I love spring – it smells so fresh and everything seems a little lighter and happier. As weird as it sounds, I look forward to spring cleaning. This year I’m extra excited to clean (Who says that? Wow. Who have I become?) because I have found some great cleaning products that are non-toxic and safer for us!
How do you know which cleaning products are safe?
Reading labels is hard. There are these long strange words that could mean chemicals or it’s a fancy name for something that’s natural and clean. I use two super helpful apps to give me some tips. They don’t cover every single product out there but it is still super handy when at the store and trying to figure out what to get! They are the Think Dirty app and the EWG Healthy Living App. You can type in the name of the product or scan the barcode and they give you a safety rating. The lower the number, the cleaner and safer the product.
One tip when it comes to ratings with fragrance: sometimes you’ll see a product is rated an eight and it’s only rated that for fragrance. You can check the label of the product to see if it is a natural oil or product that is scenting it. If so, it is safer than a synthetic and I take that in to consideration.
Where can you buy safe cleaning products?
Luckily, most local retailers will have a variety of clean cleaning products! I’ve found them at Dillon’s, Target, and Walmart. Some of my favorite non-toxic and cleaner products are the brands Method and Seventh Generation. The bleach and bathroom cleaners from Seventh Generation are some of my favorite products!
Grove Collaborative is great place to easily order non-toxic, effective, sustainable products. They exclusively feature products that meet the aforementioned qualifications as well as being cruelty free. They also carbon offset every shipment which is a pretty great feature! You can set up recurring shipments and flex them based on your needs. Another great perk is once you spend a certain amount, sometimes they have free gifts for you. I like shopping this site because I know what I’m ordering is going to be better for my family without having to think much.
There is another company I’ve heard wonderful things about but haven’t tried. It’s called Branch Basics. Their products are hypoallergenic, fragrance free, gluten-free, tree nut and peanut free plant and mineral based cleaning products. Their website says, “It has no harmful preservatives, stabilizers, brighteners, chelators, or surfactants. Branch Basic concentrate can even be used by the chemically sensitive and those with compromised immune systems.” Sounds pretty fantastic to me! I have a starter kit coming in and can’t wait to try it! If you’ve tried it, let me know what you think!
Natural Cleaning Products You Already Have in Your Pantry
My all-time favorite cleaner only has two ingredients: baking soda and vinegar. If you need to deodorize your garbage disposal or any water bottles or Tupperware, this combo is the best! This is my favorite combo to clean my oven with. I mix water, seventh generation dish soap and vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it all over the inside of my oven. Then I toss baking soda all over and give another good spray. Just let it sit for a little bit and take a scrubbing sponge to it then wipe out. Cleans like a dream and it’s natural and non-toxic!
I’m not an expert on this topic so I have done some research and am making an effort to find sustainable and better products for my household. I’m sure there are more pure products out there but I have found that the options above are accessible and easy to use. Some non-toxic products don’t work as well as the tried and true chemical products so it’s a trial and error process!
