A Beginner's Guide to the Best Non-Toxic Cleaning Products For Your Home
Cleaning chemicals at home
Our bodies are not just affected by what we put in them; they’re also affected by what we put on them.
Cleaning is one important way to maintain a healthy home and take care of your belongings. Living in a dusty environment can lead to all kinds of health problems including asthma/respiratory problems, cancer, impaired gut health, and hormone disruption. This is because dust contains lots of toxic chemicals such as phthalates from beauty products, flame retardants from furniture, and other volatile compounds from cleaning products, all of which you are regularly inhaling (especially if your home is dusty).
So I’m 100% for staying on top of cleaning your home, but the types of cleaning products you utilize make a BIG difference! A good place to start is with regularly dusting (simply with a damp cloth) and vacuuming your home.
As a gut health specialist, I’m often asked how to find safe and non-toxic cleaning products, so I’ve compiled a go-to guide to help you make sure your house and gut health are in the best position possible. (Note: if you’re just here for my favorite cleaning product recommendations, scroll to the bottom of the article).
What are the most common toxins that we should avoid?
You’ve probably heard about non-toxic or natural cleaning products, but it can be challenging to figure out how to choose a good one with all the different options out there. Let’s start with some of the major toxins you’ll want to avoid.
Steer clear of these three categories:
Bleach
Bleach can irritate your skin, eyes, and lungs. It can even lead to damaged airways and asphyxiation if combined with other household cleaners such as toilet bowl cleaner or ammonia. Yikes!
Air fresheners or anything with “fragrance” or “parfum” on the ingredients list
These products contain chemicals such as phthalates that act as endocrine disruptors, can negatively impact your gut microbiome, and even lead to birth defects and fertility problems. No thank you!
Caustic drain cleaners
These cleaners contain extremely toxic chemicals (including sodium hydroxide) which qualify as hazardous waste. It can cause almost immediate degeneration of the tissue - including irritation to airways and damage to the eyes.
What ingredients should you look for in a non-toxic cleaning product?
Cleaning products aren’t required to list all ingredients on the label, which is super frustrating. If you feel overwhelmed trying to choose a good cleaning product, I recommend starting with what NOT to use - and we do that by reading the ingredients list and knowing what things to avoid. Check for warnings and ingredients, not marketing claims. For example, there are no regulations for using words like “natural” to market cleaning products.
Check out the ingredients label and skip products containing the following:
Ammonia
EDTA
Ethanol amines
Glycols, glycol ethers and esters
PFAS (per- and poly-fluorinated compounds)
Petroleum distillates
Phosphates
How do you know if a product is really safe for your whole family?
Luckily there are some amazing resources to help us choose high-quality and safe cleaning products.
These are a couple of my go-to’s:
Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning with review of top products for your home. They review all product ingredients available, safety data sheets, and use instructions.
EPA’s Design for the Environment Program
They label antimicrobial products that have been reviewed by EPA and found to meet both the pesticide registration requirements and the strict environmental and health criteria of the Safer Choice Standard.
My favorite natural cleaning product brands
Alright, and the moment we’ve all been waiting for… let’s get to the products! These are a few of my favorite brands for cleaning products:
Branch Basics: https://branchbasics.com/
Their Glass Starter Kit is awesome. I especially like their environmentally friendly model with a concentrated formula and reusable glass bottles.
Seventh Generation: https://www.seventhgeneration.com/home
Their Dishwasher Detergent Gel & Dish Liquid are a couple of my go-to’s.
ECOS: https://www.ecos.com/
They have a great laundry detergent!
Dr. Bronner’s: https://www.drbronner.com/
I love their Pure Castile Liquid Soap. It’s concentrated so I put a little bit in a glass foaming hand soap dispenser and fill the rest with water. My fave scents are lavender and almond.
Comment below if you have any other cleaning product brands you love that I didn’t share here.
You can also check out the EWG’s guide to see how your current cleaning products (or ones you’re shopping for) fare on the scale. The best are products rated A or EWG Verified: https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/content/top_products/
Takeaways
Choosing safe cleaning products for your home is a vital step to avoiding a host of health problems for you and your family. When you take care of your health inside and out, your body will thank you.
I know it can be overwhelming to think about revamping your entire cleaning product lineup. Instead of throwing everything out and doing a big overhaul, I recommend swapping out one product at a time. For instance, the next time you run out of bathroom cleaner, use the resources in this article to select a healthier non-toxic bathroom cleaner.
Written by Rachel Doyle, MS, RD
June 13, 2022
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