How to maintain a chemical-free home
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Your Bedroom & Living Areas
This is a basic list of ingredients you will need in order to stop using those (often) dangerous chemicals found in most cleaning products. These ingredients are basically non-toxic and some of them are even used in food we eat:
- Bicarbonate of soda - this is found in the cooking section of your local supermarket. Buy lots, as it is used a great deal in natural cleaning
- Lemons - the whole lemon and their juice are used for their excellent acidic nature, use only organic lemons
- Linseed oil - the oil of flax (linseed) has excellent polishing properties for wooden furniture and hardwood flooring
- Olive oil - the oil of olives interestingly has some excellent polishing properties for wooden furniture
- Organic all purpose spray - this should be "100% certified organic" ortherwise it will contain artificial additives and toxic chemicals. This can be used instead of conventional cleaning sprays on any harder to clean surfaces (or for the sake of providing time-poor people with extra convenience, but using a wholesome, natural product)
- Organic dishwashing liquid - this should be "100% certified organic" ortherwise it will contain artificial additives
- Organic laundry liquid - this should be "100% certified organic" ortherwise it will contain artificial additives
- Salt - either rock salt or fine grain rock salt, just make sure it does not have any anti-caking agent
- Soda water - this is excellent to use to remove wine stains
- Vinegar (white) - use only white vinegar as any other type may cause discolouration
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Other items (non-edible) to use:
- Eucalyptus oil - this pure essential oil is produced from the eucalyptus tress, which is native to Australia and has many uses
- Fly swat - this is the best way to avoid using chemical fly and other insect deterrants
- Lavender oil - this pure essential oil is the oil of lavender flowers and has a great number of uses
- Pure soap (unscented) - use only unscented soap with no artificial ingredients (preferably organic)
- Tea tree oil - this pure essential oil is produced by the tea tree which is native to Australia and has many uses
Note: All the essential oils above should not, under any circumstances be ingested orally, as they can cause poisoning. Sometimes you can get the essential oils in a mixture of oil, which is much milder. Always follow the instructions on the labels.
Bedroom / Living Areas
- Air freshener - mix 5-6 drops of lavender oil with 1 Litre of water in a clean spray bottle; shake to mix the oil and water; spray around the room to have a fragrant lavender aroma that will make any room smell lovely
- Cupboard doors - use a cloth moistened with warm water to rub over the doors to clean them; any dirty areas should be cleaned with the warm cloth dipped in some bicarbonate of soda and then wipe clean with a wet cloth; finish it with a wipe from a dry cloth
- Furniture polish - add some olive oil to a small bowl and dip a clean, dry cloth into the olive oil to be slightly moistened with the oilive oil; start polishing your wooden furniture until it gleems
- Glass - spray with the all purpose cleaning spray and wipe over with a dry cloth until clean
- Hard flooring - in a bucket, mix 1-2 cap-fulls of laundry liquid with warm water and add a few drop of lavender oil and a few drops of eucalyptus oil (it should not be too soapy); then, with a mop (or scrubbing brush), use this to clean the hard flooring. For quicker drying, use a dry mop on the area after it has been cleaned
- Metal surfaces (aluminium) - add either laundry lquid or dishwashing liquid to a bucket of warm water and moisten a cloth to wash the surface; finish with a wipe from a dry cloth to dry the surface
- Metal surfaces (copper & brass) - use a paste of bicarbonate of soda (or fine rock salt) and white vinegar (or lemon juice) rubbed onto the surface with a dry cloth; leave the paste to dry and then simply polish off with the dry cloth, wiping off any excess
- Metal surfaces (pewter) - use some fine steel wool moistened with olive oil and gently rub the pewter surface in one direction; finish by polishing all over the surface with a soft cloth
- Metal surfaces (silver) - make a polish mixture from 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda plus one 1 tablespoon of fine rock salt together with 1 litre of water. Add this mixture to a large, old pot (use it only for this purpose) on the stovetop; add a 20cm piece of aluminium foil into the mixture and boil; once the mixture is boiling, use tongs to place silver items in the boiling mixture for about 2 minutes; after that, remove each item, cool and rinse them; finish by polishing with a soft, dry cloth to get the silver really gleaming and shiny
- Metal surfaces (stainless steel) - moisten a dry cloth with some white vinegar and add some bicarbonate of soda and use this to wipe the sink; rinse with some warm water to remove all the bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and finish with a wiping over with a clean moist cloth and then a dry cloth
- Plastic surfaces - use a cloth moistened with warm water to rub over the doors to clean them; any dirty areas should be cleaned with the warm cloth dipped in some bicarbonate of soda and then wipe clean with a wet cloth; finish it with a wipe from a dry cloth
- Special furniture polish - for wooden furniture that shows some tarnish and wear, mix together equal parts of white vinegar and olive oil (linseed oil is preferable in this case); dip a clean, dry cloth into the vinegar-oil mixture to be slightly moistened and start polishing your furniture until it gleems and looks better
Last reviewed: 21 June 2009 || Last updated: 18 January 2010
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references
- Samways L. The Non-Toxic House: Making your home and work environment pollutant-free. Green Press, Australia 1991
- Stewart, R. The Clean House Effect: Hundreds of Practical, Inexpensive Ways to Reduce the Use of Chemicals in Your Home.
NOTE: Mega doses of any type of vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal supplement cannot cure illnesses and in fact can be very dangerous and produce toxic side effects and interfere with medicine you are taking. Always ensure you consult your doctor before taking any type of complementary supplements.
Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.