If you want to create a safe and non-toxic environment for your family, then one of the first, and arguably easiest, places you can start are the cleaning products you use in your home. Traditional cleaning products are filled with nasty endocrine disrupting chemicals that can cause a whole host of issues for your family. In this post, I have put together my non-toxic cleaning guide to help you make the switch and get rid of those chemicals, bringing you one step closer to a non-toxic, natural, holistic home for your family.

Why You Should Switch Your Cleaning Products

First and foremost, you should know that manufactures of cleaning products are not required to disclose the full list of ingredients. And what is worse, many of these companies will “greenwash” their products, using trendy and eco-friendly branding to make you think their products are safe. If you are just now starting your toxic home clean-out, the first products you should get rid of are dryer sheets, all fragranced products, hand sanitizers, and fabric softeners, as these are the most common offenders with toxic ingredients.

Below is a list of the most toxic ingredients in your standard household cleaners. If you read my post, Let’s Talk: Non-Toxic Diapers, you’ll recognize some of the common toxic ingredients below:

• Phthalates: Commonly found in fragrances, air fresheners, dish soaps, and numerous other products throughout your home. Low exposure to these endocrine disruptors can lead to skin, throat, and respiratory irritation. Long-term and moderate to high exposure can lead to liver, kidney, and nervous system damage. Exposure can even result in reproductive system damage, including low sperm count in men and hypospadias (a male birth defect).¹
• Sulphates: The two most common sulphates to avoid in cleaning products are SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate). Produced from petroleum, they are often found in toothpaste, shampoos, and body soaps to help create a lather. They can cause skin, eye, lung, and mouth irritation. And while not all sulphates are dangerous, they can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which is linked to cancer in some lab animals.²
• Triclosan: This is most often found in anti-bacterial cleaning products and is known to be an endocrine disruptor. Exposure in infancy to Triclosan may lead to an increased risk of developing allergies, eczema, and asthma. ³
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS): A chemical that kills bacteria, germs, and mold. It is most often used in cleaning products in hospitals, restaurants, daycare centers, and homes. Exposure to Quats can lead to dermatitis, is linked to respiratory issues like asthma, and may cause reproductive harm. There is even concern that overuse of Quats may lead to antibacterial-resistant bacteria.
• Butoxyethonal: A common ingredient in several types of cleaning solutions such as dish soap, dry cleaning solutions, glass cleaners, degreasers, and all-purpose cleaners. There is strong evidence that inhalation of this chemicals can lead to liver damage, asthma, allergies, low birth weights, and a reduction in fertility.
• Chlorine: This chemical is extremely harmful to humans. Household cleaning products that use chlorine compounds release chlorine gas, which can irritate the lungs and can be very dangerous to those with asthma or emphysema. Chlorine is officially listed as a hazardous air pollutant and can cause damage to skin and eyes. Items that are bleached using chlorine, like napkins, paper towels or toilet paper, can mix with dioxins and transfer to anyone that they come into contact with. These can then cause damage to the immune system and to the development of the nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems. Chlorine has also been classified as a known human carcinogen.
• Sodium Hydroxide: Sometimes called caustic soda or lye, sodium hydroxide is extremely corrosive to human tissue. It is most often used in industrial cleaning, drain, and oven cleaners. If you aren’t careful, sodium hydroxide can cause severe burns, and the fumes from the chemical can irritate the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and respiratory tract.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): VOCs are air pollutants that are especially common in aerosol sprays, air fresheners, dry-cleaned clothes, disinfectants, and cleansers. Health affects associated with excess exposure to VOCs include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, nausea, and damage to liver, kidney, and the central nervous system. Additionally, some of these compounds may cause cancer in animals and humans.⁴

With all of the health risks, it’s easy to see why it’s so important to remove these chemicals from your home. And what’s even scarier is that for some people who are especially sensitive to these chemicals, they may be causing a health decline without even using them. The founder of Branch Basics has an incredible story in which she shares how having traditional cleaners in her home was causing some major health issues for her family. Go check out her interview on The Radical Health Podcast to hear the whole story.

The Ladenbod Non-Toxic Cleaning Guide

All Purpose

Branch Basics Concentrate: My favorite multi-purpose cleaning solution. I have been using Branch Basics for about 5 years and I use it for all of my multi-surface cleaning. It is a plant-and-mineral-based single concentrate that can dilute to different strengths for different uses. Branch Basics is MADE SAFE Certified. They have an A rating with EWG, and they even discuss their non-negotiables in their products here. What I love most about this product is that I don’t feel like I am inhaling chemicals every time I use it. It’s even safe for my kids! In the past when I would clean with the standard household cleaners, I had to hold my breath; I absolutely hated using them. You can purchase Branch Basics on their website at the link above. (The link will get you $10 off your first purchase).

The Hate Stains Co. Emergency Stain Remover Spray: This spray has been a life saver. Especially when you have cream-colored ottomans in your living room and three small people wandering around. I have used this several times and it works like magic. The spray has an A rating from the EWG and their Stain Rescue Wipes are EWG Verified. Find their products on Amazon, linked above.

Vinegar and Baking Soda: If you want to make your own all purpose cleaners for your home, you cannot go wrong with vinegar and baking soda. Just take a quick look around Google and you will find plenty of how-to’s on creating your own natural cleaning products from scratch.

Bathroom

Branch Basics Cleaner: The Branch Basics concentrate can be diluted down to an all-purpose cleaner and a toilet bowl/tile cleaner. I use both when cleaning my bathroom and have found that they work great.

Blueland Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets: As I’m sure many people can relate, I have never been a fan of cleaning toilets, and the strong chemical odor of traditional cleaning products certainly doesn’t help! But, after switching to these toilet bowl tablets, cleaning toilets is a breeze. These tablets are the Safer Choice U.S. EPA Partner of the Year 2023, use plant-and-mineral-based ingredients and are free of all parabens, VOCs, ammonia, chlorine, bleach, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/PVOH), methylisothiazolinone, benzisothiazolinone, octylisothiazolinone, and quaternary amine.⁵ And as a bonus, their products are all plastic-free! You can purchase Blueland products from their website, Amazon Prime, or find them in a store near you.

Kitchen

Charcoal Degreaser Soap from Haselmayer Goods: I love these soap bars and I have used both the regular dish soap bars and the charcoal degreaser bars. They both work great for handling tough-to-get-off messes and I love knowing that they each only have three or four ingredients. I don’t know about you, but when I do a lot of dishes my hands often become cracked and dry. With these bars, I have noticed my hands never get like that, even if I feel like I am doing dishes all day long. You can find them at Haselmayer Goods, linked above.

Blueland Dishwasher Tablets: Another great option from Blueland is their plastic-free dishwasher tablets. I have found these work great and I love that there is no plastic casing to overheat and leech in the hot water of the dishwasher. Their dishwasher tablets are EWG Verified and free of parabens, VOCs, ammonia, phthalates, chlorine, bleach, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/PVOH), methylisothiazolinone, benzisothiazolinone, octylisothiazolinone, and quaternary amine. You can purchase Blueland products from their website, Amazon Prime, or find them in a store near you.

Laundry

Branch Basics Laundry Detergent: I use the Branch Basics concentrate for our primary laundry detergent. It works great and always leaves our clothes fresh and ready for another wear.

Branch Basics Oxygen Boost: EWG Verified. I primarily use this as an extra boost in our laundry or as a stain remover when combined with the Branch Basics All Purpose spray. It has also been an excellent addition to my shower cleaning routine.

Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Remover: I switched from Shout to this product and it has worked great for getting all types of food stains out of my kids’ clothes. The spray stain remover has an A rating with the EWG, and the stain remover wipes are EWG Verified.

Wool Dryer Balls: Swap the chemical-filled and hormone-disrupting dryer sheets for wool dryer balls. If you need help removing static from your clothes, these work great. To add a nice scent to your clothes like your favorite dryer sheets, add a drop of essential oil to the dryer balls.

Air Purification

AirDoctor 3500: We purchased our first AirDoctor about 6 months ago and we use it daily. It has been great during allergy season and has made a massive improvement our home’s air quality overall. The AirDoctor 3500 has a carbon filter and an HPEA filter that works to remove mold, pollen, pet dander, VOCs, smoke, viruses, bacteria, and other allergens from the air in your home.

House Plants: There are a number of indoor house plants that can help to purify the air. Below is a list of the most common plants for home air purification.

• Spider Plant
• Snake Plant
• Aloe Vera
• Peace Lily
• Boston Fern
• English Ivy
• Rubber Plant
• Bamboo Palm
• Areca Palm
• Philodendron
• Money Plant
• Flamingo Lily
• Dragon Tree
• Gerbera Daisy

Looking for More?

If you are looking for additional cleaning solutions, go check out EWG’s non-toxic cleaning guide. There you can find other EWG verified products for every cleaning need in your home. And if you are on the go, download the EWG app. With the app, you can check the ingredients of a product in the store simply by scanning the barcode. If it is in the EWG database, it will tell you the rating and what may or may not be cause for concern. The options listed above are in no way exhaustive. They are just the products that I personally use in my home for everyday cleaning. I hope you find this list of non-toxic cleaning swaps helpful in giving you a good place to start, so that you can create a safe and holistic home for your family.