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How to Create a Healthy Home Environment

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We spend a great part of our lives in our homes: eating, sleeping, relaxing, working, spending time with our families and meeting our friends. So it is very important that we create a safe and healthy home environment. There are various factors that are to be considered to create a comfortable living space. Proper care should be given to create a healthy environment at our homes so that we can assure the safety of those near and dear ones.

Do You Have a Healthy Home?

Toxic household products that we use daily for cleaning our homes are contaminating our bodies. According to the National Research Council there is no toxic information made available for more than eight per cent of the chemicals used in everyday products. Only one per cent of toxins are required to be tested on the labels as the products are not making claims about safety. There are chemicals in everything from chlorine, in our water supply, pools, etc., fluoride, laundry detergent, disinfectants, oven cleaners, air fresheners, shampoos, pesticides, etc.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission on Chemicals identified one hundred fifty chemicals used in homes that were linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities. Ten per cent caused high blood pressure and migraines, while twenty per cent were responsible for mental disturbances. They found the indoor air in homes to have five times the chemical concentrations than the outdoor air.

It is no wonder that more people are looking for healthy alternatives. They are turning to natural household cleaners including vinegar, baking soda, washing soda, soap flakes, oil soap, borax and ammonia, which are environmentally benign substances, to handle everyday cleaning. While there are a limited amount of biodegradable products on the market, one can employ homemade cleaners by combining ingredients and learning how to make healthy green products.

For instance, instead of using scouring powder, which contains bleach and phosphates and are toxic in the environment, use baking soda dampened with a little water. Baking soda is great on cleaning sinks and tubs. Vinegar a cleaning solution strips off hard water lime deposits, while vinegar baking soda is used to clean toilet bowls, cleans out drains, cleans, and clears pipes, eliminating the need for corrosive cleaners. The US Consumer Protection Agency warned users of commercial drain cleaners about how corrosive cleaners can harm the human body. Vinegar is great for cleaning faucets and to clean windows, with warm water. Vinegar and borax are effective disinfectants and can be used in diaper buckets. Borax eliminates the smell and does not cause diaper rash. Borax is also a laundry whitener and freshener.

Some items can be purchased in certain stores that are environmentally safe. Dreft, a phosphate free detergent, has been around for decades and is biodegradable. Murphy’s oil soap, made from vegetable oils, is a good dish washing detergent, is biodegradable and cuts the grease. Oil soap or vinegar and water works well on wood floors or wood finishes. It is a great, non toxic all purpose cleaner. It can be used on linoleum, walls, bathrooms and scrubbing rugs clean.

Eco friendly solutions can not only be environmentally safe but cost effective as well. You can get a gallon of vinegar, four pounds of baking soda and two quarts of ammonia for four dollars. This replaces the same amount of more expensive scouring powder, all purpose cleaners, etc. Switch to biodegradable formulas over time as it takes trial and error to find out which products work in cleaning your house.

Steps to Create a Healthy Home Environment

A large number of people think that cleaning their house on a regular basis will create a healthy home environment. Though it is true, there are other factors too that should be considered to have a healthy environment inside our home.

Below are the steps that you should take to create your home a safe place to live:

Steps to Create a Healthy Home Environment

  • Clean your home

    We cannot say a home is healthy unless it is free from dust. A healthy home is one in which regular cleaning is done. Cleaning is the most basic and most essential part of creating a healthy environment at our home. It not only makes your home looks neat and organized, but it also gives peace of mind. A clean house makes you stress-free, anxiety-free, free from frustrations, and other mental pressures.

  • Dry it well

    There are many people who do not put much emphasis on drying the wet areas of their houses. Places with high amounts of moisture in the house are ideal for the growth of molds that affects the health of your family causing allergies, asthma and other respiratory diseases. Molds are also responsible for destroying your house. Apart from that, wet places are the breeding grounds of insects, viruses and bacteria.

  • Make it pest-free

    Pests are very dangerous for the health of your family as they cause lots of diseases. Cockroaches, mosquitoes, bed bugs, dust mites, lice, etc. may be the reason for the skin allergies, respiratory diseases, irritations, allergies and weak immunity of your loved ones. Always ensure to use the products that can help you to have a pest-free home environment.

  • Make it well-ventilated

    It is vital to have proper ventilation of your home if you want to create a healthy home environment. An excessive amount of carbon dioxide, dust particles, our hair strands and skin particles, toxins from wall paint, evaporations from polished furniture, smoke from the kitchen, and other emissions create an unhealthy environment within our living space. So it is very important to have a well-ventilated home that allows harmful air to pass out and fresh air to flow inside the house.

Building a Happy and Healthy Home with Natural Products

Your home is where the people you love gather, and where your fondest treasures are collected. Your family, friends and pets gather in your home, and you want your home to be comfortable and welcoming. But if you are cleaning and deodorizing your home with harsh chemicals, it isn’t as welcoming to your family, friends, or your pets. Natural products for your home are gentler on the environment, are less likely to contain irritants or allergens, and often smell better, using essential oils in place of harsh smelling chemicals. Every surface of your home can be made clean and fresh-smelling with natural products.

Using natural products to clean and deodorize your home can be especially important if you have young children or pets. Children and pets have been known to experiment with tasting and touching caustic or toxic chemicals, such as those found in household cleaners. These are often stored under bathroom or kitchen sinks, right at the eye level of a small dog or cat, older infant, toddler or preschooler. While some natural ingredients, such as pure essential oils, should be stored away from children, when properly diluted into a product for direct use, many essential oils are quite safe. Some citrus oils should be stored away from cats and dogs, but many products are pet-safe.

Even the toughest cleaning jobs can be tackled with natural products. Cleaning the oven doesn’t require a harsh chemical spray- a wet pumice stone often does the job. Disinfecting can be done with steam and products containing lavender, thyme, tea tree, or other essential oils. Glass cleaners can include essential oils to cut grease and infuse your home with a refreshing scent. Clays or baking soda can be used to provide gentle abrasion for cleaning a variety of surfaces. Boiling water can help kill germs or help dissolve some drain clogs.

An additional advantage of using natural home products is the delicious aroma of essential oils. The volatile oils of lemon, lavender, or rosemary are used to clean, disinfect, and deodorize many household surfaces. The essential oils of cedar, clove, or thyme discourage moths and give a warm, welcoming fragrance to your drawers and wardrobes. Added to home fragrances, essential oils provide a lasting scent that rarely seems cloying and never artificial. Your home is the place where you can be your most natural, most authentic self. That should extend to the products you use to make your home clean and inviting.

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