Spray Cleaners Linked to Asthma: Discover Alternatives
Any asthma sufferers out there? If the answer is yes then you’ll be interested to know that spray cleaners have been linked to 1 in 7 cases of adult asthma. You don’t even have to use spray cleaners everyday, just once a week is enough to set off an attack a study by he Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain has revealed.
Furniture Sprays
Personally I hate these sprays, not only does it make me cough and sneeze but furniture experts say they are really bad for wood. Instead you should buy a traditional beeswax made from natural ingredients.
Here are a couple of other methods I’ve read about but not tried:
- Rub on some mayonnaise using a soft cloth.
- Brew up some black tea, leave it to cool, then wipe on with a soft cloth.
- Opal’s Recipe for Furniture Polish
Surface cleaners
Look out for eco products in the supermarket which use natural ingredients. If you want to clean your home with natural alternatives whilst saving money, here a few suggestions:-
- Vinegar – Wipe over kitchen countertops and your toilet bowl with a cloth. Easy.
- Bicarbonate of Soda – This is great stuff, it was the only thing that worked when my hair went really greasy. Can also be used to clean stains and remove odors.
- Orange Oil – we used to have a cleaner that was made with orange oil. Don’t know where it is now but it smelt great.
- Grapefruit juice – if your bath is really dirty try equal amounts of grapefruit juice and salt.
Airfreshers
Essential oils - If you haven’t done so already, get yourself a nice essential oil burner. Not only will it make your home smell nice but you’ll receive other health benefits depending on what oils you choose.
Bicarbonate of Soda – Sprinkle some onto your carpets before vacuuming.
Buy House Plants - According to studies by NASA, house plants can remove all sorts of horrible chemicals from the air. You don’t have to turn your home into a tropical jungle either, just a few plants per room will be enough.
How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office
If you like the idea of cleaning your home more ecologically and healthily then here are a few more links you might be interested in:-
- Natural Alternatives to Kitchen Cleaning Products
- Eco Cleaning
- Live Nontoxic Solutions
- Green Clean Home
- 62 little known uses of vinegar
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October 17th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Thanks for the mention. Those are all great ways to clean your place with non toxic products. I use tea tree in a lot of things also. It’s fairly effective way to kill germs. I also enjoy having house plants their are some that are easy to maintain so even if a person has a brown thumb their plant will flourish.
Ficus plants are easy to maintain.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I love tea tree oil too but mainly use it on my skin. When we get get the house sorted out better I’ll need to give your polish recipe a try. We have quite a lot of oak antique furniture.
Our ficus is in a sorry state though. It was very cold in the house over winter (ice cubes didn’t melt at “room temperature”) plus the walls are painted dark colours. Luckily the ficus has gone upstairs in a freshly painted off-white room and is recovering.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:12 am
I hope your ficus bounces back. I had a ficus that was suffering. I had my appendices removed several years ago. I was in the hospital for I think six days when I arrived home my ficus was miserable. It took a little while to get it to box back but if finally did. I was so happy, lol.
I use the tea tree oil mixed with lavender essential oil, and whatever else I’m in the mood for. I add water. This is used to spray my ferrets home/cage. It’s where they sleep, eat, and poop. It keeps the cage smelling wonderful. I also use the spray on my dogs blankets.
People tell me my house doesn’t smell like dogs. I have found that although simple it is extremely effective. I occasionally spray them, lol. At first they did not like it but now they don’t mind.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
[...] You can easily judge how much dust is in the air when beams of sunlight them. If there is quite a lot then you can buy an air filter to keep levels down. Flooring Choices - The best type of flooring is one you can clean with a mop, such as hardwood, laminate, bamboo or cork. This will be much easier to clean the carpeting. When cleaning your home it’s a good idea to use natural products because chemicals have been linked to asthma. [...]