Chemical Free Home Please!

I posted earlier that my youngest has had a rough three years until his parents could clue into his allergies. We're still working everything out, and going to an allergist finally next week (yay!), but in the meantime, chemicals have been his worst nightmare. We haven't taken him to nursery at church and took him out of preschool until we can get his immune system built back up to where it can beat the chemicals in the everyday world. In the meantime, we're trying to make home a chemical free haven. No small feat for our small feet.

One thing I love about these chemical free products is how much better they work for our bodies. We are healing in so many new ways and my awareness of the harmful environment we build for ourselves is growing. Plus, so many of these products replace two or three other products, so less bottles in the cupboard.

The best thing we have done is replace body lotion with coconut oil. I know what you're thinking, Kristin's lost it. She's rubbing cooking oils on her kids. And myself too! I pushed away from trying this one the most, but so many people recommended it that I caved. And I'm so glad I did. This time of year, extra virgin organic coconut oil is in its solid state, a bit like Crisco, but it will melt the moment it touches your skin. It smells nice, you don't smell like coconut all day, and my skin is the softest it's ever been. My face doesn't tolerate it daily, so I use a different product for face only.

So here are some products that we have tried and loved since August. (Not all products we tried were loved, but these are the good ones.) If you have a chemical replacement need that I haven't listed, let me know and I'll tell you where we're at with that one. And I'm still new at this one, so if there's a product I listed that has something bad in it, let me know. I'm learning too!

For the body:

• Shampoo: Avalon Organics - I use their lemon and the kids love the peppermint
• Body soap: Dr. Bronner's - can't use in a pump, so I just use it in shower/bath and to remove my make up. We've tried Tea Tree and Lemon and I love the lemon. Extremely concentrated, one drop is enough for my face. It also comes in bars if your man is like mine and has to have a bar in the shower (no foofy gels for him!). We are also trying some goat's milk bars I found at Whole Foods.
• Shaving cream: pure aloe vera - Paul even uses it for his face and loves it and that man's got sensitive skin!
• Face cream: Answers From Nature Botanical Moisture Creme - say that three times fast! Very expensive, but very pure and I love it.
• Toothpaste: Spry w/o flouride - my teeth feel much cleaner longer, and some of the kids like a fruity flavor so we're doing Animal Parade's teeth gel.
• Make-up: I'm using Bare Escentuals right now and really loving it - even their powdered foundation, which if you know me, is really saying something.
• Lip Balm: Dr Bronners or doterra - once you get over sticker shock on this one ($3-4 each), you'll take better care of your lip balm and it will take better care of you!

For cleaning:

• Getting germs outta here: GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) - this comes very concentrated, as most natural products do, so I diluted it 10 drops:32 oz spray bottle and I use it on knobs, light switches and high traffic counters to kill germs. We also put a few pure drops into Marshall's shampoo to help his dry scalp.
• Dishwasher soap: biokleen powder - no streaks or smudges and still gets the crud out every bit as well as the Electrosol did
• Laundry soap: Ecover - let me tell you, this has been the biggest change. Our clothes are now SO SOFT (we quit dryer sheets) and the first few loads there was so much lint it almost blocked my dryer tube. It cleans the clothes so much better than the others.
• Stain remover: Bac-Out - I bought the concentrated and diluted in a spray bottle, but you can also buy it already diluted in a spray bottle
• Neosporin replacement: Nutribiotic First Aid Skin & Wound Spray - we have been using this like crazy. It works on burns, it cleans cuts, it helps insect bites (converted my dad this way). It's the same company that produces GSE so it's great in so many ways.
• Windex: I'm using Paul Arnett's window cleaner right now, mail order only, but I tried Earth Friendly Products' version at my parents last week and loved it.
• Stainless cleaner: method Steel For Real - love that it's in a spray bottle, was using a powdered paste that took forever to clean with.
• Jetdry Dishwasher Rinse Aid: Earth Friendly Products WaveJet
• General counter cleaner (think 409): biokleen All Purpose Cleaner - this product is so great. Dilute it in a spray bottle for counters, or mop tile with it.
• Hardwood cleaner: Murphy Oil Soap - used it before, and it's still good to use now
• Dish Soap (Dawn): This was a hard one. They use Dawn to clean the oily birds when they're stuck, but we went with Seventh Generation's Dish Soap. I like it, and will try Earth Friendly Products' version next.
• Toilet bown cleaner: Seventh Generation - I like this line for any cleaning product, but Marshall has since tested slightly high on this line for some reason, so we'll try other things too.
• Hand sanitizer: EO lavendar hand sanitizer

Wow! Now that I sit down and list all of them, no wonder I'm so tired lately! It's been a lot of mental energy and trips to various health food stores, but I can tell you, it was worth it! This list is two months of work, so don't be overwhelmed. I did it all quickly to save a family member's health, but if you want to get into this, and out of chemicals, try replacing something you've used up with something new and chemical free until you've changed the air and feeling in your home. Then you'll know it was all worth it.