Natural Cleaning 2010 series

This winter I will be doing a bit of writing on cleaning. I am asked about chemicals in cleaners and ways to clean naturally from time to time, and I must be honest, I know very little of the chemicals in cleaners.
I have been cleaning my home with a few ingredients for so many years, that I am not even aware of the chemicals in cleaning and laundry products. So this will be an excellent way for me to understand more of what is on the market these days, and hopefully give you some ideas to make at home to meet your cleaning and laundering needs.

I also do much of my cleaning in the winter, instead of spring. I choose this time mostly because the chaos of fall and winter Dreamseeds work leaves things a bit unorganized.Also, there are days too cold for outdoors, and it is a good time to dive into a few cleaning projects and be productive. I don't function well without organization so after the holidays, I can then assess what I can do to get things in order.
I will be archiving this series on my blog, so please feel free to check in the topics section to the right when you want to review a chemical or a natural cleaning recipe. Also feel free to add any extra info you have in the comments.

So the first of mainstream cleaning products I want to talk about is cleaners is for all purpose. The room I will start out with is the herb room. If you don't have an herb room, then think of your utility closet. This will be in a post coming soon. I just want you to know what will be coming from my blog this season.

Why would we be concerned about chemicals in cleaners? Well, some of them have dangerous side effects.
Some irritate the lungs and skin. Some may irritate the eyes. Some are downright caustic and poses risk of ingestion, especially by little ones under years old.
People with asthma and heart disease can react negatively to some of these chemicals making their health condition worsen. Some have been found to cause cancer.

I was part of a conference in 2009 in which a speaker shared her journey with her daughters health. There were years of testing, and illness for this child. The mom finally figured out, after much research, that much of this illness was stemming directly from the fragrances and chemicals in their home. When these were eliminated, the child got well.

This had me thinking heavily on my own needs. This is one reason why I don't make soap with fragrance oils. My body does not handle it well at all. So I could totally understand the same thing being far more intense for a child. Plug ins, spray deodorizers, scented laundry products, cleaners, candles, all can be harmful to us.
However, these products can make out lives fun, so these ideas through the series can assist us in making more positive choices without taking all of lifes pleasures away. And of course if you or your children have had some health problems, you can see if these might be part of the problem by replacing them with more natural things.

Making home cleaners is also environmentally friendly. I will be using some information from internet organizations to encourage safe cleaners or are active in keeping the ecology free of these chemicals. Much of my information is also coming from a book called Clean and Green by Annie Berthold Bond. If you would like a copy of this book, I can get this at the Herb Store I work at. Just email me and I will let you know the cost.

I will include this information and some ideas for cleaning and organizing our first project on my next post.