Amiga, is 2024 your year to finally kick toxic cleaning products to the curb? Are you itching to switch, but you associate the familiar scents with a sense of clean? Are you convinced nothing else would do the job? Get ready porque this blog post is for you!
I want to preface this post by saying that I am 100% Latina. I grew up with the smell of Fabuloso wafting into my nose while a Maná album swirled into my ears.
I have a vivid memory of when I started cleaning the upstairs bathroom when I was around 12 or 13. We had a corner shower that would trap in sooo. many. fumes. from the Clorox & other harsh products.
Before I would turn on música (probably Shakira, tbh), I would text my best friend & ask her to call my mom if I didn’t message her within the hour. Despite opening the window, turning on the exhaust, and bringing in a fan, I had a genuine concern of fainting due to the intense smells.
I didn’t need to see research on the harmful effects of these products because I knew them firsthand—my dad needed to retreat to the opposite side of the house while my mom cleaned because his asthma would flare up.
A study by the Environmental Working Group tested volatile organic compounds found in cleaning products. A volatile organic compound is a chemical that turns into a gas when it is emitted, such as from a cleaning spray. (You can read the full study here.)
- The effects of VOC’s are up to ten times as high when used indoors, & some can stay in the air for weeks to months after being used 🤯
- They found that the amount of VOC’s halved from conventional cleaning products to products labeled as “green,” & that “fragrance free” products had four times less than the “green products.”
- VOC’s have been directly linked to respiratory issues from asthma to allergies & COPD to cancer.
Oof, seems like the Fabuloso I grew up around might not be so fabuloso after all…
For yourself, your loved ones, & the planet, this is your sign to switch to a non-toxic cleaning solution.
When I first moved out of the house, I actually just used a lemon & baking soda to do my deeper cleaning. I had moved to an area with hard water stains, but these two worked wonders! They were non-toxic & even compostable. But if this seems a bit toooo granola for you, there are a lot of other options nowadays!
APPS TO AID YOU
One tool that I want to shoutout is a free app called Healthy Living by the Environmental Working Group. You can scan products, see what ingredients they use & what impacts they’d have on your body & the environment.
They give items a grade based on their standards & it’s helpful to compare items. The best items receive an EWG certification & they even explain the impact of all of the ingredients!
Unfortunately they don’t have a very robust list yet (for example, the Blueland toilet tabbies aren’t on there), but with more users I’m sure the items on there will grow.
I used to use an app called Yucca but that one wasn’t necessarily screened & I never knew if the info on there was accurate or not, so I would recommend trying out Healthy Living instead.
There are a lot of brands you can buy at your favorite stores like Target or Amazon, but I would encourage you do some research (especially on products that contain fragrance).
Products that contain fragrance might contain phthalates. Phthalates are endocrine-disruptors, meaning they mimic our natural hormones & can alter how they function. Over time, this can lead to a host of issues ranging from ADHD to fertility problems.
KITCHEN & DISHES
One of my favorite brands that is becoming more readily available is called 9 Elements. Their items use vinegar for cleaning, contain no synthetic fragrances, & have only 9 ingredients or less (hence, their name!). We use their lemon dish soap.
They’re owned by Proctor & Gamble (the same folks who own Dawn), so they have the same dispenser options (both the spray foam AND the squeezy ones—which I LOVE!!).
It’s nice to have the convenience of finding the product easily IRL plus having practical dispensers, without needing to worry about the ingredients in the products. Like Hannah Montana said, “you get the bessssst of both worlds.”
Seventh Generation dishwasher tablets. These are the dishwasher pods we’ve used since moving in November & have found that they work really well!
To wipe our counters, we use Branch Basics All-Purpose spray (keep reading for more information).
LAUNDRY
For laundry detergent, we use the same brand as our dish soap: 9 Elements. They have a few scented laundry detergents but our favorite scent is the eucalyptus laundry detergent.
- We’ve found that the scent doesn’t really stay on the clothes, which might take some getting used to if you associate “clean” clothes with a certain scent.
If there are stains, we’ll add some of the Oxygen Booster by Branch Basics. We’ll talk more about them in a separate section (because I’m obsessed lol).
Instead of dryer sheets, we use wool balls. Fair warning, they do NOT work as well as dryer sheets for removing static & we’ve tried adding essential oils to them & found they don’t really make your clothes smell yummy. Butttt they don’t contain chemicals like dryer sheets, so we compromise!
BATHROOM
Blueland toilet tabs. I. LOVE. THESE. They work really well & I love that their packaging is compostable/zero-waste. They smell amazing but to be transparent, I’m nervous that they have fragrance. But since I only use it once a week, I’m hoping it’s okay & will continue to research them (I’ll let you know what I find!).
👉🏽 LIFE HACK: When you finish scrubbing with your toilet brush, place it between the toilet rim & toilet seat so it can dry before you put it back in its holder (Thanks, TikTok!).
Mrs. Meyers for our bathroom soap (we love the lavender scent!).
- Unfortunately, I’ve been reading about how Mrs. Meyers products are not theeee most “green” options out there (like, uhhh, by a long shot 😅). Consequently, we won’t buy more once this refill runs out.
- But it IS really easy to find & honestly smells delightful, so if you want to keep a few of their items, it’s still better than other products out there.
Keep reading to find out what we’ll be switching to instead!
For general cleaning & cleaning the mirrors, we use Branch Basics (are you sensing a theme? 👀)
BRANCH BASICS
Okayyyy, now for an in-depth discussion on the real MVP of our home * drumroll please *…
Branch Basics!
Holy guacamole, you can use Branch Basics for pretty much evvvverything. The star of the show is a concentrate that you dilute at various concentrations to create multiple cleaning agents from just one product (so convenient!).
I got their Premium Starter Pack that includes the concentrate, three bottles to make bathroom/all-purpose/glass cleaner (seen in the photo above), & an oxygen boost that gives a little oomph when there are tough spots to clean.
I personally opted to not use their concentrate for laundry detergent because tbh, it’s a bit on the pricier side. I definitely think it’s worth it for the cleaning agents because of how long it’s lasted us, how well it works, & the peace of mind that our products are non-toxic! But since we do laundry pretty frequently we’ll be sticking to 9 Elements for now.
At the time we bought it, we were also happy with our Mrs. Meyer’s soap so we didn’t keep the soap dispenser. However, as I mentioned before, we won’t be buying more of that hand soap…
Sooo we will actually be buying the glass version of the Branch Basics foaming hand soap bottle & using the same concentrate we use for everything else. I am honestly really excited for the switch & the glass dispenser is SUPER cute, reasonably priced, & zero-waste!
Use this link to get $10 off a minimum purchase of $15! Expires on January 31, 2024.
(Shhh, I miiiight start double pumping every time I wash my hands so we go through it faster, but don’t tell B!)
FLOORS & MORE(S?)
For our mop we use a Bona spray mop. This was actually one of theeee only purchases we made before we moved into our apartment & we have been loving it!
I love that I’m not breaking my back to wring out a mop, it’s unscented so I don’t have to worry about triggering asthma attacks (& now when I smell Fabuloso I think it’s absolutely disgusting), & the microfiber cloth is reusable so I don’t have to worry about creating a ton of waste.
- We used to have a normal Swiffer but the amount of pads we went through…couldn’t do it 🥲
We found these Command hooks to mount the mop to the wall so we don’t take up precious floor space!! I would 1000% recommend this—it’s helped keep our cleaning area so organized!
Wow, my life changed when B introduced me to Swiffer dusters. If you’re still using your abuelita’s fuzzy duster from the 80s, your life will be changed, too!
I would really recommend getting the extendable handle for those of who who are also vertically challenged lol. Or tbh, it’s also nice to get baseboards dusted without breaking your back.
For organization purposes, we got these small Command clips & store our Swiffer next to our mop! We also use these to keep our water bottle brushes underneath the kitchen sink.
Last, but not least…our Roomba. Wow. We call her Roombie & tbh, I have a love-hate relationship with her.
On the one hand, I repeat…wow. It is SO nice to not have to worry about sweeping. B & I have high standards of cleanliness, so I already know we’d be sweeping at least daily. Having a robot take care of it for us has been suuuch a time changer.
BUT. The app has been glitching out & even though we’ve only had her for two months, she isn’t charging appropriately. I know I know, first world problems, but we have to figure out what’s going on with those things.
I think we got the cheapest model because we didn’t mind emptying the dust bin out after every use, so I don’t know if that’s contributing to her already breaking down. Or if it’s just that we have put her to WERK probably almost every day for two months straight 😅
Overall, if you don’t have a Roomba yet, I can confidently say that you are wasting your most precious commodity: time. So start a piggy bank, wait for a good sale, & lmk what you do with all the energy you don’t have spend sweeping!
Okay I did not expect this post to be so long, but I am a stereotypical Latina who who loooves a clean home AND is also a productivity & non-toxic living aficionado. What else could I expect from myself?!
Leave a comment if you have any questions about anything I mentioned & lmk if you try anything (especially Branch Basics because I love their products!).
Did I miss something you’re obsessed with? Please share with me—this mija loves being mindful about a cleanly home for our sweet family. I’m always looking to streamline processes!
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