What Are The Best Safe Nontoxic Cleaners?

Keep a Clean House With Nontoxic Cleaners

If you clean your home with commercial sprays, wipes, scrubs and polishes, you’re putting toxins into your home environment instead of removing them. The same goes for most laundry detergents, dryer sheets and air fresheners. Even those strong-smelling lemon and pine scents — the ones many people believe are the epitome of a clean home — are created by toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

You needn’t expose yourself or your family to these toxins any longer, as it’s simple to clean your home with nontoxic cleaners. You can even recreate the same “clean” scents you love using essential oils, and your home will smell much better for it while offering you therapeutic benefits at the same time. As an added bonus, by creating your own nontoxic cleaners, you’ll probably save money too, compared to buying commercial cleaning products.

Why You Want to Avoid Using Chemical Disinfectants

  • Commercial cleaners emit toxic chemicals that may cause headaches and respiratory difficulties, organ damage and cancer
  • You can clean your home effectively and safely using natural ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, coconut oil, lemons and castile soap
  • Essential oils can be added to all of your homemade cleaning supplies and laundry detergents for an extra antimicrobial boost
  • Ditch synthetic air fresheners and scented candles for an aromatherapy diffuser, which smells wonderful and has therapeutic benefits

I strongly encourage you to think about ditching all of your chemical disinfectants, including your antibacterial soaps, laundry detergents and bath and kitchen cleansers, in favor of more natural alternatives.

Why? Because no study has shown that a vigorous program of home disinfection leads to a reduction of illness in a family. Yet, studies have shown that disinfectants can cause you and your family harm.

For those times when you need to do a bit of cleansing, one of the best non-toxic disinfectants is simple soap and water. You can use this for washing your hands, your body and for other household cleansing. Another all-purpose cleanser that works great for kitchen counters, cutting boards and bathrooms is 3% hydrogen peroxide and vinegar.

Simply put each liquid into a separate spray bottle, then spray the surface with one, followed by the other.

In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually all Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and surfaces when used in this fashion, making this spray combination more effective at killing these potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner.

The best results came from using one mist right after the other — it is 10 times more effective than using either spray by itself and more effective than mixing the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in one sprayer.

Sunlight is another powerful disinfectant, and drying your laundry in the sun is one of the best ways to save energy and wind up with fresh, clean linens and clothing.

So there’s really no need to expose your family to dangerous chemical disinfectants. As an added bonus aside from the health benefits, using this type of natural homemade cleanser is much less expensive than commercial varieties.


For more info from Dr. Mercola, see:

Keep a Clean House With Nontoxic Cleaners – Jan 06, 2018

How to Make a Natural Odor Eliminator – Dec 18, 2017

Common Cleaning Products May Increase Your Risk of Lung Disease  – Sep 27, 2017

Have You Vacuumed Your Mattress Lately? How Often to Clean Common Household Items – Aug 15, 2015

Spring Cleaning, the Non-Toxic Way – Mar 31, 2014

Common Household Chemicals Linked to Human Disease in Landmark UN Study – Mar 09, 2013

Simple Trick Removes Pesticides from Your Vegetables & Fruits – Aug 20, 2012

Beware—Some “Green” Cleaners May Be Deceptive and Toxic – Jun 25, 2011

Surface Disinfectants are Ineffective In Eliminating Viruses – Apr 06, 2010

Why You Want to Avoid Using Chemical Disinfectants – Oct 25, 2008