DISINFECTANTS
Watch any daytime television program and you'll see a number of advertisements for household cleaning products. The ads are geared to stay-at home mothers, and they suggest that a responsible parent will spray chemical cleaners liberally in their homes in order to kill germs that are just waiting to infect their family.
These products will indeed disinfect your home and kill germs, but they can also harm your body. While there are times when commercial disinfectants are appropriate, regular use of these products can endanger the health of you and your family. The problem with commercial disinfectants is the dangerous chemicals used in them.
According to Linda Mason Hunter, author of The Healthy Home
Pick up any household disinfectant and chances are the Label will list either phenol or cresol two powerful and closely related compounds. Both are found in a number of products for disinfecting, deodorizing and sanitizing. Phenol can temporarily deactivate sensory nerve endings, which is why contact with it often causes little or no pain. Cresol attacks the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, and central nervous system.
Commercial disinfectants should never be used in a healthy home. Even with heavy cross ventilation, it can take more than one year to completely eliminate the unhealthy effect of one spraying of 2 1/2 ounces of a widely promoted disinfectant. (Hunter, pp. 11, 12)
NATURAL ALTERNATIVES
Grandma knew how to keep a clean home without using commercial chemicals. Common household ingredients can be used to clean the kitchen, bathroom, and other parts of the house without increasing indoor air pollution and our toxic chemical load. Essential oils can be added to these basic cleaning recipes to improve disinfectant power.
Bathroom and Kitchen Tile Cleaner and Disinfectant
2 capfuls Sunshine Concentrate
10 drops thyme linalol essential oil
7 drops rosemary essential oil
15 drops bergamot essential oil
2 gallons hot water
Pour Sunshine Concentrate into a large bucket. Begin adding hot water from the faucet, and then drop in the essential oils. This recipe is effective for tiles and linoleumi (vinyl) floors and tile and solid surface countertops.
For laminated countertops reduce the amount of essential oils
Antiseptic Spray for Surfaces
15 drops lemon essential oil 10 drops thyme linalol essential oil
5 drops clove essential oil
2 Tablespoons vodka, witch hazel, or vinegar.
3 ounces distilled water
Dissolve essential oils in vodka, witch hazel or vinegar in a spray bottle. Add water. Shake well before using and keep out of reach of children.
Disinfectant Room Spray
6 drops eucalyptus essential oil
6 drops bergamot or lemon essential oil
4 drops pine essential essential oil
2 drop peppermint essential oil
2 ounces purified water
Combine oils and water in a glass spray bottle. Shake well and spray to comba
t odors and infection.
Delicate Surface Scrubber
2 Tablespoons chalk
1/2 teaspoon Sunshine Concentrate
Enough water to make a paste
Use paste on a cloth to scrub surface.
Greasy Surface Scrubber
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 teaspoons Sunshine Concentrate
10 drops lemon or grapefruit essential oil
Water to make a paste.
Use paste on a cloth to scrub surface.
Shower Floor and Toilet Rim Cleaner
This recipe will lift the scum off your sbower floor - with natural scrubbing bubbles! You will need just a little elbow grease in tbe form of a scrub brush. It is best to do the floor in sections, so you are scrubbing while the mixture is bubbling.
** baking soda
** vinegar
** essential oils of your choice
Sprinkle baking soda on the surface to be cleaned.
Drop on 2-3 drops of essential oil and then enough vinegar to cover a small area. The mixture will startf izzing, and you should start scrubbing. Clean a small area at a time.
Drain Cleaner I
Baking soda and vinegar make a great drain cleaner, as well.
Pour 1/2 cup baking soda, and then 1 cup of vinegar into your drain.
You can add 10 drops of grapefruit essential oil to improve the smell and help cut grease. Allow to sit 5 minutes, and then flush drain with hot water.
Joys Drain Cleaner II
Drop 2 tablets of alka-seltzer down the drain, add a little water and allow to sit for several minutes.
Flush drain with very hot water.
Sink Scrubber
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon baking soda
7 drops lemon essential oil
Enough water to make a paste
Combine and use to scrub porcelain sinks, tile, and stainless steel.
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