Wednesday 5th December 2001 - Time to de-tox your home

Our obsession with cleanliness has made our homes dangerous places to live in. But by following a few simple tips and some careful shopping we can start to banish the toxic chemicals contained in so many of today’s cleaning products.

"The average home is really not that dirty, so we can use simple alternatives to harmful commercial products." author Pat Thomas told us.

In her book, Cleaning Yourself To Death, she recommends a mixture of baking soda, liquid soap and vinegar as an alternative all-purpose cleaner to the environmentally-damaging products so many of us use unthinkingly.

The extent and variety of indoor pollutants is alarming. Carpets contain over 200 chemicals including carcinogenic formaldehydes. Plastics and MDF pressed board contain similar cocktails; MDF expands and contracts as temperatures vary and emits gas at room temperature.

Research indicates that one in five people have allergic reactions to con sumer products and that between 10 and 30 per cent of cancers are the result of chemical exposure.

Thomas says that her agenda is not to scare people with the scope of the problem but to empower them to start making changes to improve the quality of their lives. "With this knowledge, you can begin the task of taking better care of yourself and your family. The good news is that, unlike outdoor pollution, you can do something about the chemicals in your home."

And if you don’t do it, no one else will. UK and EEC lawmakers currently have no intention of making it easier for consumers to know what they are actually buying by requiring manufacturers to label their products in plain English. Thomas says that legislation is a lot tougher in her home country, USA. "In Europe," she says, "no-one is really taking responsibility for dealing with this problem, except groups like Friends of the Earth."

To get things really clean, you don’t even need cleaning products. A hand-held steam cleaner, according to Thomas, is very effective. "Germs cannot build up a resistance to heat as they can to chemicals," says Thomas. "Clean is clean, rooms don’t have to smell of fragrances." But when it comes to personal grooming, although she recommends perfumes - and not sprays - made from natural oils, she recognises the pleasure of personal preference. "Use your favourite perfume for special occasions, you don’t need it to go grocery shopping." The less perfume we use, she claims, the more sensitive our senses become. "And the more aware we are of our surroundings, the easier it is for us to start changing them."

Simple tips to start detoxing your home:
1. Open a window rather than use air-freshener. This will energise you in a way that no spray can.
2. Get a really good vacuum cleaner so you don’t need to use carpet cleaner.
3. Takes off your shoes at the front door.
4. Mop up as you go along and don’t let dirt build up.
5. Think about the other forms of pollution, such as electro-magnetic fields emitted in your home. Cut down on gadgets particularly in the bedroom.
6. Take it step by step. Start simply by changing your cleaning products to more environmentally-friendly brands.

Mark Winter