Healthy Cleaning, Healthy Living

Using environmentally friendly cleaning products—and getting rid of toxic ones—goes a long way toward ensuring a spotless home with clean fresh air. Clean air rejuvenates and revitalizes. If you live in a home free of toxic chemicals, you'll sleep soundly, concentrate better, and have a higher overall sense of well-being. You can reduce your household's toxic burden by following the steps below:

Look under your kitchen sink.

Almost every home in the world has a cabinet full of poisons: waxes, polishes, oven cleaners, insect spray—these are the items one often stores under the kitchen sink. If misused, they are extremely hazardous to one's health. Remove any toxic products you may have and replace them with safer versions in the future.

Dispose of toxic products properly.

Hazardous materials shouldn't be thrown away in the trash or poured down the drain as they can cause serious environmental pollution. To dispose of your toxic products properly, simply call your local recycling centre or town/city hall. These days, most communities have services that pickup hazardous waste materials from residents at least once every year.

Replace toxic cleaning products with better versions.

Be wary of signal words on labels such as “caution”, “danger”, “warning”, or “poison”. Choose instead the products with labels that signify that the ingredients are effective and safe for the environment. The Design for the Environment label and the Green Seal are examples of these labels.

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A Dust Mite-Free Bed and a Clean House

Nothing is more unpleasant than sleeping on a dirty bed. Not only will it ruin your long, peaceful sleep, dust mites under the mattress, pillows, and sheets will do it for you. You don't have to wait for the day when you'll wake up to an unexplained itchiness on your body before you get your mattress thoroughly sanitized.

Pillow cases, bedsheets and other bed fabrics must be washed thoroughly and regularly. Not only do they bite, dust mites can also defecate on your bed; their fecal matter are a common source of allergens for many people. In Canada, two out of five people suffer from allergic reactions due to dust mite infestation on their beds.

When you plan on sanitizing your bed, consider getting it cleaned with natural products. Not only are these products just as powerful as chemical-based cleaners, they're also safe for the environment and don't leave residue that can irritate your skin. Thoroughly washing a mattress will also get rid of odors from sweating, stains, and molds that have accumulated on your bed.

Having your mattresses cleaned will let you sleep better any time of the day. As you're getting your bed sanitized, consider having the rest of your room and your entire house cleaned, as well.

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Use the Right Tools for Home Cleaning

With the right cleaning supplies, home cleaning will be a breeze. It's a matter of choosing the right tool for the particular area you want to tidy-up. If you use the wrong tool or equipment, you might end up breaking furniture, damaging your wall, or leaving cracks on your tiles. Being extra careful when cleaning is very important if you want to keep your home clean and your furnishings intact.

Stains are probably the No. 1 enemies in every home; they can't be removed by simply using a dry cloth. The first thing to do is identify where the stain came from. Is it wine on the carpet, paint on your wooden floor, pen marks on your walls? Once you've done this, then you can start cleaning using the the appropriate stain remover. You can also use an all-purpose cleaner but check the label to be sure that it won't worsen the stain.

You can deal with dust on the surfaces of cabinets and appliances with a duster or a clean cloth. Make sure all your cleaning materials are newly washed before use, otherwise, you'll just be wasting your time and effort cleaning.

Consider your floor type and use the right cleaning solution for it. Marble or ceramic tiles may be sensitive to strong chemicals that can be corrosive. Carpet flooring requires delicate washing to prevent pulling off the piles. 

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