Natural ways to disinfect your home
My daughter was diagnosed with eczema when she was six months old. Since then we've been exploring ways and means to reduce her outbreaks. One obvious method is to reduce exposure to harsh chemicals. This includes soaps, perfumes, cleaning agents, laundry detergent.
While it was easy enough to find alternatives to soap (I use a popular Indian remedy – ground-up lentil powder mixed with turmeric), laundry detergent (I use dye-free, perfume free versions of popular brands or Charlie's soap), I was a bit stumped by how to replace the cleaning agents. My biggest concern, of course, was germs – as any parent can tell you, kids are just walking germ magnets. In fact, MRSA (a version of Staph. Aureus that is resistant to antibiotics like methicillin) is now known to be prevalent at daycares and preschools.
So off I went to look up natural alternatives to Lysol and bleach. Here are some of the safe, non-toxic and environmentally-friendly alternatives that I found -
Vinegar – Studies on vinegar have shown that vinegar can act as a disinfectant. According to this site, a straight 5% solution of vinegar, such as what is sold in the supermarket, kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold and 80% of viruses. Check out the reader comments for alternative uses for vinegar!
Vinegar producers, however, can't claim on their packaging that vinegar is a disinfectant without registering it as a pesticide with the EPA. In December 2000, the CBS news show 48 Hours featured homemaking expert Heloise reporting on tests from The Good Housekeeping Institute that verified the disinfectant properties of vinegar.
Vinegar by itself may not be as effective as commercial cleaners which can kill 99.9% of germs to vinegar's 90% or less. But it can be combined effectively with other disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxide ( do not mix the two – that makes peracetic acid, which isn't safe and can give you a bad chemical burn! Spray and wipe each consecutively to be most effective) or essential oils.
Tea tree oil – Tea tree oil, an Australian import, has long been considered a very powerful antiseptic. Here's a blurb on using it safely and some studies done on the use of tea tree oil. I also found this study on tea tree oil and MRSA - yes, it can kill MRSA!! I usually add a few drops to my home-made cleaning liquid.
Neem oil - Neem oil is derived from the Indian plant of the same name. It is a powerful natural disinfectant. Most Indian homes usually have some neem oil in their medicine cabinet.
Use 1 tsp. of the essential oil to one cup of water in a spritz bottle to disinfect your kitchen and bathroom.
Grapefruit seed extract – This was also much touted as a natural disinfectant but has since been discredited when studies showed that a synthetic substance, benzethonium chloride, present in the extracts was responsible for the antimicrobial action.
The best resource I found for ditching commercial cleaners was a great book called 'Clean House, Clean Planet'.
I now regularly make my home-made versions of disinfectants using just vinegar, castille soap and tea tree oil! Smells great, works great and is cheap too – what's not to love?
While it was easy enough to find alternatives to soap (I use a popular Indian remedy – ground-up lentil powder mixed with turmeric), laundry detergent (I use dye-free, perfume free versions of popular brands or Charlie's soap), I was a bit stumped by how to replace the cleaning agents. My biggest concern, of course, was germs – as any parent can tell you, kids are just walking germ magnets. In fact, MRSA (a version of Staph. Aureus that is resistant to antibiotics like methicillin) is now known to be prevalent at daycares and preschools.
So off I went to look up natural alternatives to Lysol and bleach. Here are some of the safe, non-toxic and environmentally-friendly alternatives that I found -
Vinegar – Studies on vinegar have shown that vinegar can act as a disinfectant. According to this site, a straight 5% solution of vinegar, such as what is sold in the supermarket, kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold and 80% of viruses. Check out the reader comments for alternative uses for vinegar!
Vinegar producers, however, can't claim on their packaging that vinegar is a disinfectant without registering it as a pesticide with the EPA. In December 2000, the CBS news show 48 Hours featured homemaking expert Heloise reporting on tests from The Good Housekeeping Institute that verified the disinfectant properties of vinegar.
Vinegar by itself may not be as effective as commercial cleaners which can kill 99.9% of germs to vinegar's 90% or less. But it can be combined effectively with other disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxide ( do not mix the two – that makes peracetic acid, which isn't safe and can give you a bad chemical burn! Spray and wipe each consecutively to be most effective) or essential oils.
Tea tree oil – Tea tree oil, an Australian import, has long been considered a very powerful antiseptic. Here's a blurb on using it safely and some studies done on the use of tea tree oil. I also found this study on tea tree oil and MRSA - yes, it can kill MRSA!! I usually add a few drops to my home-made cleaning liquid.
Neem oil - Neem oil is derived from the Indian plant of the same name. It is a powerful natural disinfectant. Most Indian homes usually have some neem oil in their medicine cabinet.
Use 1 tsp. of the essential oil to one cup of water in a spritz bottle to disinfect your kitchen and bathroom.
Grapefruit seed extract – This was also much touted as a natural disinfectant but has since been discredited when studies showed that a synthetic substance, benzethonium chloride, present in the extracts was responsible for the antimicrobial action.
The best resource I found for ditching commercial cleaners was a great book called 'Clean House, Clean Planet'.
I now regularly make my home-made versions of disinfectants using just vinegar, castille soap and tea tree oil! Smells great, works great and is cheap too – what's not to love?
8 Comments
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Comment by Jolyn on April 5, 2008 at 12:48pm - Thanks, Usha! I'm always wondering what risky chemical use I can do away with. I didn't realize vinegar was such a good cleaning substitute. I have a question, though. What about mosquito repellent and household/garden insecticides? Do you have any good sources or know of safer alternatives to these?
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Comment by Jennifer Cochran-Biederman, MS, MA on April 5, 2008 at 1:30pm -
I know when I was growing up my mom often used vinegar in much of her cleaning. Not only was it inexpensive but, like you said, it comes without the harsh perfumes and chemicals found in most cleaning products.
Here is a response to Jolyn's question about natural mosquito repellent. I spent a few summers working down in the Bay Islands of Honduras, which are notorious for the pesky sand flies which are ruthlessly resistant when it comes to repellent. Beach goers would lather themselves in 100% deet, only to leave the beach covered in small itchy red bites. I was lucky enough to come across Cactus Juice in a travel forum, recommended to me by an ex pat who now calls the islands his home. It is all natural, safe and free of any harsh additives or perfumes. I used it during my second summer and was happy to find that the Cactus Juice really did work! (I didn't have much hope after having tried deet, baby oil, and a suite of other products). I also used Cactus Juice while doing field work in Belize, and the Bahamas - where the mosquitos and sand flies were also incredibly bad.
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Comment by Felisha Griffin on April 5, 2008 at 3:55pm - Thanks for the great tips. My son has eczema as well, and I have to be careful about the detergents, soaps, etc that I purchase. I had never thought of using vinegar as a disinfectant. I'm often concerned about using harsh cleaners for the bathtubs because I don't want any harsh chemical residues left in the bathtub to aggravate his condition. Baking soda also has a lot of great uses in addition to cleaning.
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Comment by Jolyn on April 5, 2008 at 4:09pm
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Gracias, amiga! I'll order some and hope it also works for the chiggers and no see'ums here in Mexico.
Someone told me Mexican vanilla works for mosquitoes too and i think it does. Although I didn't get any mosquito bites while I had it slathered on -- and it smelled great -- I still got other bites. Then, I found out the cure for chigger "bites." Well, not really a cure and chiggers don't exactly bite, but this is what I found.
When the little suckers get on the skin, usually around the ankles, they insert eggs under the skin. The area itches and burns like crazy. It also often develops a welt and then, a blister. I now know to wash the area well, take a hair dryer and put it on high and point it at the welt or blister until I can't stand it. Then, I put hydrocortisone cream on it. Voila, no more burn and itch! The invisible chigger is long gone by this time. I shower off my legs immediately whenever I've been outside in any grassy area too -- just to make sure there's not one lurking, ready to puncture me.
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Comment by Lesly on April 14, 2008 at 4:27pm - Usha - would you mind posting your recipe for homemade soap? We have a GIANT jug of turmeric in our pantry that we purchased in bulk before realizing how little of it is really needed to spice our dishes.
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Comment by Migrish on April 21, 2008 at 8:06am -
Usha...your blog is a blessing. I too have extreme sensitivity reaction with chemicals, like your daughter. Mine produced migraine that can last 2 days. I used vinegar for cleaning also. Baking soda helps a lot too. Your link to "Clean House, Clean Planet" is just what I needed. Thanks.
I used Neti Pot to help prevent any migraine attacks.
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Comment by Usha on April 21, 2008 at 11:15pm -
Hi Lesly,
I use a mixture of ground whole moong dal (an Indian lentil) and turmeric. It's not really a soap but it's great for the skin. It exfoliates and turmeric is excellent for the skin. It's also a natural antiseptic.
Turmeric has a thousand or so uses in India (give or take a few LOL). If you have a cold/cough, try drinking warm milk with turmeric in it. I use it on any cuts or open wounds. It stops the bleeding right away. I also make a paste with oil and apply it all over before a shower.
Turmeric will stain but the stain will usually come off - just put the clothing in the sun for a few hours.
Hope that helps. Here's more reading material on turmeric.
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Comment by Usha on April 21, 2008 at 11:19pm
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Hi Fay,
I'm so glad I could help. I love the book and I'm always gushing about it to people!
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