Home cleaning tips with fewer chemicals

Parents naturally want to do everything they can to keep their children safe. But ironically, some of the same products we use to clean and freshen our homes can also introduce unwanted chemicals that linger in the air. Certain household cleaners and air fresheners fall into that category because they can emit volatile organic compounds.

Ongoing exposure to VOCs can contribute to eye, skin, and respiratory irritation; short- and long-term memory impairment; and even organ damage and cancer, depending on the specific chemicals and the extent of the exposure.

Here are some steps you can take to avoid introducing VOCs to your indoor air when you clean:

Avoid aerosol sprays. These include air fresheners, cleaners, and furniture polish.

Consider fume-free or homemade cleaners and avoid mixing and using different cleaners simultaneously. Check out these do-it-yourself cleaning recipes.

Prevent odors. Rather than using air fresheners, get rid of the source of the odor or leave a box of baking soda in the smelly area.

Limit dry cleaning that uses perc (perchloroethylene) and air out treated items before bringing them indoors. You can also try “wet” cleaning or other services that don’t use perc.

Read the rest of this and other posts on our ShopSmart blog. And learn more about low-VOC interior paints on our Home blog.

Do you try to minimize chemicals in your home? How? We'd like to hear your tips.

Comments

[Chris Colenso-Dunne]

We live in the tropics by the beach. We get mould like you would not believe was possible, if you have only ever lived in a temperate climate.

We have found that ordinary, cheapo, malt vinegar seems to work well as a general purpose disinfectant. It also works very well as an anti-mould agent. Vinegar is much less volatile than other so-called ''natural disinfectants'' like eucalyptus oil, which usually, unfortunately, triggers terrible migraines in my wife when she smells it.

Vinegar, which typically is an up to 10% by volume solution of acetic acid, is of course a mixture of chemicals (as is water, including steam; air; and everything we eat). Nonetheless, as chemicals go, vinegar seems relatively innocuous compared to solutions of chlorine bleach.

And, of course, nothing beats old fashioned elbow grease and vigorous rubbing with a damp cloth made from polypropylene micro-fibre.

[Jack]

What about the various steam mops and hand held devices? Are they any good? They certainly don't have the chemicals in them that you recommend against, so why not review them?

Jack