Sunday, July 13, 2008

Try These Products Tuesday

I confess. I admit it. There was a time when I subscribed to the idea that bleach was the mecca of all cleaners. When I was nesting during both of my pregnancies I went on a cleaning raid. The first time around I wore a face mask and rubber gloves. Yeah, um, if you have to do that its probably not a good idea to expose your brand new baby to a home that has been cleaned with harsh chemicals.

While I was pregnant with my second my sweet friend from church passed a pamphlet on to me entitled Rub A Dub Dub: Is There Cancer In Your Tub. After reading I let out an enlightened, "What?! How can this even be legal? Why does our government allow this?" Yeah well, they do. But I guess its not so surprising when you remind yourself that they allow farmers to inject animals with hormones in turn allowing us to ingest hormones. Oh and not to mention the whole 36 chemical-filled required childhood vaccinations bit. Whatever.

So, once again, I learned. Even more importantly I acted upon that knowledge. We made a trip to our local chemical disposal drop and handed all the cleaning junk over. I also, like most everyone else in America, bought popular brand personal care products from the giant one-stop-shop around the corner. That also had to change. Not only were our household cleaning products dangerous to my babies, but so were the shampoos and body washes and lotions I was using on their bodies. Insane!

We were on the hunt. I spent hours researching which products would suit our needs for cleaning our home and our bodies. Over the last year or so we have sampled several different items. I thought I would share a list of my favorites.

Household Cleaning

We love to clean with all things Seventh Generation. No harsh smell or residue...plus I feel so much better bathing my children in a bathtub after it has been cleaned with this stuff rather than bleach.


I never realized how laundry detergent can effect both our skin and the environment. We like Planet because our clothes come out with NO SMELL AT ALL...can't stand that harsh floral soapy smell conventional detergents leave behind.

Check out this article on which household chemicals to avoid.

Personal Care

Both of my kiddos have mild eczema (cow's milk induced). I was constantly searching for something to help my son's skin - this was it! We love to recommend this one as much as possible.


THIS IS A HUGE ISSUE FOR ME! Obviously, I don't want to smell bad. But more than that, I would prefer to skip on the breast cancer thing. We went through several natural (aluminum free) deodorants before finding one that actually works. Tom's of Maine

Can't say enough about Thieves oral care product line. It's taste is invigorating, your mouth feels squeaky clean, AND the mouthwash is so safe you can swallow it. Young Living


Who knew that finding a natural shampoo/conditioner could be so difficult?! I went through almost every shampoo they carry at Whole Foods before I found this. It doesn't weigh my hair down and my split ends have vanished.

Check out this article on which chemicals to avoid in personal care products.

Recently I am attempting to make the switch to natural makeup. I'm looking into products made from minerals.This should be interesting!

PS- This summer I discovered I would need an all natural sunscreen and insect repellent for the kids. It is incredible they even sell the traditional ones they are so harmful! These are the two that I love...they really do work just as well, if not better.



Sunscreen & Repellent

9 comments:

Cassie said...

Hey girl, I am so inspired by this blog!! I went out and bought 3 of the products you listed this morning!! Thank you for sticking to your guns, it's certainly inspiring to me and it helps me stay on track!!

Raena said...

CASSIE:

I am SO glad! I guess that is why I write this blog, so others can learn what I have. Your comment warmed my heart...thank you!

TxMominCT said...

I wish this stuff was all cheaper!! I absolutely cannot afford to get safe shampoo/conditioner and it's so frustrating! I have the deoderant and toothpaste (I use Tom's too! It's cheap at Wal-Mart!!) My soap is good, but I can't find shampoo I can afford!! I've never tried the 7th generation stuff, we usually make all our own cleaning products and laundry soap! However, I must confess, with all the crazy mold up here (it grows ridiculously fast) I occasionally do use bleach. I figure it is better than the combination products at least...

TxMominCT said...

oh yeah and sunscreen is AWFUL!!! You are supposed to use it so you don't get skin cancer, but the SUNSCREEN gives you skin cancer too!!! (well, the mainstream ones!!!)

Travis & Jeri Tidmore said...

Is that sunscreen safe for babes? I have been trying to find info on the best sunscreen with the least amount of crap in it.

J

Travis & Jeri Tidmore said...

ALso...do you make your own baby food?

J

jhart said...

Raena, and TXMOMINCT :),
I just don't use sunscreen at all. Get this, the mainstream dr's are finding that children whose mom's use sunscreen are coming up SEVERELY deficient in Vit. D. But here's the crazy part: They are recommending VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS instead of just taking off the nasty sunblock! Isn't that just the western mindset? Instead of backing off of what turned out to be wrong, we'll just add something else synthetic.
And, to kill mold, instead of Bleach use Vodka. We just buy cheap vodka at the package store and put it right into our spray bottles and squirt it on anything that you'd normally use bleach on. It kills mold, mildew, viruses, bacteria, fungus, etc. You can spray it on new carpet to neutralize the harmful chemicals and you can use instead of FeBreeze (which is DEADLY to children and pets) to neutralize odors. It's awesome and non-toxic! Well, just don't get too happy and squirt it in your mouth!

Raena said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Raena said...

Thanks for the info JHART! I'll have to try that Vodka thing :) But I am more of a Rum girl myself! Hehe.

We don't use sunscreen unless we intend on being in direct sunlight and staying in one spot for an extended period of time. For example, we just got back from a week at Disney World and only used it once.