Natural Chemical-Free Cleaning

And after reading through what felt like a thousand blog posts, research reports, articles, and studies, I’ve condensed all that information I drudged through here in one place so it’s easy to find.

Here’s a quick index so you can skip around as you like:

1. History of cleaners
   1. The dangers addressed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and the EWG (Environmental Working Group is a US based organization with a database of over 80,000 products, ranked by toxicity)
2. Natural, or non-toxic cleaners
   1. Essential Oils
   2. Distilled White Vinegar
   3. Baking Soda
   4. Castile Soap
   5. Hydrogen Peroxide
   6. Lemon
   7. Clove
   8. Witch hazel
   9. Vodka
3. Which Essential Oils make excellent cleaners
4. Why Young Living
   1. The 100% Labeling Loophole

History of cleaners

Chemical cleaners

Other than lye, (made from ashes and used to make soap) which has been around for centuries and is a caustic chemical, chemical cleaners as we know them today didn’t actually become prevalent until the early 1900’s. The company that would later become Clorox was founded in 1913 and first advertised Clorox in 1925.

So Our new “normal” mindset for cleaners is less than a hundred years old. That’s relevant because it means there hasn’t been much time to study the long term side effects of chemical cleaners in the household. There have only been a few studies recently that have really started take an honest look at this. And after reading the results of those studies it’s no wonder why chemical free and non toxic methods have been experience a resurgence.

I encourage you to visit the EWG website and take a look at some of the cleaning agents you grew up with. The first real cleaner I can remember as a kid is AJAX (1947), which actually has an “F” rating with EWG because of their ingredients.

That can cause Asthma, chronic aquatic toxicity, and other respiratory issues.

And things like this are actually the culprit behind what the EPA says is the biggest danger to people indoors, and the #1 cause of indoor air pollution.
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/introduction-indoor-air-quality

Traditional cleaners contain VOC’s, Volatile Organic Compounds, like formaldehyde. OSHA regulates this  for industrial areas to an allowable rate of .75ppm (source). However most home cleaners contain… Kinda screwy how industrial buildings are regulated, yet the companies putting home cleaners on our store shelves are not regulated and can put whatever they want in the cleaners.

Natural and nontoxic cleaners have been as long as people have lived indoors.

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Real Quick. I also learned there’s a big difference between the meanings of words/terms like Natural, Non Toxic, Organic, and Chemical Free.
Difference here:
Natural: Basically anything you could find in the wild. These are naturally occurring items with haven’t been caused by human beings. So things like Lemons, Oranges, or Clove.
Major bummer here! There are no Federal standards (http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/content/faq#q19) for labeling cleaners “Natural”. That means companies let their marketing department slap the word “Natural” on products just because they know someone like me will buy it. These “Natural” labeled products often contain toxic chemicals which can lead to issues disrupting the hormone system, respiratory system, or even issues of organ and neurotoxicity. Why isn’t this regulated? With as many laws as we have today it’s crazy they can get away with this, but they do. So it’s our responsibility to be aware and educate ourselves.
Non Toxic: Anything that isn’t poisonous. Bleach is poisonous, lemons are not. Most cleaners you pick up on the store shelf contain poisonous ingredients, and not all are listed on the label. If you want to check to be sure, check out EWG. They list the ingredients for most common cleaners.
Organic: Derived from living matter, or without toxic chemicals.
Chemical Free: Chemical-Free is a technically a misnomer. But most people understand it generally means something is without toxic chemicals. It’s impossible for anything to be void of chemicals, they are naturally occurring. But Chemical Free is an easy term for people to relate to products lacking chemicals that are bad for you.
Green: Not harmful to the environment. Generally the same as Chemical Free.

… The more you know right? TIL the difference between Natural, Chemical Free, Non Toxic, and Organic
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*on being ‘Natural’ : Now, essential oils we buy come in a bottle, they have been distilled (caused by human beings) BUT, you the essential oils exist on their own, they are right inside the plant. It isn’t as powerful, but you could just take a single lemon and rub the rind, the lemon peel, against the surface you’re cleaning, and some of the naturally occurring essential oils will come out and clean for you. So this one is how you use it essential oils are naturally occurring, they are “Natural”. Essential oils from the bottle has been distilled by man to extract and compound the natural essential oils.

Specific ingredients to avoid: Any listed Fragrance, Phthalates, Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), Ethanolamine compounds (DEA, MEA, TEA), Methylsothiazolinone (MIT) & Methylchloroisothiazolinone (CMIT), or Quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATs). These are all varying levels of bad for you. Additionally, avoid any products listing an essential oil by a common name. For example, Tea Tree Oil should be listed as Melaleuca Alternifolia. If the ingredient list says Tea Tree Oil, skip it, that means it’s junk. It’s one of he labeling tricks cheap companies use to fool unsuspecting consumers.

Ok, so Natural cleaners have been in use forever.

Here are the main Chemical Free (free of toxic chemicals 😉  ) cleaners: Essential Oils (NOT aromatherapy oils – BIG difference), vinegar, baking soda, castile soap, witch hazel, vodka, peroxide, and lemon.

What are Essential Oils? EO are the distilled essence of a plant. So, lemon is a really powerful cleaner. Imagine extracting the essence of the lemon, the part that makes it such a powerful cleaner, and then imagine extracting the essence from 300 lemons, and condensing it down into one super concentrated little 15ml bottle. That’s what a good essential oils is like.
* I actually laughed out loud when one friend made fun of me for using these. He said I was just a lemming millennial hopping on a new trend… I reminded him people have been using these for thousands of years. Even the Bible has literally hundreds of references talking about them.

This was another one of those major disappointments. Not all oils are made the same AND this was another instance where there’s almost NO Federal regulation. In fact, the only Federal regulation I could find is awful The FDA (link) says that any company can write on their label “100% pure essential oil”  – the only rule? The bottle must contain 5% essential oils. Try to make sense of that rule, I dare you. I call this the 100% Pure Labeling Loophole.

You can read all about that in another post here: All About EO > , but basically the old adage is true: you get what you pay for. (maybe:) This happens even with some “premium” brands, that’s why you find recipes calling for absurd proportions like 30 drops of each oil. That’s one surefire way to know that company is taking advantage of the 100% Pure Labeling Loophole. If it’s anything with a disclaimer to not apply to your skin (unless it’s a citrus oil), you’re wasting your money and you’re better off skipping the EO for that purchase.

Use whatever brand oils you want – there are only 2 that I trust, but sharing that research is for another post. Long story short we went with the company who pioneered the industry over 20 years ago, who trained half the competitors on the market today, and who has the strictest quality standards on the market, Young Living. Again this isn’t a YL vs other brands post, I just figure if YL is the company other companies are copying I’ll go straight to the source, I don’t need a knockoff brand who’s just jumping on the trend to make some money. There’s actually a very good video on their quality standards here: Seed to Seal

How does distillation work? It’s different for every plant. And apparently it’s one of the major differentiators between quality companies, and store shelf junk. For example Lemon oil (which I love and is fortunately one of the cheapest oils available), is cold pressed to extract the oil from the rind (peel?). It’s even pressed at a specific temperature and pressure and a specific duration of time in order to yield the highest quality extraction possible.

Now – EO are awesome for cleaning. If this is your first time using them, let me tell you, you are in for a treat.

It’s like gold. You can go to the store and buy jewelry labeled “Gold”. But maybe that’s just a color. Maybe the label says Genuine Gold – well now you know it’s real gold… but what quality? Is it 24k gold or 12k gold? Or has it been diluted even more than that? Then, is it solid gold, or just coated? And if it is just coated, how thin is that coating? You can buy genuine gold jewelry, but maybe that just means it’s junk thinly coated with 12k gold. You’ve got an awesome brain, use it. If you see an EO in the store for a few dollars, you know it’s junk. Yes, there may be some amount of actual EO in there, but at what concentration? FDA only requires 5% in order to label it 100%. Do you trust all these new companies that popped up over the last few years to be honest, or to do you think they’re following the letter of the law and just giving you 5%? I know if I were allowed to sell gold bars that were only 5% gold and market them as 100% pure gold bars, you’d better believe that there wouldn’t even be 6% gold in those bar, because the regulators told me there doesn’t have to be. Really, what would you do? So, just don’t waste your money on junk from Amazon or Target ok, fair enough?

Cool Trick – If you have a stubborn spouse who doesn’t want you wasting money saying things like “well can’t you get the same thing at Wal-mart for less?” When that happens, just try the Sharpie test: Get a ceramic plate. Mark 2 lines on it with a Sharpie. Go ahead and buy a $5 bottle of oil from Amazon, Wal-mart, or Target. Let me know if if gets the Sharpie off the plate. When it doesn’t let me know and I’ll send you a free sample of real EO. I call this the Sharpie Test.