How To Detox Your Home

Detoxing your home may require a bit more work and knowledge than you realize. As you try to discover where chemical cleaners and other items in your home can be replaced with green or eco-friendly cleaners, many more areas of your home will become more apparent for getting rid of toxins and living in a safer environment.

Replace Filters

To keep your home toxin free, it’s important to replace filters and clean out vents where residue build-ups. Some invisible items in your home include mold and dust, especially if your home is airtight. Keeping windows shut will keep your house from receiving proper ventilation and air circulation. Toxic particles can build in your home without good air circulation, which can be a problem for asthma and all types of allergies. (For more information on natural air purifiers, see The Four Best Natural Air Purifiers).

Replace Chemical Cleaning Products

Cleaning products can also emit chemicals and cause health problems too. Get rid of strong chemical cleaning products and replace them with all-purpose and fume-free products. Creating an all-natural cleaning kit is less toxic than the chemical laden products available at most stores. Your kit should include baking soda for scrubbing and borax, which disinfects, whitens and deodorizes. Other items to have on hand are white vinegar to loosen dirt and disinfect, lemon juice to cut through grease, olive oil to polish wood and pick up dirt, castile soap for all-purpose cleaning and washing soda for stain removal and laundry. There are also commercially available green cleaning products, which can help with cleaning when homemade remedies are not satisfying. Products by Method, Seventh Generation, Simple Green, GreenWorks, Mrs. Meyer’s and Ecover are green products that can get the job done.

Practice Preventive Home Care

Preventive home care will also help with keeping a home free from chemicals. Keeping drains clear of hair, food and other items will prevent clogs.

If you cook with oils, pour boiling water down the drain once a week to flush out the drain of fats and oils that could potentially clog it. Use a plunger when a clog occurs before resorting to chemicals, or use 1/2 cup of baking soda, followed by 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Another concoction for drain clogs is to use 1/2 cup of salt and an equal amount of baking soda, followed by 6 cups of boiling water. In addition, a plumber’s snake is chemical free and is great at getting rid of a clog. (For more information on plumbing tools, see 6 Essential Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Tools).

Green Cleaning

For clean wood surfaces and floors, create a cleaning combination of olive oil and vinegar. Use 1/4 cup of vinegar in 1 gallon of hot water for floors, and for furniture use 1 cup vinegar with 1 teaspoon oil. When needing to clean windows, try using 1/4 cup of vinegar to 2 or 3 cups of water.

You should also consider using safer methods to clean your garage. Make sure your vehicles are in good running order with regular car tune ups. Leaks from cars such as oil or antifreeze can release benzene and other contaminants into the air and can also be picked up on shoes, which can be tracked into your house. Buy non-toxic commercially made natural paint strippers and replace regular antifreeze with ethylene glycol antifreeze, which costs more but is much safer. For car washing, use baking soda, borax and vinegar for shining and cleaning your vehicle. Other chemical free solutions for the garage and your lawn are to replace your gas lawn mower with a push mower. In addition, keeping gas in your garage increases air pollution. In addition, electric mowers are quiet and clean for large lawns.

Get rid of old paint and keep only what is needed for touch ups. Latex paint can be disposed by letting it dry out, scraping it into the garbage and recycling the can. Buy paints with low volatile organic compounds and stains without toxic wood preservatives. For garden and lawn care without chemicals use combustible fertilizers and use compost. Throw out toxic pesticides and herbicides and use homemade recipes to take care of pests and plant diseases including cooking oil, beer, milk and garlic. In addition, replace plastics. Buy long-lasting metal or wood garden furniture, garbage cans, tools, shelving, hooks and shovels. (For more information on removing weeds without chemicals, see Green Gardening: How To Get Rid Of Weeds Without Chemicals).

When detoxing your home and creating greener practices for purchases and home care, you may find your home to be a cleaner and safer environment, free of toxins to help you lead a healthier life. While some eco-friendly products may be more expensive, homemade remedies can often clean and protect just as well as store bought options, and their benefits are certainly worth the effort.