Clean living: Clean Home

Oct 1

What exactly is clean living? While I do hope that you take care of your hygiene, that is not what we are talking about in this blog. We are talking about living as toxic free as we possibly can. Here in America, that is really tough. Everywhere that we go, we are exposed to pathogens and toxins. They are in our jobs, schools, and even in the air. God is such an amazing father that he created our bodies with the ability to detox from pathogens and heavy metals, but what if we are overloaded? Think back to the beginning. We were not meant to live off of the Standard American Diet + have two or four incomes between two people + live with our cell phones attached to us + create new diseases for the fun of it (yeah, why are they still allowed to do this?) + clean with poisonous chemicals + work at a desk job all day, never seeing the light of day. I could go on here. We were meant to be outside, eating whole foods that he created (including herbs). We were meant to live together and help each other. We have fallen so far from God’s original plan that it is no wonder that our Nation is struck with disease. We want to do better, but how? How do we change this culture that is so intertwined with processed foods, food dyes, sugar, toxic chemicals, 5G, microwaves and all else in between? We can start in our home.

Our home should be the place where when we have been exposed to toxins all day, our body gets a break. It should be a safe place where we don’t have to worry about calling poison control if our toddler gets ahold of our cleaning products or facial cream. Is that possible? Yes, it is. Here is how:

Check ingredients on EVERY single product. I realize this is overwhelming. Some of the ingredients that seem really large are actually pretty safe, so there are a lot of great resources that can help. There are two great apps that aren’t perfect but they can at least get you started with understanding what ingredients are in which products. www.ewg.org and Think Dirty app both can scan products while you are in the store to show you on a scale how toxic they are. I do want to point out that EWG is more into what is environmentally safe and I feel is a little harsh on some products that I feel are safe and Think Dirty is a little harsher on essential oils (I will get to this in a minute). Fragrance usually means synthetic. Stay clear of synthetic. You want fragrances to come from essential oils instead. Other ingredients to stay away from are cholorine bleach, ammonia, Triclosan and Triclocarban, nano silver, anti bacterial (we don’t want to kill all the bacteria on our hands. We actually need the good bacteria). Stay away from flammable and anything that says to call poison control. Those are not products that you want in your house. A lot of the ingredients in your standard cleaning products are linked to a lot of different problems from respiratory to liver toxins.
Remember that you can always have a reaction to something, especially if your gut is unhealthy. A lot of allergies and intolerances come from an unhealthy gut. Using the toxic chemical products will only make your microbiome worse. This could be heavy metal overloads, overgrowth of bacteria, leaky gut syndrome or other pathogens in the gut. It is always best to talk to a qualified practitioner to help assess you individually if you are breaking our or having an allergic reaction to multiple things. With that being said, essential oils are medicinal. They are extracted from plants and therefore, incredibly effective in cleaning. Like anything, you can have a reaction to it if you are allergic to that particular plant. One thing to keep in mind if you are mixing essential oils with vinegar or water, please wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards. Oils like peppermint can burn the eyes if you accidentally touch them after mixing oils. Again, they are very effective in cleaning, but can be skin irritants.
Force of Nature.- Think outside of the box. Bleach is not the only 99.9% germ killer guys. Bleach is incredibly toxic. In fact, all Chlorox products are from 8-10 on the toxic scale OUT OF 10. Stay clear. I use a system that is incredible for cleaning and uses two ingredients. It is called Force of Nature. If you use my link or my code: EZERWELLNESS, you will get 30% off. It kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria even Staph, MRSA, Norovirus, Influenza A, Salmonella, Pseudomonas and Listeria when used as directed. It is actually approved by the FDA to be used in hospitals. It is safe for pets and kids. It smells a little like a pool when you spray it and this freaked me out a little bit since I hate chlorine and bleach that much, but when I sprayed it on my hand, nothing happened. It is safe because of the chemicals that are used. The two chemicals are “HYPOCHLOROUS ACID- (The same germ-killing substance your immune system makes. So gentle it’s used in wound & eye care products.It can also be used on many surfaces.”) and SODIUM HYDROXIDE (A detergent common in toothpaste, skin care and cleaners. Contains only .0000003% and cleans just as effectively as the leading brands.)I have used this in my bathrooms and kitchen and use E-cloth for the rest. I love it and it has replaced vinegar and essential oils for me. When you bundle, this system actually saves you money in the long run.
E-cloth- It has actually replaced Norwex for me, although I love both. I am a budget girl and since I spend so much on food, because it is outrageous right now and I have three growing boys, I need to save in cleaning products. I love E-cloth because you really can use just water. I have E-cloth in my office because I want my clients to have access to something that is 100% toxic free. Using just water is absolutely the best choice. Microfiber cloths have been shown over and over again to pick up dirt and bacteria. I do still like to use the Force of Nature in my bathrooms and kitchen counters because I know that it will kill all bacteria. I even spray the Force of Nature on the floors around the toilets when I mop. There is no mop that compares to E-cloth and Norwex. It is so easy and I would never go anywhere else. My 5 year old mops for me most of the time and it is so simple to use that he does a fantastic job. Now that is the kind of cleaning product I want. I want my kids to be able to clean with me. It was always important to me that they are the ones cleaning our house with me. E-cloth has given that ability to my children. They use the window cloths, duster, eco cloth, mop and use their bath sponges for themselves.
Thrive Market— I do love this place. I get my boxed items and cleaning products for my office here. Check the products first, but a lot of products that are on here are low in toxins, like Seventh Generation. It is important to make sure you don’t just go by a company, but by the ingredients. If you aren’t a member, use my link and get $40 off your first order. Some great products on there are the Seventh’s Generation Bathroom Cleaner and disinfecting wipes, Ecos toilet bowl cleaner, Rosey toilet bowl cleaner, Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent, Dr. Bronner’s 18 in 1 soap and others.
We have safe and clean products in our office. We choose to work with Earthley because we love their laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. Those are both hard products to find that are toxic free and effective. While I do love some others, Earthley’s you can trust because they pride themselves on making whole and clean products. They are plant based and have been tested for septic.