non-toxic cleaning

If your life is anything like mine, spring cleaning does not get completed in one fell swoop. Mine’s dragged out for weeks. But this weekend, my hissing air purifier reminded me of a few places germs love to hide out while we’re all distracted with cleaning out our closets, scrubbing our grout and weeding our gardens.

Especially when there are flu and virus outbreaks in your community, added protection against germs is often warranted. Try these homemade essential oil mists — an easy way to add antiviral and antibacterial yet natural scent to your home. They are proven allies in the fight against germs, and they don’t pose the health dangers of many store-bought disinfectants.

If you could wave a magic wand over the world and turn a toxic product into a pure, eco-friendly version, what would you transform first? For me, my number one choice would be pesticides. Hands down. My reason does have a lot to do with the fact that I was severely poisoned by organophosphate pesticides in 1980 and was in the hospital for three months.

Bleach is one of those household items that has been around for so long no one can remember when we didn’t use it. So it’s often assumed to be non-toxic and even natural. While bleach isn’t the worst toxin you could have in your home, it is an EPA-registered pesticide that is bad news for the environment and human health — and there’s really no reason you need it around.

Using toxic chemicals is so last century. If you’re still doing your spring cleaning the same way you always have, this is the year to change it up — and save money in the process. Make these 5 updates and clean the house top to bottom without taking a toll on your health or your wallet.

Do you hang dry-cleaned clothes in your bedroom closet? If so, guess what you are breathing all night long: a probable carcinogen. Dry cleaning chemical fumes depress your central nervous system as they waft around the room. If this isn’t exactly your idea of a healthy sanctuary, try wet-washing as one alternative to conventional dry cleaning. Here’s how.

Given how many requests I receive for eco-friendly stain removal advice, I thought I would share with you my top three stain-removing formulas. They replace solvents, bleach and store-bought stain removers.

1. Washing Soda

Great for stains that you’d normally think need something as strong as a solvent to remove. A chemical relative of baking soda, washing soda (sodium carbonate) is also known as soda ash. Find it in the laundry section of the supermarket.

Baking soda. What a cleaning mainstay in my home. I believe one reason I always associate it with clean is because it is an odor killer: It leaves everything smelling fresh.

As part of my new year overhaul I spent about five hours cleaning my kitchen. I washed the curtains, cleaned out the fridge and scrubbed the white double sink. Because I was in the mood to be very thorough — not something I give myself over to very often when cleaning — I was on a mission to remove the yellowing on the bottom of the sinks.

There’s a new phrase in town — “body burden” — and no, it doesn’t refer to the weight you gained over the holidays, nor that husband who doesn’t help around the house.