Healthy House Cleaning (Long but food for thought)

[Linariel]

Thank you, I can't wait to try that recipe! I am picking up some spray bottles tonight, I am so excited.

Wow. I am excited over cleaning products.

[EagleEye]

Me too, Linariel! I spent this morning just cleaning and cleaning. It smells so nice.

BTW, what do you think of Mrs. Meyer's cleaners?

[concreterose]

Me too, Linariel! I spent this morning just cleaning and cleaning. It smells so nice.

BTW, what do you think of Mrs. Meyer's cleaners?

ooohhhh, I am addicted to Mrs. Meyers laundry soap! It's super expensive, but a jug lasts me over a month because it's so concentrated! I use the hand soap too. I don't buy the all purpose cleaner or scrub because I make my own, and they are pretty pricey! But I did splurge and buy the linen spray...I love how my clothes smell after I iron now, and I spray the rugs, couches,dog beds and bedspreads with it.
I can't believe I get this excited over cleaning products

[Linariel]

Thanks so much for that recipe, I made a big bottle of peppermint scented this week. I clean my sinks, counters, tub, shower, and around my tub and toilet with this cleanser, it is awesome!

[RodentRanger]

For my husband and I, it's not just about the chemical hazards, but also about the environmental impact and the garbage we create by using a lot of disposable stuff (who needs dish soap wipes?! I've never had a problem with my scrubber that I run through the dishwasher every load...) and oodles of plastic bottles. We're on septic, Kailie my white dog is super sensitive, and our ferrets all have cancer-then you add my asthmatic mom who visits often, and I'm fairly limited in chemical usage anyway.

Our garbage company charges per can left out, so we want to create as little trash as possible. We currently generate more recyclables than trash, which is good because our recycle bin is twice the size of our trash bin! We have even gotten better about recycling in every room-not just the kitchen and office. We used to just throw away toilet paper rolls, toiletry packaging (toothpaste boxes etc), and other non-obvious recycleables. Now it all gets recycled.

We have a small compost bin in the kitchen which gets emptied into the big'un behind the garage when it needs it. We even compost our dryer lint! We don't use dryer sheets-we use the dryer balls to prevent static instead. We are using cloth diapers and wipes when the baby comes. The wipe solution is small hand made organic soap chunks that you add to water.

I use PetGanics floor cleaner to clean my laminate wood floors. Supposedly, you can spray it in your mouth and it's fine. If you don't dilute it well enough, it does leave a sticky residue. They also make tub and tile cleaner, an all surface cleaner and I think one more that I can't remember. I use my old Clorox clean up "mop" with the PetGanics in the bottle and an old rag on the wipey part. Then I throw the rag in the wash. No garbage until the PetGanics bottle is empty, and it's recycleable! I use a product called Anti-Icky Poo (a mutant strain of bacteria and enzymes that eat nasties) to clean up accidents in the house-it even works on male cat pee! It freaks my husband out that I spray mutant nasties to "clean up" normal nasties, but they smell better! I use it in critter laundry to control the animal funk too. I love that stuff!

I also dislike the fact that it can be very difficult to find non-antibacterial hand soap! I draw a weird line between germphobia and what I call germiness. I don't like to use bar soap or sponges because of the germs that sit on and in them procreating like no one's business. But I don't want antibacterial everything either. Hubby is the opposite...He prefers antibacterial bar soap because it's cheap and kills the nasties he encounters at work and I've caught him using the same sponge to clean everything. You just can't clean the counter with the same sponge you cleaned to the toilet with! I don't use sponges at all when I clean. I use rags that then go into the wash. I'm not even sure where he gets the sponges he uses...I haven't bought any in more than 2 years...

Quick question: Anyone have a recipe for an effective MOLD killer? Living in the rain forest, our home's average humidity is around 85-90%, so we have a big issue with mold. We bought a dehumidifier last winter and are able to keep the humidity down around 70% in the room the unit is in (it rolls, so we move it around as needed). We are currently using bleach to kill existing funk, but I would like a friendlier alternative if anyone has one.

[concreterose]

Where do you get the Anti-Icky Poo? It sounds neat!

For dehumidifying, I just use dehumidifiers. I don't know of any other non-toxic alternative to keeping it at bay, short of tearing out the area where the mold is.

We have (had) mold in our basement,and the dehumidifiers did an awesome job of drying it out. I had one, it wasn't enough, bought another, and it did the trick.

[RodentRanger]

You can get anti icky poo at www.antiickypoo.com . Some vets sell it and a very few independent pet store carry it.

The mold is really frustrating! When we bought the house, it had single pane storm windows that sweat really bad! We tore all those out and put in energy star double pane vinyl windows, which helped quite a bit. The dehumidifier we bought claims to be good for 1200 square feet, and our house is 1188...cutting it close. They're just so expensive to purchase and run when you have to run them 8-10 months out of the year!

[fllady]

I don't use chemicals to clean at all. My daughter had allergies as did some of my dogs so I started researching. Steam cleaning is used in Europe but they aren't the handheld steamers, or the steam cleaners that extract H20. To be effective they have to heat to at least 240 degrees and deliver the steam at a minimum of 4 barr of pressure. (This is also recommended by the Asthma medical groups). This is also enough heat and pressure to kill spores/viruses/bacteria. I also wanted a stainless steel water reservoir. After a lot of looking for a machine that did not cost thousands of dollars I finally found a machine I could afford. $299.00 I bought mine from All Brands and the company is fantastic:
http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp08691-0086.html

I have had my unit for 4 years and use the heck out of it. The unit now comes with an iron that I don't have, a good friend just got one of these same units, it functions the same as mine, same company.

I use this thing on my mattresses (kills dust mites), pillows, furniture, dog crates, cement basement floor, shower stall, you name it. It kills flea eggs so they don't hatch. If you have stains it is not a cleaner, I will spot clean if I have a stain. When I was in Florida I used it on my tile floors, I could clean 1000 sq. ft of tile, start to finish in less than a 1/2 hour. Because of the high heat and pressure it dries almost instantly. I have no smell of dogs in my home, no flea problems, and my daughter doesn't have problems when she visits. I bought her one also. I can't say enough about this thing. I also used it on my leather furniture. You won't believe the dirt coming off furniture! Other uses car engine, interior of the car, tires of the car. I don't use it on the body of the car it would take off any wax.

Just wanted to let y'all know.

When I wash the dogs I use a Tea Tree (Melaleuca) shampoo. I bought it for less than $20/gal. which included S&H from an Equine site. I will try to find the link. I have it on the invoice.

[peder]

what is castille soap?
i have looked at Dr. Bronners website and i cant see it

[TylerBing]

what is castille soap?
i have looked at Dr. Bronners website and i cant see it

Here are some links for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_soap

http://www.drbronner.com/index.html

[peder]

Thank you

[SweetCoral81]

Any healthy tips for getting a flea infestation under control? I already vacuum like crazy and all the pets are treated with Frontline or Advantage. I've tried washing in hot soapy water and drying blankets and stuff on high-heat. I'm at a loss and if I can't get them under control I'll have to bomb the house.

[concreterose]

Any healthy tips for getting a flea infestation under control? I already vacuum like crazy and all the pets are treated with Frontline or Advantage. I've tried washing in hot soapy water and drying blankets and stuff on high-heat. I'm at a loss and if I can't get them under control I'll have to bomb the house.

You could try Flea Busters

[SweetCoral81]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[egostang]

Anti-bacterial stuff is VERY VERY bad. The germ phobia in this country is the source of MANY diseases. If you are never exposed to germs then you never become immune to them.

There is also a lot of research on the 'super germs' that are developing due to them resisting the anti-bacterial stuff.

I try to keep the chemical use in my house to a minimum.

Michelle

This is true to an extent. but most of the super germs are actually viruses which antibacterials don't kill anyways.

The thing is when they say 99.99% of germs it means that .01% of the germs are naturally hardy enough to resist the concoction, meaning those bacteria will have a higher chance of propogating because the other less resistant strain is dead. It's man made evolution.