Long before marriage and kids, when Andrew and I were living in the city together and I was an editor, I worked on an article about things in your home that could be making you sick, which turned out to be probably a little ahead of its time. From my research, I learned all about the harmful ingredients in our cleaners and everyday household products, and frankly, it shocked me. At the time, I wasn’t worried about fertility, but I still found many of the potential side effects of these harmful ingredients, from infertility to cancer, concerning. I have always been a total neat freak and obsessive cleaner, so I was particularly disturbed to discover that the typical cleaners sold everywhere contained ingredients that could be pretty bad for you. I mean, it kind of makes sense. Have you ever felt a little lightheaded or have your eyes ever burned after cleaning your bathroom? Still, it was hard to hear as someone who relied on heavy duty cleaning products to make her home feel clean. I immediately began searching for non-toxic cleaning products that would still get the job done. Although I was years away from being ready to have kids, I didn’t want to reduce our chances or worse, increase our chances of cancer, simply to get a sparkling white tub and germ-free counters. There had to be a compromise.
Now, of course, I’ve struggled with infertility, and while there’s no proven correlation between our fertility issues and the products we’ve used, I have become really strict about what we use in our house (and on our bodies – but more on that in another blog post). I also have kids now, and I don’t want to expose them to any dangerous chemicals, especially when they’re constantly rolling around on the floor and putting food on counters etc. For these reasons, and because sometimes the way those cleaning product fumes give me headache and make me feel ill, I have made swaps to almost all non-toxic cleaning products. With that said, we are not perfect. I truly believe that making small changes is important and easier to stick with, and every little change makes a difference. For example, when we were showing our last home. I let our housekeepers use regular cleaners to get it as clean and sparkling as possible. I do think that a regular bleach is going to work better than most of the non-toxic cleaning products we’ve used as alternatives, so on occasion when we need to get out a big stain or have our bathroom floors sparkle or really need to clean something (like during the height of the pandemic), we use it. Still, I’ve found non-toxic cleaning products that do work really well and that I can feel good about using. Obviously, this need to come with a warning that I’m not an expert — far from it — and I’m still learning and making changes as I go. But this is the list of cleaners we’ve switched to and found work, and as I learn more, I’m continuously trying new things and swapping out products for better, safer choices.
Here are my favorite non-toxic cleaning products that actually get the job done.
Non-Toxic All Purpose Cleaners
Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner
Seventh Generation Cleaning Wipes
Hardwood Floor Cleaner
Non-Toxic Glass Cleaner
Seventh Generation Glass Cleaner
Non-Toxic Bathroom Cleaners
Branch Basics Bathroom Cleaner
Seventh Generation Tub + Tile Cleaner
Non-Toxic Dish Cleaners
Seventh Generation Dishwasher Pods
Non-Toxic Laundry Products
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