Fresh Starts: Time To Detox Your Home

No better way to kick off the new year, than to make a few quick changes for the better. I say quick, because sometimes if you can just do a couple of simple things and get the ball rolling, it can motivate you to tackle bigger things down the road. This is why I always start every checklist with some simple tasks and even some I’ve already done. I know that sounds insane to include something I’ve already completed, but being able to immediately check something off makes me happy and helps me jump on the next thing. I think when it comes to detoxing your home, staying educated and reminding yourself of why you’re even doing this in the first place are the key to success. While it may seem like a huge job to create a clean, healthy living space, in reality, there are so many small changes you can make that have a big impact. Trust me, every little bit helps. Here are some simple ways to help create a pure home for you and your family.

Unplug Those Air Fresheners

One of the quickest ways to improve the indoor air quality in your home is to ditch the synthetic air fresheners. They’re full of chemicals that have been shown to have an effect on (and possibly contribute to) asthma, they also cause allergies, disrupt hormones, have been linked to cancer and more. This is important for anybody, but if you have small children it’s especially important. Does it sound crazy that all those toxic things can be in something made to be used in your home? I think it does. For now, these types of products are largely unregulated and companies do not have to disclose ingredients since fragrance is considered proprietary under the law. For more facts, sources and air freshener alternatives, see my post on the topic here. If you’re simply looking to eliminate odor rather than add a scent, my friend has had great success using these charcoal bags to absorb bad odors from her especially stinky pet who loves to sleep in their master closet (who knew bloodhounds are known to be one of the stinkiest dog breeds?). She said the air fresheners previously just masked the smell, but this actually removes it. They’re also reusable. Just set it out in sun for an hour once a month to recharge it.

Add Some Greenery

While we’re talking about improving indoor air quality, let’s talk about plants. Many plants act as natural air filters and absorb the chemicals that off-gas in your home and exchange them for fresh, clean air. They can even absorb things like benzene and formaldehyde which off-gas from a lot of furniture, carpet adhesives, building supplies and more (if you live in a newer home, you better believe there is some off-gassing going on from the building materials). NASA completed a large study on plants and their positive effect on indoor air quality and the results were pretty amazing. Enough to even make this black thumb of a gardener start to build up a collection that I’m (mostly) keeping alive. Here’s a round up of some of the best plants to clean your air: https://weather.com/health/allergy/news/best-plants-for-cleaner-indoor-air.

Swap Your Hand Soap

It’s probably the most used product in your house. You use it, your kids use it, even guests that come over use it. It’s hand soap, which also happens to be a product they tend to shove a lot of toxic crap into. Study after study has proven that hand soaps full of antibacterial chemicals do NOT clean or disinfect your hands any better than plain soap and water, yet companies insist on putting that in there, along with foaming agents, synthetic fragrances and harsh preservatives. The good news is that the FDA has recently banned triclosan from hand soap, which is a start, but who knows what companies will swap it for? Usually, it’s not much better and can sometimes be even worse. This is an easy product to swap for an all natural one though! I love Kosmatology’s foaming hand soaps. They’re all natural, come in nice scents, and actually foam up. You can now buy them on Amazon too.

Clean Up Your Laundry Routine

Since we’re swapping out soaps, another easy (yet impactful) swap is your laundry detergent and dryer sheets. A study from the University Of Washington analyzed the air vent emissions from laundry done with conventional detergent and dryer sheets and found more than 25 VOC’s present, including benzene (known to cause certain types of leukemia and blood cancers) and Acetaldehyde, which has been shown to cause nasal and throat cancer in animal studies. There are more and more nontoxic versions coming the market though, which is great news! Here’s a review of an all natural detergent I really like and in place of dryer sheets, try wool dryer balls. They soften your clothes and help dry your clothes faster. They’re also reusable, so they’re much more environmentally friendly and cheaper in the long run than dryer sheets.

See? I promised these would be easy! Little changes like these actually make a pretty big impact. It can definitely feel overwhelming to try to detox your entire home, but baby steps.. Each thing you change will lead to another and before you know it, your home will become a nice little retreat, where you know you’ve created the purest home you can for your family.