EPA has pointed out that levels of certain pollutants to be two to five times higher inside homes (where people spend 90% of their time) than outside.

In 1999 New Scientist published a report indicating that in homes where aerosol sprays and air fresheners were used frequently, mothers experienced 25 percent more headaches and were 19 percent more likely to suffer from depression, and infants under six months of age had 30 percent more ear infections and 22 percent higher incidence of diarrhea.

Products with fragrances may also trigger asthma and allergic reactions, with symptoms including skin and respiratory irritation, headaches, and watery eyes.

Why a Green Home is Good For The Planet
Most conventional dish and laundry detergents and fabric softeners contain a line up of hazardous compounds. Dish and laundry detergents are made from petroleum which is a nonrenewable resource and some contain alkyphenol ethoxylates that don't readily biodegrade. They are thought to disrupt hormone activity and can threaten wildlife after they go down your drain . Ethoxylated alcohols in liquid detergents can also contain cancer causing 1,4-dioxane.

Fragranced detergents and fabric softeners can contain chemicals which have been linked to cancer and reproductive-system harm. Most dish and laundry soaps no longer used phosphates which were known to clog waterways but they can still be found in dishwasher detergents. They are highly caustic and can be fatal if swallowed.

There are other harmful chemicals which when combined can be carcinogenic and harmful to our water resources.

Chlorine bleach commonly found in scouring powders and cleaning solutions is highly caustic. These products travel down our drains in to the environment where they can create organochlorines, which are suspected to be toxic to the reproductive, neurological, and immune systems and are also considered to be carcinogens.

Drain, oven, and toilet-bowl cleaners contain corrosive ingredients. Furniture and metal cleaners can contain nerve-damaging petroleum distillates or formaldehyde, a carcinogen.

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Non-Toxic, Biodegradable Alternative Cleaning Solutions

Green Cleaning means using cleaning products that aren't harmful to the environment. There are many wonderful companies selling non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning products so we'll be adding links to these as we find them. There are also some easy ways you can also make your own at home using common household supplies like baking soda and white vinegar. When we find tips on eco-friendly cleaning tips or products we'll share them with you and point you to relevant links.

Citrus Cleaning
The citrus line-up includes oranges, lemons and grapefruits but also lime, bergamot and kumquat. Not only do they look good and smell great their essential oils are wonderful cleaners which are increasingly being used by manufacturers to create environmentally friendly cleaning products. Lemon juice can be used to remove stains from solid surface countertop and when mixed with salt can help to remove rust stains from hardware. Orange and lemon rind can be used as a wonderful air freshener and to reduce odors from trash cans and garbage disposals. Lemon oil is the most effective natural glass cleaner but orange oil works too and best of all they leave a smudge free sheen. It is the citric acid that works to remove calcium build-up on shower doors. Lemon oil found in many commercial furniture polishes works wonderfully well on it's own to clean and protect your wood furniture.

Essential Oil
Certain essentials oils are great disinfectants and natural deodorizers. Lavender, ginger, pine and clove are good choices and many also have antiseptic properties. Lemon oils is useful for keeping your kitchen clean and germ-free while essential oil from cloves will help to eliminate cooking odors. Grease is not match for lavender essential oil which is a useful addition to your kitchen and bathroom cleaning supplies. Pine essential oil is useful inside and outside your home to keep certain insects at bay and to discourage destructive buds from visiting your garden.

Vinegar
Vinegar is safe to use as an all-purpose cleaner on most surfaces (marble is not one of them) and has the added benefit of being a great disinfectant and it is really inexpensive. It may be stating the obvious to say that vinegar is acidic but it is this fact which makes it very important to dilute it adequately before using it as a cleaner (one part water to one part vinegar). You may be thinking that you don't want your house smelling like a salad dressing but don't worry the trademark smell of vinegar disappears once it dries.

Vinegar can be used in the bathroom, kitchen and even the laundry room. When using on countertops or tile areas always test a small area just to make sure it will not damage your surface. In the bathroom you can use it to clean the sinks, bathtub and toilet. You can use undiluted vinegar as a disinfectant inside the toilet bowl. Use diluted vinegar to clean the floors and in the kitchen to clean appliances, the stove, hood and fixtures. In the laundry room you can use the vinegar as an all purpose cleaner but it does double duty as a fabric softener. Just half a cup of vinegar can be used to instead of commercial fabric softener during the rinse cycle.

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