A wild rant

Do you mind if I rant for a second? If you do please scroll to another blog but if you don't mind, I seriously need a moment of your time.

OK, here goes my rant...

We do not need 50 different cleaning products in our homes. And the products we do have don't need to be the strongest and fastest most aggressive cleaners on the market. The reason we clean is not for our neighbors and appearance but for the health of our home and family. Taking our cleaning advice from the companies trying to sell us products is not always a smart choice. And for heaven sake, stop spraying chemicals-disinfectants-deodorizers and cleaners into the air!!!!!!!!! Our homes are cesspools of chemicals. And because we are becoming more aware of our environment and energy use, we close up our homes and those chemicals are trapped inside. It is crazy. You wonder why cancer, asthma, and auto immune diseases are up? Take a hard look at the volume of chemicals our bodies have to process.

It's not just our cleaners, it's also our pesticides, our crafts, our deodorizers, our food, our make up and personal care products. It's our paints, finishes, coatings and strippers. It's even our over abundance of electronics. This excess of chemicals is too much for a home and family. Think: LESS IS MORE!!!!!

OK, I feel a little better. The best advice I can give today is to start being curious. Look at everything. Look under your sinks, in your laundry room and garage. See just how many chemical products you have. Check out how many different products have a fragrance: candles, deodorizers, personal care products, cleaners... How many products do you spray air? Look at your window cleaners, furniture cleaners, general-all purpose cleaners, bleaches, disinfectants, deodorizers, paints, odor neutralizers and fragrances. Are you seeing what I see yet?

Start with wonder. What is in your home to begin with?

Whew! Thank you, my rant is almost over and I can start breathing again. I hate hearing about a child with asthma or a friend with cancer while knowing our homes are full of abundant, unnecessary and excessively over used chemicals. I don't rant that often, so use my wild rant as a starting point to look at your home in a new light.

Residue free homes are a good thing!
Denise Frakes
Certified Healthy Home Specialist
Co-Owner of Blue Sky Services

Residue is a sneaky little fellow!

Residue is a sneaky little fellow. This morning as I unloaded our dishwasher I found dishwasher detergent specks on my dishes. The specks told me my dishwasher didn't rinse very well last night, but they also sparked this morning's blog.

There are 4 main ways for us become exposed to chemicals: ingestion, inhalation, absorption and injection.

What does this mean to me having soapy-clean dishes? I'm so glad you asked... it means everything! If I hadn't seen the residue left behind on my dishes, we most likely would have ingested the cleaner. I use non-toxic dishwasher detergent, which is good, but I still don't want to eat it. How would I have been feeling if I didn't use non-toxic dishwasher detergent???

In this case, the residue was visible, but what if it had dried clear? In food areas please use non-toxic cleaners. This includes dishwashing, dishwasher, and kitchen cleaners. Next,be aware of little residues that may just become lunch.

Oh yeah and while you are at it, don't open up your dishwasher and breath in the vapors- especially if you are not using a non-toxic cleaner.

Hope you have a good 28th day of Autumn!
Denise