Issue 3: Toxic-Free Kitchen
Detoxing the cabinet under your sink. DIY cleaner recipes and product suggestions.
Now that we've established the basics and shown that a clean home is better than a fully sanitized home, we're going to tackle the kitchen. My kitchen is one of the cleanest places in my home. I prepare food for my family here after all. And I love to cook. Food and nutrition is my other passion, so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. When I purchase food, I buy high quality food and I read labels closely. I buy from local farmers. And I am picky about what ingredients I use when cooking. But, this substack isn't about food. We're going to talk about cleaning products in the kitchen. After all that hard work of sourcing, buying, and preparing clean food, you don't want to undo it by cross contaminating it with toxic cleaning products.
Under the Sink:
By now you've learned that I'm not a fan of conventional cleaning products. Even products like Mrs. Meyers use green-washing to fool us into thinking they're "clean" products. While better than most, their basic counter top spray contains both skin irritating preservatives methylisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone. On the ingredients listed on their Amazon page, they don't say anything about fragrance, but the bottle clearly states, "contains fragrance allergens."
Let's get into a harsher cleaning product. Windex, Multi-surface Disinfectant Cleaner touts that it kills 99.9% of germs, but does not show its full ingredients list on the bottle. Windex does have some transparency on their website, but only after some digging. Regardless, on the bottle the label does state that this product is hazardous to humans and domestic animals. I don't want this anywhere near my family, my kitchen, or my food.
So, let's look at some better options, since ultimately that's what you're looking for here. I'll take you through your kitchen by area and provide some options for what to do and use to get a clean and safe kitchen.
Toxic-Free Alternatives:
Like I said earlier, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. When I was young, my mom taught me to clean as I went. This piece of advice is the first I'll give you. Clean as you go. Keep it tidy. That way, the actual cleaning doesn't take too long each day and you may only have to do a major cleaning once every few months or so. Toxic-free cleaning takes a little more work than chemical cleaning but it's worth it.
The Oven:
Option 1:
Steam it with a cup of vinegar and a cup of hot water in an oven proof dish. Turn on the oven until the mixture starts to boil. Turn off the oven and wait 1 hour or so. You want the oven to be warm, cold ovens are hard to clean.
Remove and wash oven racks separately.
Fill a bucket with hot water. Wipe the walls of your oven with a rag dipped in the hot water. Cover the surfaces with baking soda (or bi-carb if outside the U.S.). On a second rag, poor white vinegar and wipe the coated walls and oven floor clean. Repeat as needed.
When all grease is removed, wipe the inside with a clean, wet rag and dry thoroughly.
Replace racks and wipe the front of the oven with plain white vinegar.
Option 2:
Use the self-cleaning setting without any products. Wait until the oven is warm, then wipe the ash clean with a wet rag.
The Refrigerator:
After you dispose of expired food, remove the shelves and drawers. Clean shelves, drawers, and the inside of the fridge with warm, soapy water. Dry with a clean cloth. When dry, spray the interior of the fridge with white vinegar and dry again. Reassemble drawers and shelves, and put the food back. Clean the seals with a toothbrush dipped in all-purpose cleaner (recipe below).
The Dishwasher:
Remove the filter and clean once a month. Wash it with a scrub brush and soap. Clean the seals with a soapy washcloth. Wipe down the inside and make sure nothing is clogging the spinning arms. Replace the filter and spray the interior with white vinegar. Run a short cycle to rinse.
Appliances and Cupboards:
For both of these areas, you can use an all-purpose scrub (recipe below). It does a good job and wipes away easily. Apply the scrub to the appliance or cupboard needing cleaning, rub with a clean wet cloth. When clean, wipe with a clean rag and dry.
Kitchen Shelves:
Warm soapy water works great for these. Dry thoroughly after washing.
Stainless Steel:
All of our kitchen appliances are stainless. I use my window cleaner (recipe below) and a soft, dry cloth on these.
The Stove:
Remove knobs and any parts you can. Wash with warm soapy water and dry them. I like to use my all-purpose scrub for the tough spots. I clean my stove everyday since it's one of my most dreaded kitchen chores. This keeps it easy. I use an all-purpose cleaning spray that I make from Young Living ingredients. Straight up, this is an MLM company that my sister is part of. They're all about clean products and essential oils. I don't believe in MLMs but I like this company's products so I use them. I'll link a good spray (from another company) and a DIY in the recipes section.
Countertops:
Spray daily, and as needed, with an all-purpose cleaning spray and wipe dry. I've never sanitized my counters and we've never gotten food poisoning. Keep them clean, it's enough.
Kitchen Sink:
Personally, I scrub my sink nightly after I finish the dishes. I use a scrub brush and dish soap, then rinse clean. If I need a good scrub, I use the all-purpose scrub and grind up a piece of lemon in my garbage disposal. Drop some ice in to sharpen the blades as well, in case you didn't know.
The Floor:
I use a steam mop on my floors. It cleans them well and the steam does actually sanitize them. We don't wear shoes in the house, so my floors usually aren't too dirty.
What You’ll Need:
All of the cleaning products you need for cleaning your kitchen, and your home in general, don't need to be elaborate or expensive. It takes some elbow grease, but the trade-off is more than worth it. You'll need some tools to start, but they're easy to come by. Purchase or use what you already have. You'll need spray bottles (glass preferred) a mop or steam mop, wash cloths, towels, and some basic ingredients.
DIY Recipes:
All-purpose cleaner:
1/2 cup washing soda
8 cups (2 litres) warm water
Mix together and store in a sealed container or spray bottle.
All-purpose scrub:
Baking soda
Dish soap
Water
Vegetable glycerin (optional)
Mix a little dish soap with the baking soda to make a paste. If too thick or not mixing well, add a tiny bit of water.
There are no measurements here because the consistency depends on the soap you use and the amount depends on how much you need for the job.
Use right away or add 1 tsp vegetable glycerin to preserve it for about a month.
Store in a sealed glass container.
Window cleaner (also used for stainless surfaces):
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 tbsp white vinegar
Water
Pour the rubbing alcohol and the white vinegar into a 16oz bottle. Fill the rest up with tap water.
Toxic-Free Kitchen Everyday Essentials:
It took me a lonnnnnng time to find a dishwasher detergent that I felt safe using but that also worked well. And it took me longer than that to accept using a rinse-aid for my dishwasher. I could hand-wash my dishes, and I have, but that takes a long time and I value spending that time with my family instead of washing dishes.
Dishwasher Detergents:
I want you to think about eating off of dishes coated in the following ingredients:
Sodium Hypochlorite: presents concern for aquatic toxicity and respiratory effects.
Chlorine: respiratory effects, systemic/organ effects, skin irritation/allergies/damage, and vision damage.
Chloroform: endocrine disruptor, developmental/reproductive effects, cancer, systemic/organ effects, skin irritation/allergies/damage, vision damage, nervous system and digestive system effects.
Carbon Tetrachloride: systemic/organ effects and cancer.
1,1-Dichloroethylene: kidney and urinary effects, systemic/organ effects and cancer.
Zinc Carbonate: aquatic toxicity, endocrine disruptor, and systemic/organ effects.
Colors: governmental enforceable restrictions, systemic/organ effects, developmental/reproductive effects, and endocrine disruptor.
Stabilizer: developmental/reproductive effects, endocrine disruptor, skin irritation/allergies/damage, and respiratory effects.
These are only the harshest ingredients in Cascade Dishwasher Detergent Gel. It's not even a complete list of the ingredients, just the worst of them.
Rinse-Aids:
Jet Dry Finish Rinse-Aid is loaded with some of the same chemicals as Cascade Dishwasher Detergents. With the added concerns of DNA damage from Acrylamide, Aniline, and Cadmium, circulatory system effects from Arsenic, and blood related effects from Lead, rinse-aids might be worse than the detergents themselves! Luckily for us, there are better alternatives.
Dish Soap:
I talked about dish soap in issue 1, if you'd like to refer back to it. I'll suggest some better dish soap for you below.
Product Suggestions:
Nothing is going to be as clean as making your own products. But here are some good alternatives if you don't want to.
These are affiliate links, so even though it doesn't change your cost, it does provide me with a commission if you purchase.
All-purpose spray: Ecos All-Purpose Cleaner, Orange https://amzn.to/2XmOrKT
Shark Steam Mop: https://amzn.to/3z61nSb
Dish Soap: Either Dr. Bronner's in whichever scent you like or their specific biodegradable cleaner called Sal Suds. It works great and is really concentrated. https://amzn.to/3k8SXW2
Also get some good scrub brushes.
Dishwasher Detergent: we are currently using Puracy and it works well. https://amzn.to/3EerKJr
Seventh Generation also makes one that works well, but I think Puracy works better. Here's the link for Seventh Generation https://amzn.to/3A8LQ5H
Ecover Rinse-Aid: my favorite so far, but like I said, I just started using rinse-aids https://amzn.to/3C841
Thanks for reading! See you next week where I'll teach you how to detox your bathroom cleaning products!
-Angel