detoxing the laundry room















With all the detoxing I've been doing around the house, I thought I'd share some photos of our laundry room.  It's a pretty tiny room that has a stackable washer and dryer, a sink and toilet. It is where we keep extra towels, sheets, light bulbs and house tools.  But things have a way of getting clutterd so I cleared everything off the shelves, washed them and did some touch up painting.  I washed the old ticking stripe curtains that used to cover the bottom shelves.  They shrunk 5 inches so I just cut a white sheet in half and stitched up the hem and created new curtains.  I  put my
Sal Suds and vinegar on an old ironstone platter.  I also brought a little glamour to the room and filled a  silver bowl with my clothespins and added a print from the office, spray painted an old beat up basket navy blue and added a blue and white ginger jar.   So far I really love the Sal Suds for laundry (I use about a tablespoon per load)  and the vinegar helps with softness.  Actually I'm loving all Dr. Bronner's products.  How's your detoxing going?

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detoxing my home






Is it just me or have you noticed that everyone seems to be sick or has cancer?  I work with a 32 year old mother that just underwent a double mastectomy, this is not normal.  We hear about kids with cancer all the time too.  And how horrifying is this...

Common wheat harvest protocol in the United States is to drench the wheat fields with Roundup several days before the combine harvesters work through the fields as the practice allows for an earlier, easier and bigger harvest 






So maybe we aren't all gluten intolerant, maybe we are poison intolerant (read the whole article here.)  I just don't even know where to start anymore.  About a month ago I did get started on cleaning out all the toxic products from my home, and let me tell you it is an overwhelming task.  I've somewhat done this before but recently with all the cancer around me and a new grandaughter I became obsessed to get it right this time.  So this is what I've done...

I decided that nothing was off limits.  I'm sick and tired of reading labels that say "all natural" and find out they are not.  If it wasn't for the Environmental Working Group - Skin deep and Environmental Working Group - Cleaning Products, we'd all be lost.  The cross referencing of ingredients would take a lifetime.  I had to keep 4 windows open on my computer to cross check everything and that's with the EWG's website.  And then locating the safe products to purchase was proving difficult so I just narrowed it down to a few.  If you want to dig deeper be my guest but good luck.

We've been led to believe that unless our laundry smells like fake roses then it's not clean.  What they don't tell us is that those chemicals have fixatives and extenders in them and so when we lay down in our beds at night and take a deep breath of that "clean" smell what we are really breathing are chemicals that are not healthy for us.  When we put on that freshly laundered shirt those chemicals rub off on our skin.  And don't get me started on hair dye, because that shit is crazy.  We put it on our scalp (so close to our brain!) and let it sit there. How insane is that?

So here is my new list.  Thankfully it is quite simple and very effective.  But you have to be ready to change your thinking from what we've been taught, namely that heavy scent means clean.  I can assure you it almost always means it is unsafe.   Almost everything I use now is from Dr. Bronner's. I will list the things I'm using but I highly recommend you pop over and see for yourself how amazing the company and products are.  I can only attest to the products I've been using, they are working wonderfully and the scents are truly light and natural and 100% safe.  

In the Kitchen...

This is my dish soap and everyday cleaner.  I fill a 24 oz bottle with water and then pour a 1/4 cup of Sal Suds in and shake.  It's an amazing cleaner. I mix it with a little baking soda and it scrubs the sinks and tubs beautifully.  I use this on dishes and all the kitchen surfaces.  One tablespoon of this in the washing machine does a full load in our HE washer.

You can also make a paste of baking soda and vinegar and apply it to your oven walls, wait overnight and rinse.  Sparkling clean without harmful chemicals and you never have to smell Easy Off again.

In the Bath...

This is their most versatile soap they make.  You can scrub your shower with it and then yourself.  It is made with real lavender and lavender oil.  You can use this in place of the Sal Suds but the Sal Suds is more suited to cleaning.  

I've only purchased the Lemongrass Lime scent and it is amazing.  I use this for shampoo and then add the Dr. Bronner's Citrus Organic Hair Rinse.  Both are very concentrated.  You can go HERE and read Lisa Bronner's advice like I did.  My experience is that it doesn't lather up quite like the shampoo's I'm used to but it does a great job.  The hair rinse is pretty vital for someone like me with very thick hair.  It will be a trial and error session to see what works best for you.  But I'm committed and I'm happy with it.

I now have these at all the sinks in the house.  We love the peppermint.  

Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Toothpaste

Tom's of Maine Lavender Deodorant

Pure olive oil or coconut oil for moisturizing



Skincare

This is a really tough area for me because I hate finding out that my favorite products are laden with chemicals that are harmful to me, and because I'm an esthetician it makes it even harder.  Luckily one of the brands that I get to work with now is called Osmosis and it is very safe and very effective. They are not listed with the EWG website but you can read about them HERE  and decide for yourself.  

So that leaves cosmetics and again, luckily, I get to work with Jane Iredale.  She is listed with the EWG and 98% of everything she makes gets the highest of rankings with the EWG.  Her loose powders are the only one with ingredients to avoid.  See her products here and here.

So that's what I've been up to. All the information is overwhelming and confusing but finally getting to the end is so sweet.  I swear my house smells fresher without all the other products.

So please do add your secrets and favorites in the comments.  I'm dying to hear!

xo

PS - This video with Lisa Bronner is fantastic and explains it all.  Watch it HERE



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may



What happened to April?  If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I've had trouble from time to time wondering what to write about.  Well I'm there again and I wonder how I got here.  The start of the year got off ok but then losing Melinda in February really derailed me, like big time.  I post things on INSTAGRAM because it is so easy.  Just take a pretty picture and write a few words, it really doesn't take much thought at all.  Blogging is different, it actually requires thought. So while I continue to ponder this subject, here are some images of the last month.  Please forgive me but it's all I got.





My rose garden has exploded like it always does.  And so has my allergies.  This year has been one of the worst on record for my allergies.  It's such a shame that the roses can only come inside for a quick picture then out on the porch they go.




I picked up these 2 chairs for free from work.  They were doing some redecorating and wanted them gone.  At first I thought I'd use them for a little side project I have going on but they didn't really fit that. We placed them on the porch and are really enjoying them







Since I've been scouring thrift stores and yard sales, I came upon these lovely bargains at the Goodwill.  A few weekends back the Goodwill was celebrating their 100th year anniversary and had a huge sale. On top of the sale everyone got a $10 giftcard. So my total spent was $1.50 for a pair of brand new Cynthia Rowley trellis capris, a Ralph Lauren striped shirt, a vintage I. Magnin spring tweed coat and a brand new J. Crew dress.




I mentioned on Instagram that I now know whether or not I made a good purchase by how quickly and often I actually wear the item. Sometimes things languish in my closet for unknown reasons. Well these capri pants have been worn so often I think everyone around me is sick of them - except me.





I also came across quite a bit of this Calico Corners fabric.  It was such a great buy that I couldn't resist. I have lots of plans for it.  If you'd be interested in any of it let me know in the comments.

So that's about it.  I hope you are all doing well and I hope to find my groove soon. You are the BEST.  xo
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