8 Best Ways to Keep Chemicals Out of Your Home For Health & Wellbeing

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Our homes are full of chemicals that can be hazardous to our health, but there are ways to reduce our exposure to these harmful elements. This exposure creeps up over time and can be a source of those constant niggling health issues which lower your energy, mental clarity and overall wellbeing. So, with that in mind, we’d like to share some of the easiest and best ways to keep chemicals out of your home…

We Live In A Technologically Advanced World. Is Our World Healthier Is The Question….

We live in a world that is technologically advanced and does what it can to make our lives simpler. We are surrounded by products that are supposed to make our environment safer and cleaner. There are products that make living more convenient. These products certainly fulfill their promise of being convenient and easy to use, but they can also contain chemicals that are incredibly toxic and harmful to humans and the environment.

The Best Way to Keep Chemicals Out of Your Home Is Change Your Chemical Usage Habits

For most people, using these products is a matter of habit. It’s something they’ve always done, and they probably don’t think about the issues they could potentially cause. Exposure to the chemicals in common household products can aggravate allergies and asthma, cause brain damage or lead to the development of cancer, among other health issues.

While it’s impossible to avoid every chemical in the world, there are ways to reduce your exposure in your home. Below is a list of some ways to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals in your home so you and your family can be healthier. One of the simplest and fastest ways is to use chemical free household cleaning products. Today you can dump all those bottles and use natural cleaning products immediately. You’ll love our additional tips on creating a chemical free home which builds on this article.

1) How To Live Chemical Free: Buy Natural Furniture

When it comes to convenience and price, furniture made out of synthetic or human-made products is often more abundant and cheaper than furniture made from natural products. However, buying natural furniture adds uniqueness to your home and cuts down on the chemicals that can be found in plastic or Formica furniture. Natural furniture can also be more durable and last longer than mass-produced products.

When deciding what type of natural furniture to decorate your home with, be aware that wood furniture often doesn’t contain formaldehyde (a chemical that can irritate the nose and throat and exacerbate asthma), which is often found in other home materials, and wood furniture needs cleaners without harmful chemicals to be maintained. Natural furniture is a good way to keep chemicals out of your home that are often found in other products.

2) How To Live A Chemical Free Life: Take Off Your Shoes

It seems like such a simple suggestion, but it can have far-reaching implications. Our shoes find their way through so many different places and pick up a variety of different chemicals, including herbicides and pesticides, from the environments they trudge through. When you wear them in your house, you inevitably bring those chemicals with you. It doesn’t matter if you wipe your feet religiously and vigorously at the door, you can’t remove all of the chemicals.

Leaving your shoes in the garage or on the front porch will help reduce the amount of chemicals you track into your home. It will also help keep your floors cleaner, reducing the amount of chemicals and cleaners you need to maintain your home.

3) Get Rid of Carpeting

Speaking of chemicals that get tracked into your home, they can get trapped in your carpet. Not only that, but carpets are often made of synthetic material or petroleum byproducts. They can also be treated with artificial dyes, stain repellants, antistatic sprays or antimicrobial treatments, among others—all of which are chemicals that can be harmful to your health. Many people aren’t aware how much offgassing occurs from such floor coverings 24 hours a day, 365 days a year…..

If you are serious on learning how to live a chemical free life and if it’s possible, replace carpeting with hardwood floors, tile or wool carpeting, which is less toxic. If it’s not feasible or affordable to redo your floors, then make sure you vacuum at least twice a week, paying attention to corners, near baseboards and under furniture where dust and other debris can collect.

4) Create Your Own Cleaning Products, or Use Green Products

One of the largest contributors of chemicals to your home is the products you use to clean it. While it’s important to rid your home of germs, you don’t have to risk other aspects of your health to accomplish that goal. Less harmful chemical free household cleaning products using agents such as baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice will clean just as well as the harsher products and kill germs.

There are also a variety of green cleaning products available for your home. These products are developed from nontoxic, natural and biodegradable ingredients that are safe for your home, your family and the environment. Green cleaning products can be found online and in stores.

5) Open Your Windows

It may seem like opening your windows is asking for more chemicals to get into your home. After all, if there’s a breeze, it will blow dust and air born pollutants into your house. This can certainly happen, but opening windows also allows these chemicals to leave your home.

Keeping your windows closed traps you with the fumes and toxins that exist in the carpeting, paint and furniture in your home. Opening your windows allows these products to off-gas, leaving your living space with less chemical residue.

Opening your windows will also help rid your home of unpleasant odors. Using canned synthetic sprays adds more chemicals to your environment. In addition to opening windows, you can deodorize your home with plants or natural potpourri made from herbs and flowers.

6) How To Live Chemical Free By Getting Rid of Nonstick Pots and Pans

Nonstick and Teflon cookware keep your food from sticking to the bottom of the pan. However, did you know the coating put on the cookware is loaded with toxins that can find their way into your food and then into your system, harming your health?

One of the best ways to keep chemicals out of your home and digestive system is to reduce the amount of chemicals in your cookware. Try using copper-coated pans, ceramic, cast iron, stainless steel or anodized aluminum.

7) Buy Organic Fabrics

Have you ever noticed that new clothes have a smell? It’s because they are loaded with chemicals that are left over from the manufacturing process. They may also be treated with wrinkle-resistant chemicals, artificial dyes or flame retardant.

Some fabric types are much worse than others and should be avoided if at all possible. While time and washing reduces the amount of chemicals that exist in the fibers, there’s a chance they can harm you when they are new.

Clothes are not the only fabrics and materials that are full of chemicals. Your bedding, towels and upholstery may also be loaded with chemicals. Try sticking to natural fibers and fabrics such as cotton, wool, linen and silk.

8) Reduce Your Plastic Use

Another tip in our best ways to keep chemicals out of your home series is by investing in a few funky resuable bags. You can by these reusable eco bags for a dollar or two right up to the designer style bags in great colors and fabric designs. They are strong, last for ages and look after your health.

Plastic is a product that can be found everywhere. It’s convenient, cheap and easy to manufacture and use. However, it is also full of chemicals. There are a few plastic products that are safe, but most of them are harmful to your health and the environment. Avoiding plastic as much as possible will reduce you and your family’s exposure to harmful chemicals.

What Are The Best Ways to Keep Chemicals Out of Your Home You Can Start Doing Today?

It’s impossible to avoid all exposure to chemicals, but you can reduce how much occurs in your home. There are a variety of different ways and products to help you reach that goal, and it will have a positive impact on you and your family’s health.

Bio:

Emily is a sustainability and eco-friendly living blogger. You can see her work on her blog, Conservation Folks, or follow her on Twitter.