Natural Cleaning Products
If you are at all interested in learning more about making your own natural cleaning products to clean your home, and you have not already read this book, The Naturally Clean Home, by Karyn Siegel-Maier I highly recommend you do.In the first chapter she illustrates some shocking statistics. Here are just a few examples."The Consumer Product Safety Commission has determined that more than 150 chemicals found in ordinary household products are directly responsible for producing cancer, allergies, birth defects, and numerous psychological disorders".
"In 1990 alone, more than 4,000 children under the age of four were given emergency treatment for poisoning by consumption of a household cleaner. In the same year, nearly 18,000 pesticide-related incidents were reported in which 74 percent of the victims were younger than 14 years of age".
Karyn also goes in to great detail on the hidden dangers in each of the many cleaners we use on a daily basis. These include products such as our laundry detergents, furniture polish, air fresheners, and toilet bowl cleaners, just to name a few. She shares with us many wonderful recipes to make our own cleaners that will not only save you money but keep your home, your families and ourselves safe, healthy and clean.Once I had made the decision to change my diet and to try to live a healthier life, I began to do some research. Surprisingly I was finding that living healthy these days is not easy and is certainly not cheap. It is very discouraging when just about everything you pick up in the grocery store is loaded with preservatives and chemicals, with names you can hardly pronounce. Then once informed you go down the cleaning isle and take in a deep breath and for the first time notice an amazingly powerful chemical odor. That odor would be from "out gassing", which is the term used for chemicals escaping through the sealed plastics. I try to hold my breath now when I walk near that isle. Breathing in these toxic smells can be just as dangerous as digesting, or absorbing them. I just recently learned that in the past year childhood asthma had increased as much as 400%. I wonder if this has any thing to do with the air we're breathing? I don't know about you, but personally I have known and lost too many dear friends and relatives over the past few years to cancer, and I am always pondering the same question; why cancer? I may never fully understand or have all the answers, but if recent research is showing us that the majority of consumer products containing chemicals directly related to cancer and other health problems, are indeed putting us at risk, why not stop using those products? We have become too accustomed to convenience and low cost. If your life is at risk doesn't it just make sense not to buy and consume what always will be cheap and convenient? I do understand that not everyone's lifestyle can accommodate, making all of your own cleaning supplies and personal cleaning items, or growing a great big garden. However I do encourage everyone to at least be informed and read the labels. There are many natural and organic companies out there that have established great reputations. Do an on-line search, find your local farmers' market, and who knows, you may actually enjoy growing your own food or even making your own multi-purpose cleaner from vinegar!As always I hope that you do make that pure and simple choice.If you are considering making your own cleaning supplies, this is another very useful book that I recommend.
