Are you concerned about the cleaning products you use in your home? I asked this question recently on my social media feed and was surprised that people really aren’t worried about it. Studies continue to show us that we should be thinking about the impact they may have on our health. My own research began after my kids were diagnosed with asthma and eczema. If you have a child with asthma, or have asthma yourself, you know how scary it can be. It’s terrifying watching your child struggle to breathe. With that in mind, we changed a few things in our home that I believe made a huge difference in helping our kids to eventually (and with drs approval) go off their daily medication and inhalers. We now only have to use inhalers very infrequently (1x a year!).
Vacuum Cleaner – We switched to a Dyson vacuum cleaner. They are expensive, but they actually clean the carpet. If you don’t have wood floors and have carpets in your home, they can be a collection place for yucky asthma-inducing dirt and debris. We found that our cheap vacuum wasn’t doing the trick. With my dyson, the air actually smells cleaner. Black Friday generally has some good deals! We bought ours at Target and then a smaller handheld one at Kohls on Black Friday deals.
Air Duct cleaning – We had our air ducts cleaned. It’s a good idea to budget to do this. Call Better Air NW!
Essential Oils – We decided to give essential oils a try and fell in love with them. We have a small budget for it (you can spend a lot) but we found a very helpful oil called RC from Young Living for my daughter. This oil smells so good and was a tremendous help with her asthma! We diffuse it in her room. There were nights she couldn’t sleep at all and with this oil her coughing stopped and she slept peacefully. We eliminated candles and switched to oils in our home.
Household Chemicals – To be fair, this wasn’t the first thing we did, even though it made the biggest impact. Little by little we started switching our cleaning products and this is when I noticed a difference in our home. There was a time when my daughter would have itching attacks almost every night before bed and I finally determined it was the laundry soap we were using. We switched to Thieves soap from Young Living. We also started using Norwex cleaning cloths. It is a great cleaning system that allows you to avoid using chemicals! Little by little we have been switching products in our home to be less dependent on chemicals.
These little things have made a tremendous difference in our lives and we are so glad we took the time to make some changes! If you’d like a good DIY Eczema Cream I have one of those too! This has been a huge help along with Genesis Lotion from Young Living.
Here are a couple other resources that may prove useful as you investigate in your own house.
Environmental Working Group – Helps provide consumer guides and information about the environment and health.
Think Dirty App – Think Dirty® app is the easiest way to learn ingredients in your beauty, personal care and household products. Just scan the product barcode and Think Dirty will give you easy-to-understand info on the product, its ingredients, and shop cleaner options!
We’d love to know what products you’ve found and love! Let us know!
Sources:
Cleaning-related Chemicals & Asthma in Healthcare Professionals
The use of Household Sprays & Adult Asthma
Cleaning Products & Work-related Asthma
Household Chemicals & Dermatology
Common Household Chemicals & Allergies
Household Chemicals & Pediatric Wheezing
Household Chemicals & Pregnancy
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