Natural Home Cleaning ft. The Soulful Sprout
Ashleigh Norris, also known as The Soulful Sprout, is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist with a focus on providing guidance on how to decrease toxicity in day-to-day life. This applies to food, the home and even mindset. Read on to learn more about toxins in the home, insight into what to change and Ashleigh’s very own recipe for an all purpose cleaner.
We all know the importance of eliminating toxic and synthetic chemicals in our personal care products such as makeup, skin cleansers and hair care products but one thing that gets overlooked is everything else in our homes, specifically what we use to clean it.
As a cancer survivor and clinical nutritionist with a focus on hormones, I have spent a lot of time researching the effects of toxins in our foods, body care and cleaning products. While the food we eat is absolutely important to supporting our overall health, a healthy home environment is actually more important.
Our homes, from the air we breathe to the products we use to clean, can actually be more toxic to us than our diet. This is a result of a number of factors including household products we use on a daily basis, off-gassing of new home furnishings, mold and other allergens, and how often we open up the doors and windows (challenging in colder seasons). In fact, studies show that indoor air can be up to 5x more polluted than outdoor air!
When I first learned that the everyday products I was using in my home, such as cleaning supplies, air fresheners, plastics, and my pots and pans were full of harmful chemicals, I immediately began searching for safer alternatives. I turned to all natural products (don’t get tricked by some labels) and mostly to making my own.
In Canada, cleaning products, which are even less regulated than cosmetic and personal care products, contain thousands of harmful chemicals and are big contributors to indoor air pollution. In fact, there are 17,000 chemicals used in cleaning supplies and less than 1/3 are tested for safety. These include phthalates, PFCs, sodium laurel sulfate, glycol ethers, and many more harmful ingredients.
Whether you’re washing your clothes or dishes with these products or just cleaning your home, these chemicals enter the bloodstream through our lungs and skin, and often linger in the air for hours, increasing unnecessary exposure. Using these products, especially around young children, increases harmful exposure to these toxic chemicals.
To help you get inspired to lighten the toxic load in your home, I wanted to share with you my all purpose cleaner recipe which can be made scent free and is child and pet friendly. Plus, it takes less than 3 minutes to prepare.
The Soulful Sprout`s All Purpose Cleaner
- A glass spray bottle
- 1 part Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap (unscented)
- 5 parts water
- 10-20 drops essential oils of choice (if desired)
Combine all ingredients in spray bottle.
Shake before using, then spray on surface and wipe clean with a soft cloth.
Store away from heat and sunlight. Essential oils oxidize when exposed to heat and sunlight - it’s best to keep them in dark glass bottles or a dark cabinet.
If you are interested in making your own toxin free home cleaners you can grab a copy of my complete guide with recipes here.
For more information about Ashleigh Norris, education about toxin free living, and personal nutrition services, check out The Soulful Sprout.
ASHLEIGH NORRIS | Ashleigh is an Honours Graduate of The Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto and owner of The Soulful Sprout Holistic Nutrition. In her multifaceted clinic she facilitates clients and community to connect with the healing powers of food and plant based medicines. Her holistic approach to healing autoimmunity and hormonal imbalances has her working with a combination of functional testing, herbal medicine along with mindfulness and energy medicine in an effort to address imbalances and establish a foundation of health and vibrancy. Ashleigh is also a Reiki Master. You can often find her barefoot gardening, foraging or at the local farmers market soaking up all the season has to offer.
