On this page you can find recipes or tips to make your own household products or purchase safe recommended products. Ingredients of the recommended products are also on display. Gradually you will be able to replace most of your damaging toxic products into safe, non-toxic natural cleaning solutions...

• For those of you that like to experiment and make your own cleaning products you will find some helpful, natural tips and recipes that we have collated or were given to us by our visitors.
• For those of you that are working mums or dads and are too busy to experiment but who want to ensure that whatever product you buy is toxin free see below for our recommended products.

What benefits do organic or natural cleaning products have for me and my family?

It's quite straightforward: Many conventional cleaning products have health risks associated with them. Such products may contain ingredients linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive toxicity, hormone disruption, neurotoxicity and other health effects.

People who use or are around commercial cleaning products containing harmful toxic ingredients either at home or at work may increase their risk of developing asthma or triggering asthma attacks.

Children or toddlers that are accidentally exposed to harsh, corrosive cleaners can also suffer burns to skin and eyes, and inhaling the fumes can cause lung damage. If exposure at regular intervals - EVEN to low levels of these chemicals - over a lifetime may increase the risk of developing serious health conditions, such as cancer or reproductive problems.

Where do I start and what should I do first?

To pick a safer cleaner product, first of all you need to:

Most governments does not require cleaning products to carry the full list of ingredients. And more worrying, the governments do not require these chemical cleaning products to be tested for health and safety - with a few exceptions such as antibacterial cleaning products. Antibacterial products contain pesticides that have undergone testing overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency and the pesticide content must be on the label. In the State of California in the United States of America, cleaning supplies that emit certain state-identified carcinogens and reproductive toxins at levels above health-based limits must have a warning label.

Once you know the ingredients, you should avoid these seven:

1. 2-butoxyethanol (or ethylene glycol monobutyl ether) and other glycol ethers
2. Alkylphenol ethoxylates (some common ones are: nonyl- and octylphenol ethoxylates, or non- and octoxynols)
3. Dye (companies often hide chemical information behind this word; when it's unknown, it's safer to skip it)
4. Ethanolamines (common ones to look out for are: mono-, di-, and tri-ethanolamine)
5. Fragrance
6. Pine or citrus oil (on smoggy or high ozone days, compounds in the oils can react with ozone in the air to form the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde)
7. Quaternary ammonium compounds (look out for these: alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (ADBAC), benzalkonium chloride, and didecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride)

If it is too daunting to change every cleaning product at once, start by doing it step-by-step to become more confident. First change the cleaning products on the floors and may be air fresheners, then move on to the cleaning products in the kitchen or bathroom and then the laundry. If you are still using commercial cleaning products the following tips may be handy:

• Dilute your cleaning supplies according to instructions and use only what's needed to get the job done.
• Clean with windows and doors open so you don't trap air pollution inside your home.
• Use gloves as cleaning chemicals may harm or penetrate skin and eyes.
• Keep kids away: Children are more vulnerable to toxic chemicals. If they want to help, give them soap and water only.
• Avoid "antibacterial": There's no need to use potentially toxic "antibacterial" products, according to the American Medical Association if your family is generally healthy. Washing your hands with plain soap and water is sufficient.
• Never mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar, or other acids: These combinations can produce deadly gases.
• Don't be fooled by labels - buy certified organic green products: The label claims are not always truthful.
• Use natural alternatives: Experiment with non-toxic options like vinegar (great for windows when diluted with a little water - wipe with old newspaper or rags) and baking soda (mix with water to form a paste for scrubbing). Of course mix with care; some ingredients are dangerous when combined.
• Avoid using pine and citrus oil cleaners especially on smoggy days, when the ingredients can react with ozone to produce cancer-causing formaldehyde.
• Dispose of your old toxics safely: Don't pour left-over cleaning supplies down the drain - some of the ingredients can harm wildlife as well as people - drop them off at your local hazardous waste facility.
• Biggest kitchen hazards: Replace oven cleaners with a baking soda and water paste and corrosive drain cleaners with baking soda and vinegar or a mechanical snake.
• More non-toxic ways to fight germs: Wash your hands often with regular soap and water -- no need for "antibacterial" soap. Wash dishes and clean counters frequently so germs don't collect and avoid "antibacterial" dish soap. Take out the garbage regularly to avoid germs, pests, and bad odors.
• Skip the biggest bathroom hazards, use safer alternatives: Scrub toilets with baking soda and water instead of an acidic toilet-bowl cleaner. Use baking soda and vinegar or a mechanical snake instead of corrosive drain cleaners when you have a clogged drain (prevent clogs by using a drain cover).
• More non-toxic ways to fight germs: Wash your hands often with regular soap and water - no need for "antibacterial" soap. Wipe down showers after each use to prevent mold and mildew.
• Air fresheners are unnecessary and potentially harmful. They only disguise odors, while pumping a bunch of potentially toxic chemicals into the air. Open a window, run a fan, and try to identify and clean up the real source of the smell. Baking soda is another safe way to eliminate odour.
• Sweep and vacuum frequently to remove dust, which often harbors household toxins.
• Mop with a dilute vinegar solution (e.g., ¼ cup vinegar in 1 quart of water).
• Try a microfiber mop to remove dust and dirt efficiently while using smaller amounts of both water and cleaning supplies.
• Dust with a soft or microfiber cloth and skip dusting sprays.
• Clean spills promptly so they are more easily removed with less toxic products.

Easy home made cleaning recipes

Vinegar

Vinegar cleans naturally as an all-purpose cleaner. Mix 1 part water to 1 part vinegar and you have a solution that will clean most areas. Vinegar is an economical natural cleaning product, disinfectant and deodoriser. Although it is safe to use on most surfaces, always test on an inconspicious area. Improperly diluted vinegar is acidic and can eat away at tile grout and even your kettle! Vinegar must never be used on marble surfaces. Do not worry about your home smelling of vinegar as the smell disappears when it dries.

For an effective cleaner for the bath, basin and tiles, mix baking soda, white vinegar, lemon essential oil and tea tree oil.

Use vinegar in warm water to clean work surfaces, chrome, mirrors and glass.

Lemon Juice

• Lemon juice is also a natural substance that can be used to clean your home.
• Lemon dissolves soap scum and hard water deposts.
• Lemon is used to clean and shine brass and copper.
• Lemon juice mixed with vinegar and/or baking soda can be made into a cleaning paste.
• Sprinkle a cut lemon with baking soda and use it to scrub dishes, surfaces and stains.
• Mix 1 cup olive oil with half a cup of lemon juice to get a furniture policy for your hardwood furniture.
• A whole lemon or orange peel can be put through the garbage disposal to freshen the drain.
• To clean the toilet bowl, mix a paste of borax and lemon juice and leave for 20 minutes before scrubbing.
• Polish furniture with beeswax mixed with a little lemon essential oil.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is as effective as commercial abrasive cleansers and can be used to scrub surfaces.

It is also a great deodoriser: place it in a box in the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odours. In fact, it can be put anywhere you need deodorising action for instance in the cat litter tray or behind the toilet.

Grow your own Fresh Air

Certain houseplants are beneficial to remove toxins such as formaldehyde, benzene etc from the air to purify your house or office.  The best plants for removing these and other toxins are philodendrons, spider plants, aloe vera, English ivy, golden pothos, and boston fern. For specific information you may wish to read B.C. Wolverton's book "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office"

Open your windows

Even in the most polluted cities, the outdoor air has been found to be less toxic than the indoor air!
Freshen the air with your choice of certified organic essential oil in a sprayer full of water.

Apple-pie Air Freshener

Simmer a sliced apple & couple cinnamon sticks in water on your stove. The house will smell like apple pie.

Baking Soda & Vanilla Air Freshener

Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with water in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray. The baking soda absorbs the odour. You can also add a little scent (vanilla) if you want.

Home-baked Air Freshener Recipe 1

Use a potpourri crock half-full with water (or manufacturer’s direction) and add a few cloves, a couple dashes of cinnamon, and a few drops of extract (vanilla, orange, etc) or citrus peels. Plug in the crock and you have a warm comfortable smell wafting throughout your home that isn't overly pungent like some of those expensive wall-outlet units. (You can also use an ordinary crockpot, butremember to watch the water level as the heat will cause evaporation - you don't want this to run dry.)

• 1 1/2 cups warm water or manufacturers direction
• 4 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces
• 1 tsp. imitation vanilla
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ginger or 1 medium piece of crystallized ginger
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract<
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil (helps with binding the scents and quick water absorption)

Mix together and enjoy.

Home-baked Air Freshener Recipe 2

You can remove almost any odor from your home by boiling cinnamon and cloves in about two cups of water. This will not only eliminate lingering odors, but freshen the air in your home as well.

Home-baked Air Freshener Recipe 3

Save any citrus peels and spices that are too old to use. Boil them in a pot with a little hot water. They make the house smell lovely for next to nothing. I ground up cinnamon sticks for cinnamon and saved the bits that were too big for my spice bottle for a simmer pot.

Make Scented Rocks

Scented rocks make a great air freshener. Mix 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon of a favourite essential oil and 2/3 cup boiling water and a few drops of a food coloring to create a desired shade. Blend all ingredients, form into balls, and allow to dry.  You can put these in a mesh bag and hang in your car or put in the ashtray if you do not use it.  Each time you open the ashtray the smell will come out.

For the bathroom, dampen a cotton swab with your favourite essential oil and swab the inside of a toilet paper roll. Each time the toilet paper is rolled, a fresh scent will fill the room.

Another way to purify the air is to dampen a cotton ball with pure vanilla extract, place in a dish and set in odorous area of the house. A dish with three cotton balls is great for the living room. A room in which heavy smoking occurs might requires another dish.

Research alternatives to in-home pesticides. It is best to keep pesticides away from your home - inside and around the outside - since they're designed to kill, they can also be dangerous to living beings (people, pets, wildlife).

Lawn and garden care

Organic gardening and lawn care is effective, and "how to" advice is readily available anywhere on the internet. Organic is healthier for your kids, pets and the environment than chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

Indoor pest control.

Try preventive and non-toxic alternatives first. There are many effective options that don't contain pesticides. Pesticides should always be a last resort. While pesticides must be listed on product labels, the other inert ingredients usually are not listed and such ingredients are not always safe - and because they are not always listed, you would never know that they are present.

Pet treatments.

Ridding your pets of bothersome and harmful pests presents a unique challenge since pests (like ticks) can carry disease, but pesticides can harm the pet as well as human family members. Try some simple prevention steps, like frequent bathing and combing, and of course vacuuming to catch any bugs and their eggs. Before resorting to pesticides try using essential oils on or around their bedding area.

To deter mosquitos

• Burn citronella candles outside on a summer evening.
• Plant mint around the house to keep mosquitos away or
• rub some mint leaves on you to keep to keep mosquitos from biting you.

Home made headlice repellant tips

A few drops of Tea tree oil or Lavender oil (undiluted) can be combed through the hair to repel the lice.

Home made laundry recipes and ideas

Vinegar

A cup of vinegar in your washing machine when doing a load of laundry will remove any lingering or musty odours from clothing and the washing machine itself.

RECOMMENDED safe household cleaning pack

BioPure Concentrate Household Cleaning Pack

BioPure is a highly concentrated, all natural household and industrial cleaner containing powerful probiotic bacteria, antioxidants and enzymes that break down grease, grime and dirt and neutraliseodours. BioPure means cleaning without chemicals and its living benefits continue to work even after the initial application. Click here to buy BioPure

Ingredients

Purified Water
Organic sugar cane molasses
Lactobacillus
Organic mineral powder
Sea Salt
Organic rice bran extract non-gmo lecithin
Organic Vanilla Extract

Why should I use this?

The probiotic properties of BioPure ensures it is

• eminantly safe for humans and the environment and uniquely effective as a surface active agent to ionize and digest organic matter for surface cleaning and odour reduction.
• Can be used safely in septic systems and
• is fully biodegradable
• BioPure can be used as a general purpose household cleaner, for floors, kitchen surfaces, mould and mildew areas, and bathrooms.

BioPure is a probiotic cleaning liquid and works differently to anti-bacterial products, which attempt to kill bad bacteria. BioPure utilises beneficial bacteria to regenerate and repopulate with healthy bacteria so they can dominate harmful, disease-causing (pathogenic) bacteria. This creates a natural, healthy and clean environment. When used consistently, BioPure prevents the re-emergence of pathogenic bacteria.

How easy is it to use?

BioPure is highly concentrated and should be diluted with water before use. For best results, dilute 2 capfuls with 500ml of non-chlorinated water and use the dilution within 30 days. For less frequent usage, dilute 1 capful in 250ml of non-chlorinated water and use dilution within 30 days.

More Eco-friendly cleaning products.

The following link below will take you to eco-friendly cleaning products from Spirit of Nature

This section offers an extensive range of cleaning products that are highly effective but much kinder to the skin and environment than conventional products. Our Earth Friendly Cleaning Products are all FREE from toxic chemicals such as chlorine, ammonia and formaldehyde. They are 100% biodegradable, made with natural plant and mineral based ingredients from replenishable sources, PH neutral, approved by VEGAN society, voted "best cruelty-free household cleaning range for 2007" by PETA.

RECOMMENDED safe air freshener

Rainforest Air Freshener

Create a lush rainforest environment in your own home with the crisp and invigorating aromas of blue cypress, lemon myrtle and Blue Mallee eucalyptus. Environmentally friendly non-aerosol pump spray. Click here to buy the Rainforest Air Freshener

Ingredients

Purified Water
Organic Blue Mallee Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Blue Cypress Essential Oil
Organic Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil
Organic Tea Tree Essential Oil
Natural Gum
Proprietry Blend of Essential Oils

RECOMMENDED safe Buzz Free Zone Personal Spray

Click here to buy Buzz Free Zone Personal Spray

Keep those pests at bay with Mother Nature’s help with this potent combination of pure essential oils and organic herbal extracts, with absolutely no chemical nasties!

How easy is it to use? Just spray freely over exposed skin.

Ingredients

Organic Aloe Vera leaf juice
Purified Water
Proprietry Blend of Essential Oils
Organic Tea Tree Essential Oil
Organic Blue Mallee Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Organic Citronella Essential Oil
Organic Catnip Essential Oil
Pennyroyal Essential Oil
Organic lemon-scented tea tree essential oil
Natural Gum
Neem Extract
Thyme Essential Oil
Pine Essential Oil
Organic Peppermint Essential Oil
Organic Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil
Organic Lavender Essential Oil

DISCLAIMER: The information here is presented without prejudice or bias. Whilst the information presented is given in good faith, it is intended to be general educational material only. No diagnosis or opinion can be construed in any way from the comments made within under free speech. The author and associated parties can not be held responsible for any action the reader takes or doesn’t take in light of the comments in this course.