How to Clean Your Entire Bathroom Without Using Chemicals

People ask me all the time what I use to clean my house since I don't use commercially produced cleaners anymore. Today I'm going to share with you how to clean your entire bathroom without using harmful chemicals. 

When I was looking for ways to feel better from my horrible fibromyalgia symptoms, the first thing I did was eliminate as many chemicals as possible from my home environment. I found numerous articles that explained how harmful toxic chemicals are to our overall health and well-being. Daily exposure to these chemicals has been linked to numerous autoimmune diseases, including fibromyalgia. They are used to make all kinds of cleaning solutions, cosmetics, perfumes, and household products that I used everyday. Every time I touched a surface covered in one of these products, took a breath of air that was loaded with their noxious fumes, or slathered chemically created lotion on my skin, I was exposing myself to unacceptable health risks.

Of course, I didn't know that until I got sick. I used all kinds of products for decades without a single thought about what ingredients were used to make them or the harm they could cause. By the time I had suffered with fibromalgia for over a year, I was in so much constant severe pain and had such debilitating fatigue, that I was desperate to try anything that might make me feel a little better. I was even willing to change lifestyle routines I had been comfortable with for years. Because I felt so wretched, this seemed like a daunting and insurmountable task. But the thought of being a semi-invalid for the rest of my life was even more horrible; so I was willing to give it a try.

Learning new ways to clean everything in my house took time. I gradually replaced every cleaning product in my home with something free of chemicals. It took me a year to figure out everything I needed to do. I don't want it to take anybody else that long,so I'm blogging to get the word out that you can recover from fibromyalgia and other autoimmune diseases. There are many practical changes you can make to move toward healing.

Here's how to clean your entire bathroom without using chemicals.


Dusting

Use a Swiffer duster, microfiber cloth, or similar product on wood cabinets and light fixtures. This type of tool efficiently collects dust. Swiffer and other companies that make this type of duster also market scented sprays to use with the dusting tool. Do not purchase these.The scents and propellants used in the aerosol cans are full of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) Besides, the duster by itself works great.


Mirrors, Sinks, and Surfaces

Make your own all-purpose cleaner. Put equal amounts of plain white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray the homemade mixture over the surface you want to clean.Scrub and wipe off with paper towels, a clean sponge, or a clean cloth. No rinsing is required. Use a clean micro fiber cloth to wipe off mirrors to avoid streaking. This is great for mirrors, sinks, faucets, countertops, doorknobs, light switches, etc. Vinegar kills most household germs as effectively as commercial products full of toxic chemicals. 


Shower and Tub

Use the homemade all-purpose cleaner on faucets and the outside surfaces of the shower and tub. To cut through soap scum on the inside of the shower, buy a dishwashing sponge with a handle that can be filled with liquid. Fill the handle reservoir with equal parts of dishwashing soap and plain white vinegar. Use a biodegradable soap like Castille or one of the organic dishwashing liquids made by companies like Method and Seventh Generation. Scrub the shower walls with the sponge and rinse. 


Whirlpool Tub Jets

Jets need to be cleaned once a month to prevent the buildup of gunk. Have you ever settled into your whirlpool tub anticipating a relaxing bath only to be slimed by gunk shooting out from the jets when you hit the on switch? Use the following mixture once a month to clean the jets and you will never be slimed again.

Fill the tub with warm water until all of the jets are completely covered with water.
Add 2 cups of borax, 1 cup of baking soda, and 2 quarts of white vinegar to the water.
Turn on the jets and let them run for 30 minutes.
Turn off the jets and drain the tub.
Use paper towels to wipe up all of the gunk that has come out of the jets.
Fill the tub with enough cold water to cover the jets and run the jets for 30 minutes.
Drain the tub and wipe up any remaining residue.
Spray vinegar and water all-purpose cleaner inside the tub and wipe with paper towels or a microfiber cloth to leave the tub clean and sparkling.


Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Buy a 16 ounce or larger squirt bottle or thoroughly rinse an empty dishwashing liquid bottle. Use a funnel to put these ingredients in the bottle in this order: 3 tablespoons of baking soda, 1/3 cup of Castille biodegradable soap. Add water to fill the rest of a 16 ounce bottle. If using a larger size bottle, add 2 cups of water.

Shake the bottle to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Squirt underneath the rim and on the inside surfaces of the toilet bowl. Scrub with your favorite toilet bowl brush and flush to rinse. Castille soap is made from olive oil. It can be purchased from Amazon.com or other online retailers. It can also be found at health food stores and camping and hiking stores. It is used by hikers because it is organic and biodegradable and will not harm the environment. I rarely use scented products because most of the time the scents are bound to the product with toxic VOCs. The scented forms of Castille add natural oils like peppermint and lavender to create a light scent. Castille soap may seem expensive at first: around $7.00 for an 8 ounce bottle. However, you can make four 16 ounce batches of toilet bowl cleaner from one 8 ounce bottle for a cost of under $2.00 per batch. It is difficult to find commercially made toilet bowl cleaner for this price. And the homemade version works great and is free of toxic chemicals.

Tile Floors

I like to use a steam cleaner that only requires water for routine cleaning of my tile floors. The brand I have is a vacuum/steamer combo so I can do both tasks at the same time. 

When I feel my tile floors need a more heavy duty cleaning, this is what I use.

Mix the following ingredients in a one gallon plastic pitcher with a pouring spout:

2 teaspoons of Castille soap or organic liquid dish soap
½ cup of baking soda
1 gallon of warm water
½ cup of white vinegar

Put the liquid dish soap, baking soda and half the warm water into the pitcher and mix well with a large spoon. Then add the vinegar.The mixture will bubble up and foam when you add the vinegar. Wait for the foam to subside before adding the rest of the water.

Pour the mixture into a mop that has a reservoir for adding your own cleaning mixture. I like the Libman mop. It has a plastic container that is easy to fill and a washable microfiber pad that you attach to the bottom of the mop. There are several brands of this type of mop so you can chose whichever one you prefer.  

Vacuum the floors to get up any loose dirt. Mop with the homemade floor cleaner. Use your favorite clean mop to rinse the floors with plain water.This system of cleaning my tile floors is nontoxic and it works better than any commercial cleaning product I have ever used.

Getting rid of toxic household products was the first step I took to move toward feeling better. I also quit eating most processed food which is full of harmful chemicals. And I started eating real food with lots of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. You can find recipes that use antioxidant rich foods in previous posts.

I have been symptom free from fibromyalgia for over three years.


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Organic Cleaning Products

Chemical Free Cleaning Options

There are a lot of natural ingredients you can use to clean your house.

When I first recognized that the hundreds of chemicals I came in contact with daily could be contributing to my fibromyalgia pain and chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms, I didn't realize how many things I was about to have to change.  It's a good thing I didn't or I might have given up before I got started.  However, since I was learning new things each day, I was able to make changes slowly one by one.  So pace yourself.  Don't feel like you have to do everything at once.  

After I had gotten rid of all the scented products in my environment, I focused on cleaning products next.  I encourage you to get out your current supply of cleaning products and read the labels.  These are the ingredients you are inhaling, touching, and covering the surfaces of your home with every time you use these products.

There are a lot of alternatives to prepackaged chemicals that you can use for cleaning your house.  Google "chemical free cleaning,"  "organic cleaning," "non toxic cleaning," or other similar phrases and you will have access to a ton of great ideas.  Here are a few of my favorites:

All purpose cleaner:  Mix 1 part plain white vinegar to 2 parts water and put in a spray bottle.  Vinegar at this concentration kills as many germs as most commercial products.  I use this mixture to clean surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen, counter tops, mirrors, chrome fixtures, doorknobs, light switches, appliances, the stove top, sinks, and anywhere else you would use an all purpose cleaner. 

Air freshener:  Put baking soda or vinegar in a small dish and leave in the area where you want to absorb odors. If you want the kitchen to have a nice smell, try simmering water with cinnamon sticks and ginger on your stove. 

Garbage disposal cleaner:  Put a slice of lemon, lime, or orange in the garbage disposal and turn on just long enough to partially grind up the fruit.  Let it sit for at least one hour before grinding completely.  Then flush with cold water for a few minutes.

Drain cleaner:  Pour one cup of vinegar in your sinks.  Add a few tablespoons of baking soda.  Let sit for at least one hour. Then flush with cold water.

Grout cleaner: I am still discovering new cleaning options. I just read a hint about using hydrogen peroxide to clean mold from tile and grout.  It said to mix one part peroxide with two parts water and put in a spray bottle.  I have added hydrogen peroxide to my shopping list for this week so that I can try out this new idea.

There are natural alternatives you can use to clean every single thing in your house.  Once you find out which options you like the best and have made the switch, you will have eliminated a whole category of chemicals from your environment.  If there is one favorite chemical laden product that you just cannot bring yourself to replace, don't let that stop you from making at least some changes.  Every chemical you get rid of brings you one step closer to recovery.

Are there any non toxic cleaning products you recommend?

The Chemical Connection

Chemicals Contaminate Everything

You will never change how you interact with the chemicals around you
until you change your attitude about the harm they can cause.

Even after I read article after article about the possibility that chemicals could be the culprit for my devastating fibromyalgia pain and debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome, it took several months for me to summon up the will to radically change my lifestyle.  I kept trying to rationalize.  After all, if this was the root of my problem, why weren't more doctors recommending this course of action?  Why weren't more people getting rid of things in their environment that could be making them so sick?

I decided maybe one reason this hasn't happened on a large scale is because not enough people have been willing to alter the way they live.  Sometimes we are too ingrained in our routines to be willing to make drastic changes. Getting rid of the chemicals around me couldn't hurt anything so it met my primary requirement of "First do no harm."  Resigning myself to feeling horrible all the time was not an option.  So in January of 2010 I made a commitment to find out where the chemicals lurked, how to get rid of them, what to substitute in their place, and wait and see what happened.  

I did not expect this to be a quick fix.  After all, I had been exposed to hundreds of chemicals every day for decades.  It made sense to me that it would take time, maybe a long time, to notice any difference.  I had nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain.  

I started with what I felt would be the easiest group of chemicals for me to eliminate:  anything that has a scent.  I had already removed a good many of these types of chemicals from my environment due to previous allergic reactions.  So I was surprised how many things in this category I still needed to get rid of.  Scents are created by adding chemicals to products.  Even so called "natural" scents require chemicals to bind the scent to the product.  It is relatively easy to create a scent free environment in your home but it may require that you change almost every product you use.  

Scented products you will have to eliminate include:

perfume

air fresheners

incense

scented candles

potpourri 

You need to check the labels of other products to see if they contain a scent including:

makeup

hairspray

deodorant

laundry detergent

cleaning supplies

bath soap

shampoo

hand lotion

Fortunately, almost everything on this list comes in an unscented version.  There are hypoallergenic, unscented makeup lines and laundry detergents free of perfume and dyes.  Shampoo and soap that are white tend to have less scents and less chemicals than those that have color.  There are natural cleaning products you can buy or you can make your own cleaning products using natural ingredients.

There would be many more things I would eliminate and many more things I would add before I recovered.  But this was the first small step.  I felt a small stirring of something I hadn't felt in over a year: hope.  

Have you had any adverse reactions to scented products?