The concept of moist toilet wipes is a ripper. Like they say about the ad, ‘there isn’t much you wouldn’t clean without water’, and it’s true. I even heard one friend say they changed his life! I am a devotee too however recent awareness around the chemicals used to make these products has called for me to look further afield for an alternate, safer solution. The two most popular, readily available varieties are featured below. Interestingly they both use less ingredients than most baby wipes out there however they both feature preservatives that can cause contact dermatitis, suspected cardiovascular, liver, kidney and neurotoxicity. All things being equal in the bum wiping world these are ingredients I prefer NOT to include in my daily cleaning routine.
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Baby Wipes
Today’s spotlight is on baby wipes. Wow! There are a lot of different brands out there and whilst I set out on this discovery mission intending to cover them all I soon worked out that I’d be here till next week trying. My criteria is strict and I say, ‘Rightly so!’ These wipes will be used all through the day and night on your baby’s bum (and precious skin too).
I have a problem with any skin product that contains toxins, and there are lots!
Homemade Natural Laundry Powder
Popular store-bought laundry powder is a quiet chemical storm that many know nothing about. There are some real doozies in laundry detergent and fabric softeners, including ‘fragrance’ where the chemicals used to make ‘fragrance’ are not defined and commonly include pthalates which are endocrine (hormone) disruptors, carcinogens, they are known to cause asthma and to be a neurotoxin. This is just the tip of the iceberg on ‘fragrance’. Fragrance can contain hundreds of harmful chemicals, none of which need to be listed on packaging and sit comfortably under the blanket of the lovely, harmless sounding word ‘fragrance’ (also known as ‘parfum’).
Granola: The Best Homemade Ever
Non-Stick Cookware Dangers & Alternatives
My ‘Operation Home Detox’ recently overhauled our non-stick cookware ‘situation’. I was a big user of these pots and pans. I had them all! Teflon, Scanpan, Jamie Oliver’s non-stick collection, Bessemer. I’d spent hundreds of dollars over the years. And I loved them all before I knew better.
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The Lowdown on Water Filters
Working out the ins and outs of water filters can be very confusing business! There are so many opinions; what’s good, what’s not, why, what you’re filtering, costs, what your needs are, the list goes on. We recently researched the various water filtration options for our house and it’s quite a process (and it took weeks!). I’ll do my best to summarise the differences between the most popular options here:
What’s in Our Water?
About 12 months ago I noticed that our tap water started to smell like a swimming pool. It tasted like a swimming pool too. We always had great tasting water, but all at once that changed. I was always aware that our water had been fluoridated but had little knowledge about what else was being added to treat our drinking water. It was obvious that chlorine was included, among other things. I was always told that fluoride was good for me and I believed it. Since I could now taste chlorine and other weirdness I became suspicious and started looking further. Wow, was I surprised by what I found!
Safe Hand Sanitizers
Here are some much safer options for hand sanitizers. The good news is they have minimal ingredients (all easy to recognise and pronounce – which is a good start), and all do a great job as a quick hand sanitizer for those moments that you’re not close to soap & water. The bad news is they’re not readily available at your local big-name supermarket BUT they are readily available online (links attached), or in person at smaller specialty health stores.
Hand Sanitizer Horror!
Dettol Healthy Touch
Kills 99.99% of germs WITHOUT WATER! I suspect it kills 99.99% of anything if you have/apply/use enough of it. In the fine print, ‘If swallowed contact Poisons Information Centre’ with phone numbers attached. This Dettol hand sanitizer has anything but a ‘healthy touch’.