Detoxing Your Home

A healthy body doesn’t only involve what you put into your mouth. In many cases, health issues stem from what we put on our skin or breathe into our lungs.

Our twenty-first century lives are saturated by the hundreds of thousands of synthetic chemicals in our homes and businesses. Popular cleaning products, personal care products, toys, furniture, carpet, clothes and more – all abound with dangerous chemicals. Many of these chemicals have not been tested for human and environmental toxicity and those which have been tested may still contain cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and endocrine (neurological disruptors).

In fact, one in three personal care products contain ingredients identified as possible human carcinogens. Many of these are damaging to reproductive health and the health of developing children. Below are some ways to detox your home and your life.

• Take your shoes off. – Leaving your shoes outside prevents lead, pesticides, dirt and other chemical you may walk on from entering your home.

• Purify the air in your home. – Use a HEPA filter for AC and Heating return vents or purchase HEPA filter towers. Vacuum frequently, add houseplants and eliminate mold. Stop using air fresheners, plug-in fragrance and wax candles. Essential Oil Diffusers and beeswax candles are safe ways to add scent to your home.

• Cleaning products are some of the most toxic items in your house!
  • If you cannot pronounce the names in the ingredients, they probably are not safe! The Never List is a great resource when buying products. If there’s an ingredient from this list on the label, don’t buy it! Use EWG’s Healthy Living app to scan the barcodes of products to test their safety.
  • Make your own cleaning products! Baking soda, vinegar, distilled water and lemon juice are all natural cleaning tools. There are hundreds of easy recipes online.
  • Add tea tree, lemon, clove or lime essential oil in homemade cleaning products.
  • Pure Haven Essentials  and Force of Nature are both sites with safe cleaning product options.

• Read the labels on your skin care products.
• • Read the labels on your makeup, lotion, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc. Avoid anything with chemicals from The Never List.
  • Purchase safe beauty products from Pure Haven Essentials or Beautycounter or make your own skin care products.

• Clean up your kitchen, bathroom and laundry.
  • Minimize the use of plastic in your home by switching to glass storage containers, stainless steel water bottles, ceramic or cast iron skillets and cloth shower curtains.
  • Plastic is one of the most toxic products in our homes, especially when heated.
  • You can also switch to natural laundry soap, dish soap and dryer balls – just remember to read the ingredients!

• Invest in clean water. – Get a reverse osmosis or solid carbon block filtration system for your whole house, for under your sinks or to go over your shower heads. We have Therasage TheraH20 water filter pitchers for sale in our office.

• Think about your lawn & garden. – Do not use RoundUp! It contains 30 of the most commonly used chemicals and 19 of those have studies pointing toward cancer or are known to cause nervous system poisoning. Look for Natural lawn care products. When seeking pest control, ask the provider for their natural options as well as products like liquid garlic for mosquitoes.

• Detox your pets! – Vinegar, tea tree oil, diatomaceous earth, garlic spray and cedar oil can all help fight fleas and ticks. Cedarcide is a Dallas-based company offering safe and nontoxic pesticides, bug repellent and pet products.

Detoxing your home can seem like an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to be. No one can completely detox their life in one day. Start with a single one of the items on this list and detox that area. Once you’ve made changes there, move onto another area. By doing just one of the things on this list, you’ll be going a long way in reducing your exposure to toxic chemicals.