Low Tox Household Swaps
For the past 5 years or so, I became aware of all the weird things that are in our household products that may be harmful or disruptive to our health. I’ve been on a journey to replace a lot of our common household items with things that have “cleaner” ingredients that are natural and less harsh on the body. A lot of you really enjoyed my ‘Low Tox Personal Care Swaps’ post that I did a few weeks ago, so I’m back today with some of my favorite household swaps!
One of the things I hear a lot from people when talking about things like this is that the “natural” products don’t work as well. I definitely understand where that would be coming from. I’ve tried and tested SO MANY clean products over the years, and to be honest with you, yes, a lot of them work terribly. But, I’ve tried enough of them to know which ones DO work, and even the ones that work BETTER than the “toxic” version. These products are going to be easier on your respiratory system, hormones, and you won’t have to worry about them negatively affecting children or pets.
NOTE: None of these products are from multi-level marketing companies and I do not make any money from these posts. These are products that I use every day and truly love. I would never recommend something to my friends otherwise.
- Laundry Soap
We have extremely sensitive skin, so we have to be careful with laundry soap. We really like the Attitude Laundry Soap, or the soap by Truly Free (local to Michigan!). They both smell great, because they’re naturally scented with ingredients that are naturally sourced.
2. Stain Remover
YOU. GUYS. Two of my favorite stain removers are Puracy and Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater. I’ve used both of them and have been absolutely amazed with the results. I’m including pictures from some stains that my best friend, Sky, and I have gotten out with these sprays. I think they both work phenomenal, but I do prefer the Puracy because it smells a little better.
3. All Purpose Cleaner
I really love Branch Basics. They have lots of different products, that you can create with their simple all purpose concentrate. I love their all purpose cleaner for all sorts of messes. You can choose how much you’d like to dilute it based on how tough your messes are. ONE bottle of their concentrate makes three bottles of all purpose cleaner, three bottles of bathroom cleaner, three bottles of glass cleaner, 3 bottles of foaming hand soap, and 64 loads of laundry. Plus…I really just love their packaging. It’s really cute and aesthetically pleasing ◡̈ You can use this link to save $10 off your first purchase! It’s plant & mineral based, and fragrance free. You can also grab non-toxic cleaning products from TrulyFree if you decide to try their laundry soap – I’ve also used and loved those. They have an awesome foaming spray that’s a lot like dawn powerwash.
4. Candles
Conventional paraffin wax is derived as a byproduct of petroleum, coal, or oil shale and contains controversial and harmful chemicals such as benzene and toulene. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, many fragrances can contain as many as 5,000 ingredients! In fact, according to the National Academy of Sciences, approximately 95% of the chemicals used in synthetic fragrance oils are derived from petroleum! Many of the chemicals are the same ones found in toilet bowl cleaner, paint thinner, wart remover, and insect repellents. Gross. I still love a good candle, so I’m really happy with Fontana Candle Company and how far they go to protect their customers from harmful chemicals. You will not find any petroleum byproducts, stabilizers, or harmful dyes in Fontana’s wax. They also scent their candles with natural essential oils. My favorite scents are Spiced Latte and Lavender Vanilla Tangerine.
5. Dish Soap / Hand Soap
I’m not a fan of eating off of dishes with weird chemical residues left on them. For dish soap, we use Attitude’s brand in the green apple and basil scent. It comes in a HUGE bottle and smells great. For hand soap, attitude has some great options (we currently use the vanilla caramel gel hand soap) or, you can try the Branch Basics foaming soap if you like that type better. They last forever!
If you have any questions about cleaner products for your home, I’d love to talk some more about it. I’ve tried it all ◡̈
