Reduce chemicals in the home

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wishbone

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I have no affiliation with the company whose link I provide below but just feel that the amount of chemicals we are using in our houses to clean everything from the loo to the worktops to the floor is horrendous and completely unnecessary (and not easier). If we were all to use products like washing soda, bicarb of soda and vinegar instead of the squirties and the creams, we'd all be better off. Maybe not for everything, my aim is not to change the world overnight at least :) but at least for some things.

Check out [broken link removed] for good cleaning tips using the cleaning sodas above. Bearing in mind that you cook with all of the above - it certainly should make you feel happier making a sandwich directly on your worktop...

As a suggestion - I use Washing Soda for cleaning a lot of stuff. I make the strong solution and put in a squirty bottle. Then squirt and rub with a green scratchy cloth, and I tell you - it's fab - doesn't smell, and looks even better than with cream cleansers, especially ceramics. De mudder used to use this years ago, added a small squirt of wash-up liquid for the floors. And it's only 1e a 1kg pack...so better all round.
 
Why the inference/supposition that "chemicals" are "bad"? Aren't washing soda, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar made of "chemicals"? :confused:
 
I actually said to reduce chemicals in the home, not annihilate them. It's the quantity of chemicals in these (so many to choose from) cleaners that are bad, the combination and the fact that they are more than likely non-biodegradable, not to mention that you probably wouldn't want to cook with any of that stuff you squirt in the shower or pour down the toilet...hence why would you want your food, hands etc to touch it?

Hey - I'm not looking for an argument or a chemistry lesson - it's a fact that these products would be better for you than the cream cleansers and the squirties with bleach etc. Not to mention they do not contribute to toxic build up, are much cheaper and biodegradable. You choose.
 
" Why the inference/supposition that "chemicals" are "bad"? ..."

Because many of them may well be. As a general rule, if a "chemical" has existed and if we have been exposed to it, for hundreds or thousands of years, then there is a fair chance that its hazards, if any, will be known. Our modern pharmaceutical and toiletries industries have concocted many products with ingredients that are, in essence, new to humanity. It is certainly possible (and it is a view which I hold) that precautionary principles are not applied with sufficient diligence in the make-up of many of these products. Take household toiletries. Many of them contain chemicals whose benefits (a nice creamy consistency, optical whitening, a pleasant scent etc.) may well be outweighed by the environmental costs. One example is the way in which various products apparently break down to form oestrogen-like compounds, whose effect on us is as yet unquantified but which many respectable scientists feel could be possibly significant.

Google the American spelling estrogen and you will get links to numberous reputable studies. Here is a starting point.
[broken link removed]
 
A number of the more recent cleaning systems which have been developed in the industry actually require you to apply 2 or more different solutions which actually neutralise one another within a very short time but still clean. Unfortunately most of these are only available on the commercial market. They do require training to ensure the correct application.
 
Iv stopped using commercial cleaners for my loo, instead i use white vinegar. My query is where can i buy a large gallon of white vinegar and is vinegar ok for toilets and plugholes with bio septic tank?
 
Has anyone heard of this compound that is found in almost all household cleaners called DHMO (dihydro mono oxide)? I heard it is lethal if inhaled in large doses and yet people use it every day in their houses!!
 
Grus said:
Has anyone heard of this compound that is found in almost all household cleaners called DHMO (dihydro mono oxide)?
Click to expand...
It's almost impossible to know what's in products nowadays - the generic label is 'contains amongst other ingredients' so your dihydro mono-oxide might well be there...and who knows in what quantity...
 
Grus said:
Has anyone heard of this compound that is found in almost all household cleaners called DHMO (dihydro mono oxide)? I heard it is lethal if inhaled in large doses and yet people use it every day in their houses!!
Click to expand...

Well..... according to this we are all screwed

then again perhaps you should also read this
 
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Hi Ninsaga, I was trying to make the point that not all chemicals are dangerous and just because they have unusual scientific names does not make them so. Maybe I made my point too subtly. Well I'm glad someone copped on and actually looked up what this "lethal" DHMO actually is.
 
We use a lot of stuff, cleansers, detergents, etc. around our homes, kids, pets, work-places that we don't understand. I think we need to re-assess our use of this stuff and stick with some better understood simpler chemicals for safety's sake and save a few quid into the bargain.
 
I've been using bicarb, vinegar, essential oils for years. My reasons are: salves my conscience about chemicals going into the septic, cost - cheap as chips, and it's very satisfying to make up a cleaner that is both the above, and you can use without kitting up like a spaceman (exaggeration I know, but still ...), and I can add whatever scent I like using essential oils. Also, I didn't really want anything in my home that advises to keep out of reach of children/pets.
 
heard some lady on the derek mooney show on wednesday gushing about a cleaning product called e cloths, she said they cost between €8 and €18, anyone know anything about them
 
I use ecover for all my household stuff as well as vinegar and bicarb of soda. It's nice to have a loo cleaner which is just white and not some flourescent colour. Their stuff is bio degradable and non toxic to wildlife and therefore much better to have in the home / be flushing down the drain.

I buy the wash up liquid and multi purpose cleaner in 5litre drums and refill them at the Eco shop in Wicklow once a year. Saves on all those daft plastic bottles.

I like ecover because way back when I was a student I read about their eco factory in the Netherlands and was so impressed I just started buying their stuff when I could.
[broken link removed]

No association with ecover.
 
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