Brilliant, cleansing bread soda
If you’re trying to detox your environment, household clearers are some of the first things that need to be reduced.
Should you let your mind wander to the amount of chemicals you inhale — and probably ingest — from your own home, you might find the Nutri-bullet, green juice is a total waste of time.
On a trip to Lisdoonvarna last year, I was unfortunate enough (in the name of journalism I might add), to end up chatting to a young American who kept squirting hand sanitiser onto his hands and rubbing them while talking to me.
This was unsettling, firstly because it made me think he believed he would get sick from just being in contact with humans, (or with me) and secondly, because he represents a tribe of people who are addicted to biocidal cleaning and so-called hygiene.
These portable gels are made primarily from alcohol, they are full of chemicals and, as they kill all bacteria, they can contribute to weakening your immune system.
After that, you don’t want to start thinking about what’s in cleaning sprays, wipes and foams. If you reduce your toxic overload you are reducing the chances of weakening your immune system and your reproductive system too.
A typical household now contains over 60 chemicals from bleach to hairspray and deodorants, absorbing them all every day can wreak havoc, so make a few changes at a time, and reduce what you spend on these things too.
So what do you do if you throw out all the cleaners? There are a few simple household items to have in stock that will change the way you keep yourself and your surroundings in good shape, and you will quite literally, be able to eat your dinner off the floor.
First up is bread soda, the ubiquitous white powder that sits in the cupboard, often getting mixed up with the cornflour. Bread soda does so many things it should get a product Oscar — from washing your hair to cleaning your carpets — this is one thing you can’t be without.
A smelly kitchen bin is hard to avoid, no matter what you put in it, stuff will leak and stinks will happen, avoid this by sprinkling some bread soda into the bottom of the bin.
You can also put a small cup full of bread soda into the back of the fridge to absorb nasty smells, and use it as the sole cleansing agent when cleaning the fridge and freezer — it doesn’t taint.
Next up is the ultimate shake n’ vac on that stinky carpet. I just replaced the carpet in my teen’s bedroom with a wooden floor, I’m sure that small pieces of the carpet could be sold off and used in chemical warfare, but it has reduced anxieties about e-coli, now it’s gone.
Meanwhile if your carpet is a bit whiffy, sprinkle it with bread soda, preferably through a sieve or icing sugar dredger, so it doesn’t end up in lumps, leave it for 10 to 15 minutes to soak up some of the smells and dirt, and vacuum away the rest. The same applies to rugs — and a brilliant side-effect with this application is that it also gets rid of pet fleas on the pile.
To clean sinks, I use bread soda simply sprinkled around the stainless steel and then scrubbed off with a cloth, or you can add lemon juice to the mix. A cut lemon with a spoon of bread soda on it will clean your shower door like never before — and leave it smelling great too.
Cleaning the oven — a big job and one I try and hide from — means sprinkling the inside with bread soda and then spraying it with vinegar, it will fizz up from the chemical reaction, (this is ideal for giving drains and showers plug holes a makeover too).
Leave for 15 minutes and then just wipe everything off with a warm, damp cloth, rinsing it as you go. Adding a cup of bread soda, too, to the laundry, will brighten up your wash. Same for teeth if used as a paste and many standard toothpastes use bread soda as a base.
After bread soda, vinegar is your next best friend. To make a cheap and universal household cleaner, simply mix equal parts water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle. Add a few drops of tea tree oil or lavender to make it smell great too.
If you’re worried about fleas from your pets or your kids bringing home bugs in their hair from school, lavender is your friend.
Fill a spray bottle with water and add a few drops of lavender essential oil, give it a good shake, and use this to mist carpets and bedding, paying attention to pillows. If lavender is in the room, bugs are out the door. Its also good to spray Fido or Blackie with this every now and again, and any pet bedding too.
So that’s all you have to buy; bread soda, lemons, vinegar, lavender, and tea tree oil.
