We live in a smallish house. Until building out a closet in one of the bedrooms, we only had 3 closets in the whole house. Storage is an issue. So when it came to find safe places to hide cleaning chemicals from the lads I had to relinquish my hold on bleach and ammonia based products. I ditched those and replaced them with old school basics – primarily vinegar and baking soda. I can store these simple products under the bathroom sinks. Unlike some of the delicious citrus smelling chemicals, I have very little fear that one of the lads would take a big swig of vinegar or spoonful of baking soda. And, if they did, it wouldn’t harm them.
There are also the added environmental benefits of choosing vinegar and baking soda for the majority of my cleaning needs. Cleaner air is the primary one. With all of the pollution that children are exposed to these days, why make the inside of your house an exposure source? Studies of human exposure to air pollutants by the EPA indicate that indoor levels of pollutants may be 2 to 5 times, and occasionally, more than 100 times, higher than outdoor pollutant levels. Home cleaning products are often a culprit in poor indoor air quality.
If you’re looking for old school cleaning recipes, the web abounds in them. Here are a few sites with recipes:
http://www.ecocycle.org/hazwaste/recipes.cfm
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html#
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/assemble-a-green-cleaning-kit.html
Happy cleaning.
by Lena Cox, aka MomOfSuperheroes
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