POISONS ‘N TOXINS ‘N CLEANERS, OH MY!!

 

 

By Phyllis Panozzo

 

The sudden reality of living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (a k a Environmental Illness) is like Dorothy’s being transported into the foreign world of Oz. As Dorothy so aptly said to Toto, “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” We are confronted with a new reality…..

My own sudden onset of chemical sensitivity left me scrambling along that yellow brick road filled with danger and uncertainty at a time when there were very few I any safer cleaners on the market. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned along the yellow brick road. We already know the ending-there is no wise, all-knowing Wizard who has all the answers for you. It’s a lot of walking through the haunted forest discovering things for ourselves. Each of us is individual and has different levels of sensitivities to different things and different reactions. In this series I’ll be discussing various safer cleaners.

The first step is evaluating and removing every existing cleaning product from your home-put them in a box and store them in your garage, garden shed or other outbuilding. You don’t have to dispose of them yet, but I am confident that after trying the alternatives, you will soon be disposing of them. And saving a lot of money. First I want to tell you that the ingredients in cleaners do not have to be proven to be safe, do not have to be approved or registered by anyone to be put on the market and they do not have to disclose all their ingredients on the label. No one, not the FDA, the EPA, no one is a watchdog over these products. Something to think about! But if you should bother to ask them, they will say their ingredients are “proprietory” which means “their little trade secret” and they will tell you their products are safe. Based on what, you ask? Hmmmm….a very good question to mull over. Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware) is even more relevant these days.

The myth of needing a different cleaner for every surface and purpose is a myth created by masterful marketing agents. Buy the following: baking soda-the cheapest you can find; 3% hydrogen peroxide-the regular kind from the drugstore; apple cider vinegar. I use real apple cider vinegar (read the label!) or plain rice vinegar from the Asian market and it can also be found in regular groceries now. Regular white distilled vinegar is the worst choice as many chemically sensitive individuals do react to it. Buy a tolerable, safer liquid soap. I use Earth Friendly liquid dish soap which has a mild natural almond smell and is totally free of synthetics. Sniff in the store to see if you might react. If you do not tolerate the Earth Friendly, test some other natural liquid soaps to see which of the safer soaps on the market might work for you. I have used a fragrance free Watkins brand all purpose cleaner at a friend’s house and was impressed that it really did have no smell. And a bottle of cheap vodka as an alternative to isopropyl alcohol. There are a few other things that I’ll add and talk about in later columns.

If you don’t tolerate any of the commercial liquid soaps, it is very simple to make you own liquid soap for cleaning. Grate some unscented bar soap that you know you tolerate-this might be what you are already using for your hands and bathing. Put it into a jar and add hot water, then shake it up. The mix will settle and will need to be shaken again, but even when it’s settled you have soapy liquid on the top which can be poured off and used for liquid soap.

I’ll start with windows and then address the two areas of main concern for cleaning-the bathroom and the kitchen. For windows, mix equal parts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Screens generally do not need to be washed, so if you have to remove screens to clean windows, they can be sprayed with a hose and set out to dry while you clean the windows. Spray the vinegar water as you would any commercial window cleaner and arm yourself with paper towels or dry rags. If you want to make the window dry more quickly as you work, you can add some alcohol (the cheap vodka) to the mix, but I don’t bother with it personally. Expect your first results with the vinegar water to be less that desirable. The windows might be a little streaky. Commercial window cleaners contain chemical waxes to give that “bright, sparkle.” When you start to use any natural, non-synthetic cleaner you are starting to dissolve layers of waxes, silicone and additives from previously used commercial products and this leads to less than desirable results with some streaking. With time, the waxes will be gone and the vinegar water will work just as well as Windex. By the way, this same process is at work when you switch to a non-synthetic natural shampoo-it will be dissolving waxes that give the promised “shine” to the hair and your hair will be funky gunky until you remove the waxes, which takes from 3-8 shampoos. I hurried the process by washing my hair twice a day for several days. Vinegar water can also be used for the glass in picture frames, mirrors, etc. Do not use it on flat screen tv’s or computer screens-these do not like wet. Use only a soft dry cloth to clean off electronic screens.

In evaluating natural, non-toxic cleaning we need to look to what our mothers and grandmothers used. They had clean houses, were not beset with social disapproval and survived just quite fine with the very simple products available at the time. We have all been deluged with the tv ads declaring ease of cleaning, scrubbing bubbles and the dangers of “germs” as a motivation to buy a lot of anti-germ cleaning products. And the horrors of a “germy” bathroom! Science has proven that the trend of using anti-bacterial cleaners on a regular basis in the home is contributing to the development of even more resistant organisms. The best solution is hot water and basic cleaning materials and skills. Vinegar has anti-microbial properties. Give up sponges for cleaning. Sponges breed mold and their only useful function is to re-apply molds and organisms back onto surfaces. Use old cotton rags, old raggedy washcloths, old cotton underwear, old cotton t-shirts cut into segments. After each use, let them dry and when you get enough, run them through the washing machine in hot water and soap. They can be reused and are nice and clean each time. When my children got out of diapers I had a decade’s worth of cleaning rags. Cotton diapers can still be purchased at chain stores for a reasonable price, considering that they will last for years.

Baking soda wet into a paste works as a cleanser of surfaces such as sinks and tubs, tiles and tub surrounds. I have also found Barkeeper’s Friend, found in the same grocery dept as the Comet, is a good scrubbing product without the chlorine or the irritating dust. For a little more scrubbing oomph, use a nylon or other non-scratching scrubber. It can also be used on faucets along with the vinegar spray. It will foam a bit if used with the vinegar. For tub surrounds and grout, I have used several approaches all of which have seemed equally effective. Spraying with vinegar water and scrubbing-vinegar dissolves mineral deposits. You can use baking soda or barkeeper’s friend. I have also had very good results in spraying on peroxide which dissolved the beginnings of a bit of mold in the caulking. After spraying, follow up with a scrub brush or tooth brush for small areas, then rinse well with hot water. I have found both vinegar and peroxide to be effective on the mold that likes to creep into caulking around the tub. Keep a bottle of vinegar water in the bathroom to spray on the walls and caulking after baths or showers. Walls, floors and all other surfaces can be cleaned using basic hot water and liquid soap. If you like the convenience, you can put the water and soap into a sprayer and spray it on.

The toilet can be cleaned with the same products. There is nothing magic about toilet bowl cleaners-they are colored to look pretty and produce a foam to make us think they are “working”. I pour a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide into the bowl then a few squirts of liquid dish soap. I let it set several hours and then scrub with the toilet bowl brush and flush. For stubborn water mineral stains, turn off the water to the toilet (located in the back of your tank, usually down by the floor. Flush the toilet to remove the water and it will not fill back up since the water is off. Put on some gloves and use baking soda paste and a little vinegar along with a scrubby to scrub off the mineral scurf line. And remember to turn the water back on! This is not a germ line, this is not dangerous-it’s a build up of minerals from the water. I have to do this little project fairly regularly because the minerals in our ancient water lines get stirred up and re-deposited every time the fire hydrants in this part of town get opened up if there’s a fire.

Another option for cleaning the toilet, if you can tolerate the product is to use OxyClean, a dry oxygen bleaching product. There is now a fragrance-free OxyClean. As with everything, do a test for yourself to check whether you can tolerate it. With water in the bowl, I sprinkle a bit of OxyClean on the scurf line and let it set an hour, then scrub with the toilet bowl brush.

There are several other products that supposedly have ant-microbial qualities. One is grapefruit seed extract. This is odorless and can be added to water as a surface cleaner or spray. The other is tea tree oil which does have a distinctive odor much like Lysol-and if you can tolerate the smell and like it (although I question anyone with MCS being able to tolerate the smell), you can use a drop or two in your cleaning water. Personally, I can’t tolerate it.

I’ll continue next issue, but I’ll give you one little hint now-the next time something oozes over in your oven, pour lots of dry baking soda on the spill and let it set and cool. Then go back in with a spatula, rag and hot water and see how easy it comes off!

Save your holey old cotton socks. Dampen slightly and put your hand inside and run it over anything you need to dust. Afterwards, you can dispose of the sock or throw it into the wash and use it again.

 

Phyllis Panozzo is a survivor of chemical injury and co-founder of West Michigan MCS, a clinical social worker and Quantum Touch practitioner offering holistic counseling services to the chemically injured. She is an organic, biodynamic gardener, gourd artist, member of a women's drumming circle and practices tai chi. She is currently the Chairwoman of the 2007 Summer WomanSpirit Conference at Ronora Lodge.

 

 

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