Detoxify Your Home

With the frequent onslaught of chemicals that our government sprays on us, I thought it might be helpful to do a deep dive into how we can clean up the environment in our homes to help build up better immune systems to fight off all sorts of unpleasant things.

Research has shown that our indoor environment tends to have chemicals from things sprayed outdoors but things that we have been brainwashed into believing were the status symbols of a clean home. While my time volunteering for the Feingold Association was largely focused on investigating the ingredients in food, I delved into the toxic chemicals in our candles, hygiene products, room deodorizers, cleaners and detergents.

Candles:
While it may seem a no brainer to simply buy the beeswax candles or any other candles at your natural health food store, you need to understand that marketing is big business and just because some label tells you it’s clean isn’t a guarantee of safety. The rule of thumb that I’ve discovered is that the cheaper than candle, the cheaper the materials to make it and those cheap materials tend to be toxic. It doesn’t matter if it’s the paraffin wax, the metal in the wick or the toxic slurry of carcinogenic fragrances. The best candles will be the ones you make at home by hand from old school clean methods. However, if you don’t have the time or materials for old fashioned candle making, you can simply research the brand that your local health food store sells and do a deep dive on ingredients. I will make a small deviation from my recommendations for one thing, and that’s emergency candles during a grid out scenario. If you need to make quick candles for emergencies, you can pick up a case of jelly jars, metal free wicking, and candle wax melt base from your local craft store. Simply follow the instructions on the melt base package and you can have candles that last for years that can be stored away in a closet for lights out scenarios.

Room Sprays & Deodorizers:
Did you know that certain chemicals when inhaled actually desensitize your scent receptors when they are made into aerosol form and inhaled? So, not only are you not actually cleaning the air, but your being desensitized which leads you to believe that your environment is cleaner. I can speak for the numerous families who have removed air fresheners and other deodorizers from their home who were able to see a big increase in their child’s behavioral issues as well as a reduction in sinus issues, coughing and even headaches. While I could try to compile a list of known toxic ingredients, many of which are actually carcinogenic, the list is incredibly long and varies based off the individual company’s formula.

Hygiene Products:
Everything from shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, bubble bath, hair spray, lotion, and perfumes can contain yet again a slurry of toxic carcinogenic chemicals that can lead to numerous ailments. But if it was unsafe, they wouldn’t sell it you say? Au contraire! They have had studies on these chemicals for years and that information used to require you to have special access but thanks to internet we find many papers being leaked out to the world showing just how long we’ve been knowingly exposed to this stuff. I have heard the testimonials from parents about replacing toxic products in their home with their natural counterparts and the impact it had on their health.

Air Filtration Systems:
These machines come in a variety of shapes, sizes and have multiple brands and should be fairly easy to find locally but you can purchase them online at places like Amazon. I’m not going to recommend a specific brand or design, but rather I would encourage you to do your homework and not just take the advice of some blogger you don’t know personally. Do your due diligence and figure out what will cover the sq footage of your rooms. I will tell you that bedrooms will require much smaller air filters that usually not much bigger than a bread box but for larger more open spaced rooms it’s going to be a fairly decent size so purchase accordingly. You may want to even check out the product reviews and prices off Amazon before going into any local stores so you can do price comparisons.

Dehumidifiers:
These are a necessity if you live in humid areas because if you do not have one running, you run the risk of mold growth and that can lead to a whole host of health problems. If you have respiratory issues that don’t seem to go away with typical treatments, consider getting yourself a dehumidifier. If you are a Floridian, I would recommend at least one dehumidifier, but you will need to do research based off the sq footage of your current home and you may need to downgrade or upgrade if you chose to move. Just so you’re not freaked out, not only do these have a collection bucket inside them but they will typically blow out hot air as a part of the process by which it removes water from the air.

Indoor Plants:
I believe it was NASA who did a plant study that discovered certain species of plants were capable of cleaning out your air. If you go to Brave Search or DuckDuckGo, you can look up a huge list of plants and then go shopping at your local Home Depot or Lowes for a few of them. Make sure you give the plant leaves a good wiping off at least once a month, make sure their pots don’t get infested with gnats, read the plant label and be sure they get put near a sunny window.

Cleaners:
From window cleaners to toilet stick-ons, the chemical slurry we use in an effort to maintain the ideal image of clean home will actually do the complete opposite of what we hope for and can cause numerous health issues. The reason that we can read these labels and yet not be concerned, is that companies have spent years brainwashing us to trust them that if something were really concerning it wouldn’t be in their product line. Believe me, there is more in these products that can hurt you than they let on. Many individuals have switched over to using things like baking soda, white vinegar, unscented dish soap, unscented laundry detergent and other safe alternatives.

I’m sure I’ll have missed something in my list, but my hope is that you will start on you journey to uncovering why you and your family may have periods of feeling sick but with no clear progression of the typical cold of flu bug. If you have questions, you know where to find me.