Every home is filled with toxins, and they can have a negative impact on our health and well-being. As a mom, it’s particularly important to ensure that your baby and the entire family stay away from toxins as much as possible. Thankfully, it always comes down to creating a toxin-free environment and preventing exposure to those dangerous chemicals/products. But how can you create a toxin-free home? Here are some tips that might help!
Where Do Toxins Hide In Your Home?
Realistically, toxins can be found anywhere in your home. They are in your cleaning and personal care products, air fresheners, and even in your furniture, paints, or finishes. Plastics are also filled with chemicals like phthalates, BPAs, and many others. Then, we also have laundry detergents or pesticides. Learning how to avoid these and maintain a toxin-free home can be difficult but not impossible.
Improving the Air Quality
What a lot of moms do not realise is that indoor air tends to be up to 2-5 times more polluted when compared to outdoor air. Why does this happen? It has to do with the off-gassing from cleaners, synthetic materials, and furniture. But what can you do?
- Add plants like snake plants, spider plants, lilies, or any plants that help with oxygen generation,
- Avoid using synthetic air fresheners, which are usually full of chemicals and thus very dangerous,
- Using HEPA air purifiers in play areas and bedrooms is extremely important,
- Opening windows daily can circulate fresh air within your home.
Replace Chemical-Based Cleaners With Natural Alternatives
A very good idea is to try and stop using commercial cleaners. Those can lead to asthma, skin rashes, and lung irritations, especially for kids. A good idea is to opt for non-toxic cleaner brands. Or, if you want, you can go the DIY route. Water combined with vinegar and some essential oil can be a stellar, natural alternative to most cleaners. Using baking soda to clean stove tops, sinks, or tubs can also be handy. And yes, you can replace bleach with some white vinegar, which can be extremely useful for disinfecting surfaces.
Learn How To Detox The Laundry Room
A lot of the time, you’ll see laundry detergent residue on bedding and clothes, which is very bad for your kids and the entire family. What you can do is to use plant-based detergents, and you should also ditch dryer sheets, use some wool dryer balls instead. Step away from synthetic dyes or brighteners. Even things like washing any new clothes before wearing them can be a great idea, especially when it comes to babies.
Improve Your Food Storage and Cookware
Non-stick cookware and plastics will leach toxins when they are heated. Needless to say, that’s extremely dangerous for you and your child. It helps if you replace that with glass, stainless steel, or cast iron cookware. Stay away from non-stick pans, as those tend to have PFAS and PFOA, which are very dangerous chemicals that should be avoided.
There are other things you need to take into account, such as storing leftovers in glass containers. Plastics are not an ideal storage medium because they leak chemicals into your food. And speaking of plastics, you should never microwave your food in plastic storage because it’s a material that does not offer great heat support. If anything, it leaks unwanted chemicals that can bring dangerous health problems.
Use a Water Filter
Many people drink tap water, presuming it’s the safest option. The problem is that tap water is usually cleaned with chlorine, so it normally includes that, along with other compounds such as microplastics and heavy metals. What should you do to protect your child and the entire family? Try using a water filter, and you may want to filter the shower water as well. Even baby formula should be made with filtered water so you can avoid any possible side effects.
Find Healthier Alternatives to Beauty/Skincare Products
The average woman uses over 5 personal care products a day. Mothers most likely use even more. What we don’t know is that many of these have chemicals that feature endocrine disruptors. How can you avoid using these products?
- Always look for labels like “Made Safe” or “EWG Verified”
- Make sure that you use unscented, natural lotions and organic products for children,
- Avoid any beauty products that have sulfates, phthalates, parabens, or any other dangerous chemicals,
- Minimal-ingredient products are ideal because the chances of developing any side effects are much lower here,
- Mineral-based sunscreen is always better when compared to chemical-filled products.
Make Sure That Your Child’s Room/Nursery Is Free Of Toxins
How can you do that? Solid wood furniture or low-VOC furniture is ideal. You also want to use organic bedding and mattresses. Additionally, it makes sense if you clean floors/carpets with non-toxic products. Even toys should be non-toxic, made out of cloth, silicone, and wood.
Go With Reusable Products, Where Possible
A lot of the time, you get stuck with single-use items that have lots of chemicals or plastics. These pollute the environment and can lead to skin rashes or various problems for your child. The solution here is to use reusable cloth diapers and wipes. Replacing paper towels with washable rags can help quite a bit. Even swapping plastic bags with cotton or silicone bags can help quite a bit. Switching to reusable products is an eco-friendly solution, and it can provide an exceptional result. Make sure that you use this approach whenever possible.
Conclusion
There’s no denying that establishing a toxin-free environment can be difficult, especially if you have a child. Based on my experience as a parent, these tips are highly effective, and the more you start implementing them, the better. It will take a bit of trial and error to see what works for your home and what you can improve upon. But in the end, it’s going to provide a much better experience once you make decisions with your child’s health and well-being in mind.
After all, toxins can be found anywhere, from our furniture to our foods and even in our children’s toys. Simple yet effective methods like the ones listed above can be very powerful, and they will provide exceptional results going forward.
