You’ve already made the important decision to choose clean, wholesome foods over their processed and artificial counterparts. It’s a big step that empowers you to take charge of your health and lose weight—and you should feel good about it! Now it’s time to take a closer look at the other stuff you use on a daily basis that could be exposing you to chemicals that may have a negative impact on your weight. After all, if you’re already making the effort to nourish your body with the right food, why derail those efforts with other dirty products? Eating clean is an important first step, but you can go further. The pages ahead will show you how.
Learning about the weird ingredients in processed foods—and how they affect your moods, energy levels, and weight—can feel like a major wake-up call. And for many people, making the shift to a cleaner diet is the first step toward living a cleaner life overall. Because, unfortunately, dirty ingredients don’t just lurk in foods. They can also hide in the cleaner you use to wipe your countertop after cooking, the soap you use in the shower, and even the makeup you apply when you’re getting ready for a night out.
We know. You’re probably thinking, I already get that the chemicals in heavy-duty products like drain cleaner can mess with the environment or that breathing in fumes from, say, oven cleaner might leave me woozy (or worse). But can a tube of moisturizer or a bottle of window cleaner really be hurting my health—and be the thing that’s keeping me from getting lean? At first glance, we know it might seem a little far-fetched. So just hear us out.
On its own, it seems unlikely that the ingredients in one measly product could have a significant impact on your overall health or your weight. (Though for the time being, there haven’t been any studies to prove otherwise.) But here’s the thing: You don’t use just one product. No one does. We use gels and soaps and lotions and lipsticks and deodorants to make our bodies look and smell nice, along with sprays and wipes and detergents to do the same thing for our homes and workplaces. So even if you’re eating a squeaky-clean diet made entirely from unprocessed foods, it’s likely that you’re still being exposed to hundreds of different chemicals every day. And a heavy chemical load could have unintended consequences for your body—including making it harder for the pounds to come off.
Trying to steer clear of every potentially harmful chemical out there would be overwhelming—not to mention almost impossible! After all, you can’t control what type of cleaner the custodian at your bank uses to wipe down the counter where you make your deposits, or the type of hand soap that your neighbor keeps in her guest bathroom.
What you can do? Make a conscious decision to seek out safer products for yourself and your home when you can. Remember, it’s not about being perfect! By surrounding yourself with cleaner goods most of the time, you’ll reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals in a major way. And that could spell the difference between a scale that won’t budge and one that starts trending downward.
That’s how many chemicals the average woman is exposed to from the 12 personal-care products she uses each day. And guys don’t fare much better: The average man uses 6 products per day, exposing him to close to 90 different chemicals.1 Think about the good you’ll do just by swapping out one or two conventional products for cleaner ones.
You don’t eat shampoo or soap or the spray that you use to wipe down your kitchen counter. So how exactly are you being exposed to the unsavory ingredients found in your personal-care or cleaning products? Believe it or not, you don’t actually have to put any of this stuff in your mouth in order for it to have a potentially harmful effect.
Consider your skin. You might think of it as being like a brick wall, with nothing going in or coming out unless you have a cut or wound. But in reality, your skin is a lot more like a sponge. It’s porous, and most of what you put on it—from lotions to hair gel to makeup—gets absorbed right into your bloodstream. (Still skeptical? Think about topical medications like nicotine patches or fungal creams. If they can’t get inside your body, how do you think they work?) The same goes for stuff that isn’t designed to go on your skin, such as cleaning products. Most cleaners contain wetting agents called surfactants, which allow a product to carry away oils. Because they’re designed to help cleaners penetrate surfaces, surfactants are also really good at allowing cleaners—and their toxic ingredients—to penetrate your skin. In fact, one study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the skin absorbs, on average, 64 percent of the chemicals that it’s exposed to.3 And when it comes to fragrance ingredients like phthalates (more on those later), researchers theorize that the skin’s absorption rate could be as high as 100 percent.4 Yikes.
If you ever use lipstick, lip gloss, or lip balm, you could be eating some of these not-so-savory ingredients after all. A recent FDA test of more than 400 products showed that, on average, lipsticks contain 1.11 parts per million of lead.2 According to the FDA, these numbers are considered safe because people don’t actually ingest lipstick. Still, think about it: If you’ve ever finished a meal and found that all of your meticulously applied lip color disappeared along with your food, that lead-containing lipstick had to go somewhere, right? Swap your conventional lipstick, gloss, or balm for a cleaner alternative, and you just might save yourself a side dish of heavy metals.
That’s not all. You know how the fumes from things like glass cleaner, hairspray, and even nail polish or polish remover tend to make you cough or even feel a little dizzy if you get too close to them or use them in a poorly ventilated space? These products (and many others) contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals that are emitted into the air as a vapor or gas. The health effects of some VOCs remain unknown, but exposure to others is linked to a range of problems—including headaches and dizziness, as well as kidney, liver, and central nervous system damage, according to researchers at the US National Library of Medicine.5
Okay, so you get that most of us are exposed to a ton of questionable chemicals through our personal-care and cleaning products. But how exactly do these chemicals affect your weight loss? Back in Chapter 1, we talked about the endocrine-disrupting effects of the BPA and BPS found in plastic containers and canned food linings. But these chemicals show up in personal-care and cleaning products, too. And because endocrine disruptors are capable of mimicking or blocking hormones like estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormones, they can play some weird tricks on your body—like prompting your cells to store more fat.
Indeed, a growing number of studies are now linking exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals with weight gain.6 In fact, experts writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism estimate that endocrine-disrupting chemicals could be responsible for nearly 54,000 cases of obesity and more than 20,000 cases of diabetes in older women living in the European Union,7 where use of these chemicals is more tightly regulated than it is in the United States. Who would’ve thought that a little tube of hand cream or a bottle of window cleaner could possibly have such a significant impact on your body?
The number of ingredients regularly used in consumer goods and cleaning products that have not been adequately tested for safety, according to estimates from the Environmental Working Group.8
But that’s not all. While endocrine disruptors appear to have a more direct impact on your weight, there are plenty of other chemicals that could have an indirect influence by affecting your health in other ways. For instance, chemicals that are derived from the preservative formaldehyde are linked to issues like asthma, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Others, like triclosan, have been shown to have a negative impact on your immune system.9 And when you just feel lousy, it’s a lot harder to muster up the energy to eat right or be active.
Of course, those are just the weighty effects of some of the chemicals that we do know about. Like many of the chemicals found in processed or conventional foods, we’re still in the dark about much of what goes into our personal-care products and cleaners. Similar to packaged food additives, many of the ingredients used in cosmetics haven’t actually been tested by the FDA because they’re considered to be “generally recognized as safe.” (For more about GRAS ingredients, see “Beware of Weird Additives” in Chapter 3.) Things get even sketchier when it comes to cleaning products. The federal government doesn’t require them to disclose their ingredients, period, so you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out what, exactly, goes into making that bright blue bottle of glass cleaner or dish gel.
Added together, the effects that all of these chemicals have on the scale might be more significant than you think. On average, people are around 10 percent heavier today than they were in the 1970s.13 But all of the extra weight we’re carrying around these days isn’t just the result of eating more and moving less, as we’re often told. Exposure to environmental chemicals and pollutants, including those found in many personal-care products and other goods, may also play a role, say experts writing in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice.14
Laundry detergent that smells like you let your towels air-dry in the sun. Air fresheners that turn your house into a pine-scented forest. Per fume that instantly transports you to a gorgeous rose garden. The fragrances in many of our personal-care and household products smell surprisingly realistic. But you can be almost certain that they’re completely artificial.
The truth is, the vast majority of natural-smelling scents are developed in test tube–filled labs. The International Fragrance Association readily admits that manufacturers use nearly 3,000 chemical ingredients to create the scents that are added to most consumer products.10 And some, including phthalates, are known endocrine disruptors with ties to obesity.
Considering the fact that scented products are pretty much everywhere, it comes as no surprise that most of us are exposed to chemicals like phthalates on a daily basis: According to nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than 75 percent of participants had detectable levels of phthalates in their urine.11 And if you regularly spritz on perfume, your exposure could be considerably higher. Compared to women who hadn’t recently worn a scent, those who had used perfume within the previous 24 hours had nearly three times more phthalates in their urine, one University of Rochester study found.12
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your exposure. Start by steering clear of products that contain ingredients like “fragrance” or “parfum,” as both are often code for phthalates. If you love using perfumes or other scented products, consider seeking out chemical-free alternatives that are certified organic and made with plant-derived ingredients such as essential oils.
Ready to get the gunk out of your gels, lotions, cosmetics, and creams? Cleaner personal care has come a long way from the crunchy natural products once confined to dusty health food stores. Today, there are more options than ever made from easy-to-recognize, plant-based ingredients that help you scrub, primp, and preen just as well—if not better!—than their conventional counterparts. Here’s how to track them down and work more of them into your routine.
Personal-care product labels are often a jumble of sciencey words that might as well be a foreign language. Rather than trying to learn them all, focus on this manageable list of dirty ingredients. By skipping products that contain them, you’ll scrub the most offensive chemicals and additives out of your hygiene routine.
1. Phthalates. A group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalates show up regularly in lipstick, lotions, makeup, nail polish, perfumes, and other products that contain artificial scents. Phthalates have been linked to weight gain and diabetes, and one study even tied certain phthalates to potentially increasing the risk for breast cancer.16 Choose organic or phthalate-free products, instead.
Other names: You’ll never actually see the word “phthalates” on a list of ingredients. Instead, look for “fragrance” or “parfum.”
2. Parabens. These preservatives are used to keep bacteria, yeast, and mold from growing in your deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, aftershave, moisturizer, and makeup—which sounds like a good thing. But they also mimic estrogen in the body, which research suggests could increase the risk for breast cancer.17 Look for organic products or those that are paraben-free.
Other names: Ethylparaben, butylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, other ingredients ending in -paraben.
3. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. Like parabens, these chemicals are designed to keep bacteria at bay in products like shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, cleansers, lotions, hair gels, and shaving creams. But they expose you to formaldehyde—a probable human carcinogen—whenever you suds up. Choose organic products or those that are free of preservatives.
Other names: Diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
4. Sulfates. Found in shampoos, facial cleansers, and body washes, sulfates are responsible for creating suds and bubbles. But they’re harsh detergents, and they often contain a potentially cancerous chemical called 1,4-dioxane that—frighteningly enough—isn’t required to be listed on product labels. Look for organic or sulfate-free products.
Other names: Sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
5. Toluene. Wanna know what gives nail polish and hair dye that glossy, eye-popping shine? It’s toluene, a petroleum-based chemical used in paint thinner that can cause dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. Some research also suggests that toluene could be an endocrine disruptor, and the chemical may also be linked to immune system toxicity.18 And since toluene is a volatile organic compound (VOC), you can be exposed to the stuff just by breathing it in. Choose organic or toluene-free products, instead.
Other names: Butylated hydroxytoluene, benzoic acid, benzyl
6. Other petroleum-based chemicals. Used in deodorant, aftershave, hair gel, and shampoo, these chemicals are often contaminated with formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane. Many are also classified as skin irritants. (And remember what we said about skin? It’s like a sponge.)
Other names: Propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol (PEG)
7. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). An endocrine disruptor and possible carcinogen, this preservative typically shows up in makeup—including concealer, mascara, blush, eyeliner, and lip gloss.
Other names: Antioxyne B, Antrancine 12, EEC No. E320, Embanox, Nipantiox 1-F, Protex, Sustane 1-F, Tenox BHA
Replacing all of the products in your medicine cabinet or makeup bag in one fell swoop can be a big, expensive job. Instead, take the one-out, one-in approach: When you run out of an existing product, just replace it with a cleaner alternative. Each time, you’ll reduce your chemical exposure by around 15 unique ingredients, according to data from the Environmental Working Group.15 And within a few months, you’ll have cleaned up your entire personal-care routine.
Poring over ingredients lists is one way to make sure the products you buy are free of potentially harmful chemicals. But if you’re not quite sure of your label-reading prowess, you can get some extra assurance from a third party.
• Go for organic. Like with food, the term “natural” is unregulated—and it doesn’t necessarily mean that the ingredients in your lipstick, shampoo, or shaving cream came from nature. To know that you’re truly steering clear of synthetics and additives, look for personal-care products that bear the USDA certified organic seal, which ensures that a product is made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients. And if you spot an “organic” product without the seal, do some homework before you buy it. The word “organic” isn’t actually regulated—only the USDA certified organic seal is—and some manufacturers do use the term even when their products actually aren’t organic. (Crazy, right?)
•Check up on your brands. If you can’t seem to find a certified organic version of the item you’re looking for? Head to a trusted cosmetics database like the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep (ewg.org/skindeep). It rates the safety of more than 60,000 personal-care products, making it easy to find the cleanest alternatives out there.
• Find your favorites and stick with them. Sure, tracking down trustworthy products takes a little bit of time up front. But remember, that little bit of research is a long-term investment in your health. Plus, once you find your new go-tos, there’s nothing left to do but toss a fresh bottle in your cart when the old one goes empty.
• Don’t discount DIY. You don’t have to worry about funky ingredients when you use personal-care products made from items found in your refrigerator or pantry. And many are easier to whip up than you might think. (See “Clean Enough to Eat”.)
Overwhelmed by all the options? These easy-to-find clean brands are ideal places to start.
•Shampoo and conditioner: Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday Value, Avalon Organics
•Facial care: Weleda, Origins
•Body wash: The Honest Company, Yes To
•Lotions and moisturizers: NOW Solutions, J. R. Watkins
•Cosmetics: Jane Iredale, Tarte
•Nail polish: Butter London, Zoya
•Toothpaste and mouthwash: Tom’s of Maine, Nature’s Gate
•Shaving cream and aftershave: Dr. Bronner’s, Aveda
When it comes to natural beauty, whole foods are some of the most powerful ingredients around. Whip up these DIY masks, scrubs, and moisturizers for more youthful skin, healthier hair, and a head-to-toe glow.
FOR BRIGHTER SKIN
In a blender or food processor, combine ½ cup of chopped raw green apple, 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, and 2 tablespoons of honey. Blend or process until smooth, adding a few drops of water if necessary. Massage the mixture into dry skin and rinse well.
Why it works: The antioxidants and alpha hydroxy acids in green apples help brighten, soothe, and plump skin, while the chia seeds and honey exfoliate and deep clean.
FOR DEWIER, MORE YOUTHFUL SKIN
In a blender or food processor, combine ½ avocado, 2 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt, and 1 tablespoon of wheatgrass juice. Blend or process until smooth. (You can find wheatgrass juice frozen at natural food stores, or get it fresh at juice bars.) Apply the mixture to your face, let it sit for 20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.
Why it works: Avocado’s healthy fats deliver moisture, while its vitamin E helps improve skin’s texture. The lactic acid in yogurt gently loosens dead skin cells, and the wheatgrass adds a punch of vitamins A and E—antiaging powerhouses.
FOR CALMER SKIN AND LESS REDNESS
In a blender or food processor, combine ¼ cup of blueberries, ¼ cup of raw almonds, 2 tablespoons of rolled oats, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Blend or process until smooth. Apply the mixture to moistened skin and let it sit for 20 minutes, or until dry. Massage the mixture in a slow, circular motion until it crumbles away. Rinse with warm water.
Why it works: Oats have anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce redness, while milk and honey help cleanse and brighten skin. Blueberries and raw almonds deliver phytochemicals and skin-soothing vitamin E.
FOR HEALTHIER, SHINIER HAIR
In a small bowl, mash 1 ripe avocado with 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey and 3 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Apply to your hair from the roots to the ends, and let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes. Rinse well.
Why it works: Avocado and olive oil’s monounsaturated fats soften dry, brittle hair, while honey coats and conditions your strands, giving them extra shine.
Open a bottle of hoppy beer, like an IPA, and let it sit for 30 minutes to let the bubbles settle. Shampoo your hair, rinse, and then pour on the beer, roots to ends, and massage briefly. Let the beer sit for 15 to 20 minutes before rinsing and styling.
Why it works: The yeast and hops in the brew help swell your hair cuticle, making strands thicker.
FOR LESS GREASE
Brew chamomile tea and let it cool, then combine the tea with an equal amount of clean mouthwash. (Any kind will do.) Shampoo, condition, and towel-dry your hair. Then sprinkle the tea mixture over your scalp, rub it in lightly with your fingertips, and style as usual.
Why it works: Because both ingredients are mildly astringent, they absorb excess oil.
FOR AN EXFOLIATING SCRUB
In a bowl, combine ½ cup of milk, ¼ cup of brown sugar, and a few drops of pure vanilla extract. In the shower or bath, gently scrub your skin using small circular motions. Rinse as usual.
Why it works: Brown sugar acts as a gentle exfoliator, while milk softens your skin. And the vanilla? It smells amazing!
FOR DRY, TIGHT SKIN
In a blender or food processor, combine 1 cup of fresh cilantro, 2 cups of buttermilk, and 1 tablespoon of honey. Blend or process until smooth, and strain. Pour the mixture into a warm bath and soak for at least 30 minutes.
Why it works: Cilantro has a cooling, soothing effect on skin. The natural lactic acids in dairy products like buttermilk help loosen dead cells, making skin soft and supple. Honey acts as a potent moisturizer and offers up antibacterial properties, too.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine ¼ cup each of avocado oil, sweet almond oil, and melted coconut oil. Shake well and apply from your shoulders to your toes daily.
Why it works: The fatty acids in the oils penetrate your skin to deliver deep hydration.
It might not come as much of a surprise that many of the same toxic chemicals that are used in personal-care products tend to pop up in common household cleaners. What you might not realize? Cleaning product manufacturers aren’t actually required to list their ingredients on their labels—but they are allowed to use words like natural, green, eco-friendly, or even organic to create the impression that their products are safe and natural. Put these two mind-boggling facts together, and it can be tough to figure out exactly what’s inside of those bottles sitting underneath your sink—and how they might be impacting your health and your weight.
Thankfully, change could be coming. Congress is currently considering legislation that would require cleaning product manufacturers to disclose their ingredients on their product labels.19 Manufacturers may also be forced to share more health and safety data on the chemicals they use—and to prove that those chemicals are safe.20 But until that happens, it’s up to consumers to do the legwork to seek out safer products.
And you can do it. Sure, wading through the sea of colorful containers to find truly clean alternatives might seem like a task best left to a chemist. But with a little know-how, it actually becomes pretty easy to spot healthy cleaning products—as well as harmful imposters.
As with practically anything that comes in a box or bag these days, cleaning products are often tricked out with wholesome-sounding names and nature-inspired designs to make them appear trustworthy and safe. But most of the terms on cleaning product labels are unregulated—and if you’re not a savvy shopper, it’s pretty easy to get duped. Keep an eye out for these wishy-washy terms.
•Biodegradable. Biodegradable products are supposed to break down when they enter wastewater treatment plants, landfills, or rivers and streams. But because the term is unregulated, there’s no way of knowing whether a cleaner is truly biodegradable or not.
•Natural. Like with packaged foods, you can’t take “natural” at face value. In the world of cleaning products, the word is entirely unregulated.
•Nontoxic. This term suggests that a cleaning product is safe for your health. But there’s no official definition of what nontoxic actually means, so slapping it on a label doesn’t guarantee that a product is healthy or safe.
•Plant-based. Products will often use this term if some of their ingredients come from plants or minerals. The catch? They don’t have to say how much—or how little—of those ingredients are actually present in the product.
•Organic. Manufacturers use this term to imply that their products are made from plants grown without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. But unless the label bears the USDA Organic Seal, you can’t trust that an “organic” cleaning product is the real deal.
•Phosphate-free. Sounds nice, but it’s not very meaningful. Phosphates—which can be harmful to aquatic life—were banned in many states decades ago. So these days, almost all cleaners are phosphate-free.
Those disposable wipes are a godsend when you need to clean off the kitchen counter fast. And you’re convinced that the little bottle of hand sanitizer in your bag helped you avoid a run-in with the flu last winter. But these products could come with some downsides.
Antibacterial products like wipes, soaps, and sanitizers get their germ-fighting power from triclosan, a chemical that, weirdly enough, could actually be hurting your health. By now, it’s widely thought that triclosan-containing products could be increasing our resistance to antibiotics and depressing our immune systems. But they may be affecting the number you see on the scale, too. A recent review published in the journal PLoS One found that people with greater levels of triclosan in their urine had higher BMIs than those whose urine contained less triclosan.21 In part, that could be because the chemical boasts endocrine-disrupting abilities that could mess with metabolism by affecting thyroid hormones. Triclosan’s germ-killing powers could lead to negative changes in gut bacteria that might impact weight gain, too.
Don’t worry, there’s also some good news: Experts say that triclosan isn’t actually any more effective at killing germs than plain old soap and water are.22 That means you can trade in your antibacterial products without having to worry that scary germs are going to take over your life. To find triclosan-free goods, start by checking a product’s label. Triclosan will be listed as an ingredient in things like soap, since it’s considered a personal-care product. As for cleaning products like sprays or wipes, triclosan might not be listed because manufacturers aren’t required to list ingredients. So check the front label, instead. If it says “germ-killing” or “antibacterial,” there’s a good chance the product contains triclosan.
When faced with marketing mumbo jumbo that can mean almost anything and no ingredients list to scan, how exactly are you supposed to find cleaning products that are truly clean? The simplest—and most effective—way is to look for items that have been vetted by third-party certifiers, like Green Seal or ECOLOGO. In order to be verified by either, a product is required to disclose all of its ingredients and sources, and the ingredients must be shown to have a minimal effect on health. What’s more, the product has to undergo testing to prove that it actually works. If a cleaner is Green Seal or ECOLOGO certified, you’ll spot the seal right on the product’s label.
Another option is to buy from retailers or cleaning product manufacturers that offer up trustworthy standards of their own. Whole Foods Market’s Eco-Scale rating system evaluates each product that it sells for safety and prohibits more than 40 toxic ingredients found in conventional cleaners, so you can feel assured that you’re getting a truly clean product. Or search for a product in the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning at ewg.org/guides/cleaners. With safety ratings for over 2,000 products, it’s easy to find a spray, soap, gel, or detergent that meets your standards.
It might already be a staple for your salad dressing, but a simple bottle of vinegar can be your go-to for tackling to-dos around the house, too. (Opt for white or apple cider vinegars, which won’t cause staining or discoloration like red wine or balsamic vinegar would.) Three genius ways to use it:
•Brighten your whites. White vinegar is a tried-and-true stain remover for clothing, towels, and sheets. Add a cup to the rinse cycle to keep your whites bright (and to get rid of soap scum inside your washing machine) without using harsh bleach.
•Nix nasty odors. Got a funk lingering in your car, closet, or bathroom? Leave a bowl of vinegar in the area overnight to absorb the stench.
•Clean your toilet bowl. Pour 16 ounces of white vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit overnight to dislodge dirt and eat up odors. Come morning, you just need to give it a quick scrub.
All it takes to fight dirt and grime around your home without toxic chemicals are a few simple ingredients—and most of them are likely already in your cabinets. Whip up your own all-purpose spray, tile cleaner, furniture polish, and more with these easy (and insanely inexpensive) recipes. Start your spray bottles!
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
In a spray bottle, combine 9 parts water with 1 part white vinegar. Clean away on most nonporous, stone, tile, and porcelain surfaces. (Avoid using on porous wood surfaces or soft metals.)
Why it works: Vinegar boasts natural antibacterial properties. (It won’t kill all germs, though. For really dirty messes, wipe down the area with a clean liquid soap and water, then follow with a squirt of straight vinegar and a separate squirt of hydrogen peroxide.)
TILE CLEANER
Place ½ cup of baking soda in a bowl and slowly pour in liquid soap, stirring until it is the consistency of frosting. (Skip the harsh detergents and antibacterial agents. Instead, opt for castile soap, such as Dr. Bronner’s, which is vegetable oil-based.) Add 5 to 10 drops of your favorite essential oil, such as lavender or rosemary. Scoop onto a sponge, scrub, and rinse.
Why it works: The soap deep cleans, while the baking soda acts as a mild scouring agent.
In a spray bottle, combine ¼ cup of vinegar, ½ teaspoon of liquid soap, and 2 cups of water. Shake to blend. Spray on a window, scrub with a kitchen sponge, and squeegee off. You can also scrub with crumpled newspaper.
Why it works: Vinegar and liquid soap cut grime and waxy buildup, and wiping with newspaper prevents streaking.
FURNITURE POLISH
In a small spray bottle, combine 10 drops of pure lemon oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and several drops of olive oil. Shake to combine. Spritz on wood furniture and wipe dusty surfaces with a cotton flannel cloth.
Why it works: The acid in the lemon juice cuts through grease, while the olive oil protects and shines the wood. And the lemon oil smells fresh.
Pour 1 cup of baking soda into the rinse cycle for clothes or ½ cup of white vinegar for towels.
Why it works: Both baking soda and white vinegar eliminate soap and mineral buildup that can cause fabric to feel stiff.
OVEN CLEANER
In a spray bottle, combine 2 cups of hot water, 1 tablespoon of soap, and 1 teaspoon of borax. Spray on the spill, let sit for 20 minutes, and wipe off with a clean cloth. For extra-greasy messes, wipe off as much goop as possible with crumpled newspaper first, then use the spray.
Why it works: Hot water and liquid soap cut grease. Borax, a naturally occurring mineral, has a texture similar to baking soda and dislodges stuck-on grime.
In a heatproof glass measuring cup, combine equal parts baking soda, white vinegar, and boiling water. Stir carefully and slowly pour the mixture down the drain. Let it sit for a half hour, then rinse with hot water.
Why it works: The baking soda and vinegar fizz will eat through clogs.
1Remember, it all adds up. Conventional personal-care and cleaning products expose us to hundreds of chemicals every day—and some of these chemicals are linked to obesity. Others can impact your health in other ways, making you feel lousy and have less energy to make healthy choices.
2Find cleaner personal-care and cleaning products. Familiarize yourself with must-avoid ingredients, research questionable products, and look for third-party verification to ensure that a product is clean.
3Watch out for greenwashing. Resist the siren call of labels or marketing terms that make a product seem more wholesome than it is.
4Don’t be afraid to go DIY. Experiment with making your own personal-care products and cleaners. When you go the homemade route, you extinguish questionable ingredients.
5Make small changes. You don’t have to overhaul everything in your medicine cabinet or cleaning closet all at once. When you use up a product, just replace it with a cleaner one.
