Creating A Toxin Free Home

Published on Aug 27, 2014
Updated on Nov 27, 2018

Changing More Than What I Eat // Tried and Tasty

Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

Changing More Than What I Eat // Tried and Tasty

I never realized how many chemicals were in things I used every day. I have really dry skin. One of my daily regimens used to be lubing up with baby oil gel every morning out of the shower. It would keep my legs soft and silky all day long. It was thick, moisturizing and smelled good. Wasn’t until one day Steve wanted to see if we could get it in bulk (since I was buying it so often). As he was checking things out online he decided to research the product itself. That’s what started it all. Baby oil gel contains mineral oil, which clogs your pores and suffocates your skin.  Yikes! That was the end of that. Over the last couple of years we’ve been swapping out all of our yucky chemical-filled products for natural ones.

Here’s what we’ve got: bathroom/shower products, laundry products, and other various cleaning products:

Changing More Than What I Eat // Tried and Tasty

Steve uses Avalon Organics[pictured] because there are no toxic chemicals.

I never realized how important natural deodorant is. It’s one of the most important things of all in fact. There are lots of harsh chemicals that absorb right in to your skin and straight in to your bloodstream. Making the switch of deodorant was tough for me. I love smelly good things and I felt like if I smelled my deodorant all day I knew it was working. Little did I know about all of the bad things it was doing as well. I’ve tried a few different ones, so you will have to see what works best for you. I like TOM’S OF MAINE Natural Long Lasting Lavender Deodorant [pictured].  Steve uses Alvera All Natural Roll-On Deodorant [not pictured].  I tried his, but it didn’t work for me.

We’ve tried a couple of different things for toothpaste.  I’ve used the Desert Essence Natural Tea Tree Oil and Neem Toothpaste [pictured] in the past, but have made the switch to Eco-Dent. Eco-Dent Daily Care Mint Tooth Powder [pictured] is like a baking soda powder.  I’ve grown so accustomed to using it that I don’t even like the typical toothpaste anymore.
 
For shaving, I’ve really liked the Kiss My Face Moisture Shave Gel [pictured]. It works well, smells good, and is all-natural. Of course, you could use coconut oil or even the black soap that we use for our hand soap and body wash.
 
The alternative to my beloved baby oil gel is coconut oil.  We have used Natures Way EfaGold Coconut Oil [pictured], but more recently have been buying coconut oil in bulk for the kitchen & the bathroom. Costco sells the Nutiva Certified Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil at a fantastic price. Who knew that you would be able to use the stuff for more than cooking?  Up until a year or so ago, I had no idea! 
 

An absolute MUST is switching the soap you have been using.  We have gotten rid of all of our “Bath and Body Works” smelly good stuff which was really hard for me and replaced it with  Dr. Woods Shea Vision Pure Black Soap with Organic Shea Butter [pictured].   It’s gentle on your skin, doesn’t strip your skin of as many its natural oils as traditional soap does, and it doesn’t contain any nasty chemicals.  As I mentioned before, we use it as our body wash too!

One thing you may not have thought of is your aerosol air freshener. We’ve changed to Citrus Magic Natural Odor Eliminating Air Freshener [not pictured]. ‘Citrus Magic contains natural ingredients that are 100% active and last up to 4 times longer than most conventional sprays that only use gas and a little perfume to mask odors.’ It also smells really good too! 

For the dirty job of cleaning the toiled, we use the Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner [pictured].  It’s all natural.

Changing More Than What I Eat // Tried and Tasty

For our laundering we have tried a few things.  The Charlie’s Soap Laundry Powder [pictured] works well, however after a few loads I noticed white streaks all over our dark/black clothes.  Maybe our washing machine, maybe not.  We then started using Seventh Generation Natural 4x Laundry Detergent [pictured] and were happy with it.  But the best value we’ve found is the Earth Friendly Products Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent. We got a giant bottle from Costco! Also, instead of using dryer sheets that have lots of chemicals and synthetic fragrances (that sticks to your clothes and can be absorbed through your skin) we use Woolsies XL Wool Dryer Balls [not pictured].  I highly recommend them, they can be used over and over again. 

Steve and I wash our dishes by hand rather than use the dishwasher.  Call us crazy.  We’ve never had a dishwasher that cleans our dishes better than we can, so for now we do it ourselves.  When we buy [or build] our permanent home, we will invest in a top-of-the-line dishwasher and it can have at it.  So, for our dish washing needs we use Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid Lavender Floral and Mint [pictured].  Works just fine!  For our glass cleaner[pictured], all-purpose cleaner[pictured], and wood cleaner[pictured] we also use Seventh Generation products.  We like them.

We buy most everything online, we’ve found that it’s usually cheaper that way. Plus we like when things come to us and we don’t have to go to them! More often than not, we shop for these things from Vitacost, Amazon, or Costco.

One other product I almost forgot to mention [and forgot to add to the picture] is a hand and body lotion that I use instead of my usual Victoria’s Secret or Bath and Body Works (which I’ve gotten rid of).  I love Desert Essence Organics Hand and Body Lotion Coconut.  It is thick, moisturizing AND smells like yummy coconut.  Highly recommend.  

I also want to squeeze in one of products we’ve swapped in our kitchen! If You Care 100% Unbleached Silicone Parchment Paper has been awesome to use in my baking. It’s a fantastic product, from a fantastic company and brand. You should check it out for sure!

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

I would like to introduce you to: LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
LUSH is one of my favorite addictions.

I’d first heard about LUSH little while ago, but didn’t pay much attention to it. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago I went in to the City Creek location and was completely overwhelmed. There were so many products.  I browsed.  Then walked out empty handed. What I learned in the few minutes I was in the store was the beliefs behind their products lined eerily up with my {then} new mentality.

It was at that point I knew what I needed to do.  I hit up my friend Nykki for recommendations. I’d remembered that she loved LUSH and I knew she would be me go-to girl for the inside scoop. Indeed she was.  She was extremely helpful and gave me a great foundation for my next visit to LUSH.

I went back May 2013 while we were on vacation spending a couple of days in Denver with friends. My friend Christine and I received hand treatments with a few of the products and that was the moment I fell in love. But again I didn’t buy anything.  I left with a catalog; I then created my wishlist.

When we got back home to Utah by the end of the week I went back yet again and finally made my first purchase. I’ve been back many times since then.  It’s that good.

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

Nykki had mentioned that she used Curly Wurly Shampoo ($25.95/7.7 oz) and had also tried the Retread Conditioner ($29.95/8.8 oz.), but didn’t like the smell.  These weren’t purchased on my initial trip.  I actually got samples of each of these with my other purchases.  I used the samples, loved them, and went back a few weeks later to get these.  I quite like the smell.  It’s hard to explain, but they have a really natural/subtle smell.  Almost earthy. 

“Curly Wurly shampoo keeps unruly and out-of-control curls soft, shiny, and bouncy.  How does it do it? It’s packed full of creamed coconut and coconut oil to moisturize dry, frizzy hair, and protein-rich fresh eggs, mashed avocado butter to hydrate, add shine and eliminate frizz.”  My favorite part about it are the coconut shreds in it! I love that it’s made with natural ingredients AND safe synthetics.

“Retread gives sad hair its shine and bounce back.  Use it when your hair is feeling absolutely wrecked. This conditioner makes your hair look better, but more importantly, it moisturizes and feeds your hair the nutrients it needs.” Like Curly Wurly, it’s also made with natural ingredients as well as safe synthetics.   

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

 This was my first LUSH purchase.  Ocean Salt ($35.95/8.8 oz.) along with Coco Lotion ($22.95/7.9 oz.) which is not pictured.  After my hand treatment, they were each must haves.  It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to it would probably be Ocean Salt.  I wish you could smell it.  It smells fantastic.  I typically use it 2-3 times a week.  I’m currently on my 3rd pot of it. I absolutely love it.  “Washing with Ocean Salt is like taking your face on a trip to the seaside for an invigorating splash in the water.”  I love, love, LOVE it.  I use a popsicle stick and put about 2’ish teaspoons on.  First I wet my face, then apply, and gently rub it all over.  After a few minutes I rinse it off with warm water and pat my face dry.  It feels amazing I’m telling you.  I follow it up with coconut oil usually to add moisture back in to my skin.

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

This was also one of my first purchases. If you like lemon, you will love this.  It smells wonderful.  Lemony Flutter ($16.95/1.5 oz.) is a cuticle butter for dry, cracked cuticles.  You can even use it on other rough body parts (feet, elbows, knees).  I’ve got my regular sized pot of this that I keep at home, then I’ve got a travel size that I keep at work. It’s usually when I’m sitting at my desk that I realize that my cuticles need some love!

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

 The Buffy ($11.95/3.3 oz) bar is a chunk of body butter essentially that makes you “softer and smoother to the touch”.  It’s got ground rice, almonds, and beans which is an exfoliate.  I’ve got really dry skin on my legs and since I’ve been using this I’ve noticed a difference and much softer/moister skin.  The best part is once you rinse it off in the shower, you don’t even need to put on lotion after.  I bought the Body Butter Tin ($3.95) to avoid the Buffy melting away.  I’m gad I did! The Buffy comes in 2 sizes.  Highly recommend this!

How To Detoxify Your Home // Tried and Tasty

Ultrabland ($16.95) is a makeup remover. You rub it on your eye-lids and face and remove with a hot washcloth. It’s another one of my favorite products (can you tell I have a lot of favorites). I was using a remover by Clinique, but since discovering LUSH I’ve gotten rid of all of my traditional facial cleaners, moisturizers, and makeup removers and only use all-natural. Feels good knowing I’m not adding extra unnecessary toxins.

I absolutely LOVE my LUSH products. I love that they are safe. They are all-natural (including safe synthetics).  The packaging is awesome.  The smells are divine. They feel great on. Yes, it’s a little pricey. But here’s how I look at it: you get what you pay for. I trust the products. I believe in the products. For nearly everything they sell, a little goes a long way. I’d rather pay a little more upfront for a better quality item than spending less money for cheaper quality products that you will end up having to buy more of anyway.

So. There you have it.  We almost have an entirely chemical free home. There are a couple of items we’re still looking in to getting rid of (such as candles and things) but I’d say we’re 90% toxin-free and it feels great. Especially having made the switch before starting our family. Hope you find it helpful or useful. I’m certainly glad we made the change!

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