Cleaning products to avoid

Hello,

Was chatting about the things I will and won't do with DH last night and he came up with what about cleaning? Are there any products/chemicals in products to specifically avoid? We used to have a cleaner and I was considering having her again but DH worries that she might use industrial strength cleaners, that (although I won't be there doing the cleaning myself) may be harmful when I get home. I have considered asking her to use my cleaning products, but I still don't know whether mine would be any safer. Any thoughts?

Hey Star

I am very interested in knowing this too! I will still be going the cleaning as DP works 7 days a week. Sometimes he has the weekends off but I dont like the way he cleans! lol

Maybe if the house is well ventilated it should be alright as long as you dont use the real powerful stuff??

You should definitely wear gloves and avoid using products in small spaces like shower recesses.

It is OK to use most things, but like Natalie said, use gloves and make sure you have windows open and the room is well ventilated and you will be ok. Wouldn't be nice if we didn't have to clean for 9 months....

Bummer!! I should have bought some gloves when I went out shopping. What about gardening gloves?! LOL

And it would be great if we didnt need to clean for 9 months!

It all depends on your philosophy about this stuff (health and environment-wise). I converted to green/natural cleaning products about 8 years ago when DH and I both had chronic health issues and have found they work very well (2 different sets of housecleaners have used them). I now can't stand the smell of 'conventional' products, even laundry powders bug me, let alone things like exit mould.

If you want to make a change, maybe try finding alternatives for the harshest products (such as bleach-based cleaners) as a small first step. Even if you aren't using them, the gases from these hang around for quite some time.The dust gloves you can now get at the supermarket are also a great way to avoid another set of sprays.

I know I'm pretty gung ho about this stuff - you've got to do what you think is right for you and your family. Do a bit of reading and see what sits comfortably with you. If you want any other suggestion of products, just let me know.

Blackbird - what sort of products would you recommend?? Probably about 6 months ago I joined up to Melalucea, which is all natural cleaning products etc but I found that it was too expensive for me, so stopped using it.. But I would like to know of some kind of alternative.. I guess I am not big on getting the most strongest cleaning products as I only have one spray for the bathroom and one spray for the kitchen.

I'm on a bit of a eucalyptus bent at the moment - a euc-based cleaner from Hammersley for the bathroom (mix with some white vinegar for a toilet spray) and eucalyptus oil in warm water for the floors (tiles, lino, cork, polished boards). Kitchen - orange spray from ecologic (there is a cheaper one in supermarkets but it is too strong to use on plastics) and enjo marble paste for a shiny sink. Some of these products can cost more upfront but I find we go through them much more slowly so they work out about the same in the end.

You can usually use the same stuff for most jobs but we are used to having a million different products due to the way they advertise stuff. My cleaners (a pair of crazy gay Italian brothers :D ) seem to like different products for different jobs so I try to keep them happy as they are so fab.

Isn't Eucalyptus oil one you have to be careful of when pg?? Also, I heard that it ends up stripping the shine off floorboards in the end. Not sure if that's true or not, but did hear it somewhere.

I know you can use Bi-carb and vinegar as a cleaner, just not sure if there's a certain part bi-carb to part vinegar you need to observe. There's a thread in house, home and money under general discussion that does have some great ideas with regards to cleaning. I think it was called something like: top 5 cleaning tips/products??

According to the textbook I have (used for training aromatherapists) eucalyptus is not on the list to avoid during pregnancy and has no contraindications. Not sure about the shine factor - I haven't had that problem.

Thanks guys - I don't tend to use the stronger stuff, but I think I will have to ask what my cleaners use / get them to use my products.

I do have a eucalyptus cleaner that is multipurpose but I tend to use for mopping floors by Earth Choice, so I'll keep using that. (Don't have floorboards so can't advise whether that's a problem)