By Ellice Yang
There is no doubt we are finding ourselves cleaning and disinfecting more than ever during this pandemic. Our intentions are good when using common household cleaners but studies show cleaning products containing volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), irritants, fragrants and flammable ingredients have been linked to many health issues such as asthma. This is especially evident in young children and infants whose immune systems are still developing.
Although cleaning is necessary, over cleaning can also have health repercussions, overuse of antibacterial products can alter our natural bacterial environment (microbiome). Disinfecting can not only kill off the “bad” bacteria, but also kill the good bacterial organisms which are important for our immune systems. When you kill off friendly flora, it really gives resistant bacteria an advantage to grow altering our natural balance that keeps us safe and healthy within our environment but also within our bodies.
So what can we do to keep our homes clean and healthy without using toxic chemicals? Here are some tips!
- Make sure you “clean” surfaces before “disinfecting”. This is important so that you get rid of as much dirt and grime, so that the disinfectant can do its thing. We love using plant-based cleaning products such as Young Living’s Thieves Cleaner. A little bit of this solution goes a long way, it is cost-effective, and it incorporates essentials oils known to have antimicrobial activity! Essential oils such as clove, cinnamon, tea tree, lavender, thyme just to name a few, contain isolated compounds including terpenes, terpenoids and aromatic compounds. You can visit https://www.youngliving.com/en_CA/products/healthy-home-premium-starter-kit to find out more about Young Living’s healthy home Thieves products using our sponser/enroller #16782323 to receive 24% off retail pricing.
- Once you have cleaned your surface areas, you are now ready to disinfect. Unfortunately, your typical natural cleaning recipes such as vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice is not going to cut it. Health Canada has recommended bleach, isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide as effective in disinfection of the coronavirus. Where does that leave us for those looking for more safer and environmentally conscious disinfecting options? Of these, David Suzuki recommends using hydrogen peroxide as it is basically water and an extra oxygen molecule! Sounds good to me. You will need to dilute the hydrogen peroxide at a 3-5% concentration and you don’t even have to rinse it because it decomposes to water and oxygen. Click here for more info https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/non-toxic-disinfecting/
It’s great to know we have healthy and safe options when it comes to using non-toxic products cleaning and disinfecting our homes, especially now that cleaning is a priority for our health and safety.
