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Safer Alternatives to Household Toxins - Kitchen & Laundry


K I T C H E N  &   L A U N D R Y
Product Types
Potential Health Hazards
Safer Alternatives

Contain: formaldehyde, methylene chloride, and propane. Harmful to lungs if inhaled in large quantities or for an extended period of time. Solid fresheners are fatal if eaten.

**Glade plug-ins were found to be the most highly volatile chemical in the average household- DO NOT USE. Air fresheners are readily inhaled and pleasant enough to seem harmless.

**Air fresheners only mask odors, not freshen or sanitize the air.

  1. Simmer a mixture of cinnamon and cloves in water on the stove.
  2. Leave box of baking soda open in the room or refrigerator to deodorize and absorb food odors.
  3. Set out an open dish of vinegar.
  4. Sprinkle baking soda on odor-producing areas.
  5. Pet odor eliminator: cider vinegar.
  6. Ventilate with a fan or open windows, or both to avoid odor accumulation in your home
Toxic pesticide exposure leads to immediate, long-term poisoning. There are many less dangerous chemicals available for ant control.

**See www.pesticides.org for more information.
  1. "Least toxic" chemicals- boric acid, salt or silica gel on trails, nest and traps.
  2. 2 Tb boric acid, 2 Tb sugar, 1 cup water. Soak paper towels, place on dishes, set out for ants.
  3. Place a line of cream of tarter or red chili powder at point of entry.
  4. Commercial sticky barriers to block.
  5. Boiling water on nest to destroy.
  6. Sweet: Float bowl of sugar water in sink to kill.
  7. Carpenters/Termites: Reduce stored rotting wood.
Carpeting/Rugs Floor Cleaner
Contain: borax, trichloroethane. Toxic; irritant to skin, eyes, and mucous membrane; may be flammable. Avoid breathing vapors and wear gloves to prevent contact with the skin.

Clean carpets on dry, sunny days with the windows open to speed drying time (and avoid exposure).

DO NOT SOAK, carpet will most likely mildew. Test any carpet cleaners in an inconspicuous area first to avoid complicating things more!
  1. Pet urine: Blot quickly with cold water, drying sets odor, then dishwashing liquid to clean.
  2. Use a soap-based, nonaerosol rug shampoo.
  3. Reduce the need to clean by taking shoes off and maintaining vacuum quality and efficiency.
  4. Mix ½ c mild dishwashing detergent with 1 pint boiling water; let cool. Whip to stiff foam with electric mixer. Rub in with damp sponge in 4x4 sections; wipe suds with dry cloth. Rinse with 1 c vinegar with 1 gal warm water. Rinse and dry as you go. Change rinse solution often.
  5. Neutralize odor: Sprinkle dry baking soda, or paste, let set overnight before vacuuming.
  6. Grease stains: citrus-based solvents.
  7. Alcohol, Coffee, or Tomato-foods Stains: Soak up, using club soda or clear cold water to rinse.
  8. Sprinkle cornstarch on rug, then vacuum.
Chlorine is a reactive chemical and can form toxic gases when mixed with other cleaners, especially ammonia; irritant to eyes and mucous membranes; corrosive.
1. Use oxygen bleaches ½ cup per laundry load or job. 2. Use hydrogen peroxide based bleaches (only less toxic not completely safe).
3. Add baking soda to cleaning mixture.
Phosphates, chlorine, sodium carbonate, and surfactants in detergents are harmful if swallowed and will burn skin and eyes with contact.

Liquid dishwashing detergent is the mildest of the detergent cleaners; automatic dish detergent is the harshest.

**Always use the mildest product for your needs
**Never put liquid detergent in the dishwasher!
  1. Use sodium hexametaphosphate to cut detergent use in half and dry spotless (use with hard water; does not remove dried on food).
  2. Cutting Grease: ½ c baking soda to detergent or add lemon slices to water (also fresh smell).
  3. Wash dishes by hand with a less abrasive detergent than in automatic dishwashers (vegetable based, not petroleum based soaps).
  4. Coffee pot stained: vinegar.
  5. Use half the recommended amount of automatic dishwasher detergent.
  6. Buy detergents with no phosphates or chlorine.
  7. Rub a sponge with bar soap.
Irritant, may be corrosive.
  1. Mix 1 c borax with 1 gallon of boiling water.
  2. Wash items with water and soap, borax, or sodium monohydrate (washing soda).
  3. Undiluted white vinegar.
  4. Rubbing alcohol (careful! Flammable!)
Highly corrosive to all body parts, vapors are irritants; poisonous. Chemical compounds in drain cleaners are highly caustic!
  1. Clean out obstruction with snake or plunger.
  2. To loosen: Pour ½ c each of baking soda, vinegar, and salt down drain, let stand 15 minutes, flush with 2 quarts boiling water.
  3. Preventative: Do the above once a week, or just boiling water.
  4. DO NOT POUR GREASE DOWN SINK.
Garbage Disposal Deodorizers
Chemicals will corrode pipes; harmful if vapors inhaled. Deodorizers are poisonous, toxic.

**See Air Fresheners/Deodorizers
  1. Grind citrus rinds (natural deodorizer!).
  2. Grind ice cubes.
  3. Grind used lemons.
  4. Pour baking soda down the drain.
Phosphates, chlorine, sodium carbonate, and ammonium hydroxide in detergents and spot removers are harmful if swallowed and will burn skin and eyes with contact. Flammable; highly toxic; readily inhaled and absorbed.

AVOID DRYCLEANING - agents such as perchloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene may cause light-headedness, dizziness and central nervous system symptoms of toxic exposure, as well as a disposal problem for the drycleaner.

**Laundry detergent is moderately toxic relative to other detergents (Liquid dishwashing detergent is the mildest of the detergent cleaners; automatic dish detergent is the harshest). A low or no phosphate detergent is best.
  1. Use sodium hexametaphosphate to cut detergent use in half and dry spotless (use with hard water; does not remove dried on food).
  2. Cutting Grease: ½ c baking soda to detergent or add lemon slices to water (also fresh smell).
  3. Wash dishes by hand with a less abrasive detergent than in automatic dishwashers (vegetable based, not petroleum based soaps).
  4. Coffee pot stained: vinegar.
  5. Use half the recommended amount of automatic dishwasher detergent.
  6. Buy detergents with no phosphates or chlorine.
  7. Rub a sponge with bar soap.
Contain: ammonia, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid. Irritants; flammable; highly toxic. Hydrofluoric acid is highly corrosive to the skin, and may cause blindness. Keep tightly closed and safely stored.
  1. Metals: 2 tablespoons cream of tartar and 1 quart hot water.
  2. Metal: mix ¼ c salt with enough vinegar to dilute, adding flour to create a paste.
  3. Chrome: Clean: Rub baking soda with a dry cloth. Polish: (apple cider) vinegar or baby oil.
  4. Aluminum: Fill cookware with hot water, adding 2 Tb cream of tarter for each qt, bring to boil and let simmer for 10 minutes; wash and dry.
  5. Aluminum coffee pot: to remove lime deposits boil equal water and vinegar as long as needed.
  6. Stainless Steel: Clean: baking soda. Polish: mineral oil.
  7. Brass polish: Worcestershire sauce or paste of equal parts vinegar salt and flour. Rinse completely to prevent corrosion.
  8. Copper cleaner: lemon juice and salt mix or paste of equal parts vinegar salt and flour. Rinse completely to prevent corrosion.
  9. Silver: To clean: Large object- rub gently with baking soda and damp sponge. Small objects- place in pot of water with piece of aluminum foil on bottom. Boil adding 1 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp salt; add tarnished silver and boil 2-3 minutes. Remove and wash in soapy water and polish.
  10. Rub gently with toothpaste on a cottonball.
Hazardous materials include naphthalene and p-dichlorobenzene. Poisonous when eaten and if residue is still present on recently stored clothing. Irritant to lungs, nose, and throat when inhaled. Long-term exposure to vapors may result in liver and/or kidney damage. Chemically sensitive individuals at a great risk.

Avoid buying mothballs and moth crystals. Never use as an air freshener. Keep stored in a very secure and air-tight location.

**The powerful smell associated with mothballs is derived from paradichlorobenzene.
  1. Clean any used furniture or clothing brought into the household.
  2. Wash woolens well before storing (by hand using a mild soap) DO NOT DRYCLEAN, it is a significant source of air pollution.
  3. Shake out wool clothing periodically.
  4. Tightly wrap clothing to be stored (double wrap or place in sealed [cedar] chest).
  5. Add newspaper, cedar chips (or sprigs) or dried lavender flowers to sealed container when storing, or sew dried lavender or cedar chips into small cloth bags and place with clothes.
  6. Kill moth eggs by running through a warm clothes dryer cycle.
  7. Infestation: place item in plastic bag in freezer for at least 48 hours, bring back to room temperature then freeze again. Tightly store the item to avoid reinfestation.
  8. Vacuum rugs, carpets behind and under furniture, and upholstered furniture.
  9. When use air out clothing before wearing.
  10. Do not use inside or near people and animals.
Irritant, toxic when ammonia exposure is mixed with multiple chemicals. Mild to extreme irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and skin with contact; corrosive if swallowed.

**The average person in the U.S. uses 40.6 pounds of household cleaners each year.
  1. ½ c ammonia, 1/3 c white vinegar, ¼ c baking soda in 1 gal warm water (DO NOT USE ON WOOD!).
  2. 1 tsp liquid soap (castile), 1 tsp borax, 1 qt water, ¼ c vinegar.
  3. Use full strength vinegar with salt to remove grease.
  4. Dissolve 4 Tb baking soda in 1 qt warm water.
  5. Abrasive: pumice stick, baking soda and water paste, or nonchlorinated scouring powder.
Corrosive to skin and eyes, soft tissue and internal organs. Aerosol oven cleaners are one of the worst contributors to indoor air pollution, especially individuals with sensitivities to the fumes from these products (like asthma and chronic bronchitis).
** No matter how thoroughly you scrub, residue from toxic cleaners remains and begins to emit fumes the second the oven is turned on.
  1. Purchase a self-cleaning oven.
  2. Place cookie sheet or aluminum foil below to prevent soiling and the need for cleaners.
  3. 2Tb liquid soap + 2 tsp borax + warm water.
  4. For abrasion on tough jobs scrub with a paste of baking soda, water, and salt.
  5. Use a non-chlorinated scouring powder, pumice stick, or steel wool pad for racks and burner inserts.
  6. Wipe grease and spills up every time, use a nonmetallic metal brush on charred messes.
  7. Sprinkle dry baking soda, let sit 5 minutes, scrub with damp cloth (avoid wires or heat).
  8. DO NOT USE AEROSOLS they will explode.
  9. Use cleaners without lye
  1. Full strength vinegar followed by a solution of baking soda and water to scour.
  2. ¼ c baking soda, ½ c white vinegar [alternative option: add 1 c ammonia to mixture] + 1 gal warm water. Stir until soda dissolves.
  3. Use baking soda, rub with damp cloth, rinse.
  4. Grout and stains: Use a non-chlorinated scouring powder. Rub with baking soda paste, clean with toothbrush, spray vinegar solution (1/4 c in 1 qt water) onto, rinse after finished foaming.
  5. Porcelain: Make a paste from water and baking soda, apply to stain, let set, scrub and rinse well.
  6. Spot clean counters with borax paste.
Exposure will cause mild to extreme irritation with contact of nose, throat, eyes, or skin; corrosive if swallowed. Ammonia, sodium hypochlorite problematic and toxic.

**DO NOT MIX AMMONIA-BASED WITH BLEACH-BASED CLEANERS DUE TO HAZARDOUS FUMES Headaches and nausea may result from exposure
  1. Mop with 4 Tb baking soda dissolved in 1 qt warm water (or regular cleaner mixed with baking soda for abrasion).
  2. Linoleum: ½ c white vinegar in 1 gal water (or ¼ c borax), polish clean with baking soda.
  3. Polish: mix equal parts thick, boiled starch and soap suds; rub into floor, polish with dry cloth.
  4. Remove old wax: pour on club soda, scrub well and let soak, then wipe clean.
  5. Crayon marks: rub toothpaste with damp cloth.
  6. Grease: Mix full strength vinegar with salt.
  7. Heel marks: rub a baking soda and water paste.

Chemical exposure to skin, eyes, nose, and throat may cause mild to extreme irritation. Corrosive if swallowed.

  1. Glass: Equal vinegar and water (or ½ c in 1 gal), will streak with past chemicals residues; rub with rubbing alcohol before washing.
  2. Window: ½ c vinegar in 1 qt warm water, wipe down with crumpled newspaper or squeegee.
  3. Combine 3 Tb ammonia + 1 Tb white vinegar + ¾ c water in spray bottle.
  4. Mix ¼ c white vinegar or 2 Tb lemon juice and 1 qt warm water used in a spray bottle.
  5. Keep room ventilated when cleaning.
Wood Floor and Furniture Cleaners and Polishes

Toxic fumes; use in ventilated area. Flammable. Absorbed through mucous membranes, skin contact. Contain: turpentine, ammonia, trichloroethane, silicone

  1. Damp mop using a mild vegetable oil soap.
  2. Furniture polish (interior unvarnished wood): 3 parts olive or almond oil + 1 part white vinegar, or mix 2 parts vegetable oil + 1 part lemon juice. Apply, rub in, let set, wipe clean with soft cloth.
  3. Polish: Mix 2 tsp lemon oil + 1 pint mineral oil in spray bottle; or mix beeswax and olive oil.
  4. Use citrus or mineral oils (no warning label), not ones containing toxic petroleum naphtha.
  5. Water marks: rub with toothpaste, polish with a soft cloth.
  6. Coffee cup stain: rub moist salt or baking soda.
  7. Scratches: mix equal parts lemon juice and salad oil. Gently rub scratches until gone.
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