basics of nontoxic cleaning

[Farmin' with Baby]

I've got some basic questions about nontoxic house cleaning.

Borax? Thumbs up or down? And what do you really use it for? Not what can you use it for, but when do you actually in real life reach for it? (My MIL bought me some.)

Ammonia?? I saw on some green websites that this was legit for variouspurposes, but seriously? It seems bad.

I tend to just grab whatever cleaning products off the shelf from the natural foods store, but MIL and I are kind of going at it (http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1128564) and I need to research my position. Any good pdfs out there I could print out and hand her to persuade her I don't need all the harsh stuff she likes? (Her faves are pine sol, comet w/ bleach, 409, lysol bathroom cleaner w/ bleach, cascade dish washer soap, softscrub, and All laundry detergent.)

feedback?

[mumkimum]

The book Clean House, Clean Planet is good and will have info about why certain cleaners are bad for you.

I do use borax - for cleaning mattresses and the toilet. It's about the harshest cleaner I regularly use.

[Drummer's Wife]

I've found that there's not much that can't be cleaned with soap & water, vinegar, and bakind soda. Ocassionally I use hydrogen peroxide. I am pretty set on keeping dangerous chemicals out of our home - from cleaning products to lotions. Nasty stuff like Febreeze literally makes me I'll, so I've learned to do w/o the harsh stuff.

[musicmamma]

i'm about to start using borax to make laundry detergent. i found recipes here on mothering and i'm pretty sure all the recipes used borax. hth

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I've found that there's not much that can't be cleaned with soap & water, vinegar, and bakind soda. Ocassionally I use hydrogen peroxide. I am pretty set on keeping dangerous chemicals out of our home - from cleaning products to lotions. Nasty stuff like Febreeze literally makes me I'll, so I've learned to do w/o the harsh stuff.

That.

Originally Posted by musicmamma

i'm about to start using borax to make laundry detergent. i found recipes here on mothering and i'm pretty sure all the recipes used borax. hth

And that.

I only use soap/water or vinegar. I do have some Comet (dh bought a case of it I swear) that I'm trying to use up.

I make my own laundry detergent with laundry soap, borax and fels naptha. It works really well.

I don't use ammonia, but my mom makes her own glass cleaner and uses ammonia in it.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Here's what I use, and how:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...04&postcount=4

Sorry, not retyping it all! Ecos has some good info on their website about why using natural is better. http://www.ecos.com/freedom.html and a link to a scorecard for chemicals: http://www.scorecard.org/

A lot of it has to do with the damage that chlorine & phosphates & the such can do to our waterways, and thus to everything in the world including our food & our bodies. Many wastewater treatment plants only remove a finite number of chemicals, and a lot of what is in cleaners aren't on the list of the removed chemicals. I don't know the specifics, DH is an environmental scientist & could write you a thesis on it.