My Chemical-Free House
A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home
There are many choices for non-toxic flooring suitable for the chemically sensitive or health-conscious homeowner. The absolute best options are real hardwood, polished concrete, and tile. However, specific brands of natural linoleum, carpet, and engineered wood are excellent choices as well. I will look at a few options that are still non-toxic, but not quite …
Updated in 2026 This post looks at space heaters, emergency heat options, and regular home heating systems for the chemically and mold-sensitive. Generally, space heaters with fans are the most difficult type for the chemically sensitive.
This post covers less toxic options for all kitchen appliances including fridges, trash compactors, dishwashers, ovens, stoves, and washing machines. I also take a look at less toxic sinks and air conditioners. The focus is on people with chemical sensitivities but non-sensitive people can benefit from our experience.
Summary: When looking for a zero-VOC, healthy engineered wood floor, the most important part is the construction type. PFAS? I would also make sure that the finish is free of PFAS, especially if the finish is not the type that contains aluminum oxide (I see no evidence that the aluminum oxide infused finish has contained …
1. MagTech Ultra This brand does claim to source raw materials and make the panels in the US. They say it’s zero VOC but it does not look like it has been tested. Under LEED it’s exempt from testing since it’s in the “Inherently Non-Emitting” category.
Non-toxic grout, mortar, thin set, membranes and grout sealer.
If you want an all-natural non-toxic floor finish there are a few options: Natural finishes don’t look like your typical polyurethane coating. Oils darken wood but produce a matte look. The waxes add some more sheen. Shellac is naturally quite shiny. The soap finish will give you the most invisible look. Milk Paint can look …
Technically, a mineral paint is a paint made with potassium silicate as the main binder. These are also called silicate paints. Any paint with a polymer binder that polymerizes is not technically a mineral paint. Some companies are producing paints that they call mineral paints that are simply regular paints with mineral content. A paint …
The article lists out all the areas where you can and should save money on new construction. There are many ways in which you can save money on a new build without compromising quality. Some of this needs to be planned out from the start of the land purchase, some will come in later in …
This post covers eco-friendly paints that adhere well to concrete and other masonry like brick. There are totally natural options and synthetic options as well as those in between. I will start with the floors, both breathable and non-breathable options, and then look at walls. There are more paint options for concrete walls, since many …
This post started out with my journey to find the best mattress that suited my own extreme sensitivities. While I landed on wool for myself, there are so many more options now. Still, there is no perfect option for the chemically sensitive. We will look at my top picks for the best healthy spring mattresses …
The type of non-toxic paint you will choose for wood depends on how durable you need it to be, how safe you need it to be (is it going in a child’s mouth for example), what kind of wood it is, and what kind of paint or stain is on it already. Some of the …
What is in Self-Leveling Cement Self-leveling cement is a poured-down cement product that produces a relatively shallow level of cement that can be installed over a slab to level it out. It can also be referred to as a cement underlayment. It’s often used as the underlayment to another floor like tile or a click-together …
This post is a comprehensive review of healthy, non-offgassing countertop options. We have to look at the materials themselves as well as the sealers if they require one. Almost all the countertop options here can also be used as non-toxic vanity tops in a bathroom. Many options are GreenGuard Gold, but most of the options …
Thermafoil, Melamine, and Laminate are all plastics used to cover substrates on kitchen and bathroom cabinets to create a hard, water-resistant finish. The substrates of cabinets doors and drawer fronts include particleboard and MDF. The boxes are plywood or particleboard. This post explains the material composition of these plastic covering options – what they are …
The following eco-friendly paints are made for the exterior of the home. They are more durable than interior paints. Exterior paints are always more potent in odor than interior paints – these are the top no-VOC and low-VOC options. Exterior paints are used on wood, cement, and vinyl siding, and concrete porches and decks.
This is a collection of pillows, sheets, and blankets that are well-liked by the chemically sensitive. The list was gathered over the last decade of being in community with chemically sensitive folks as well as being chemically sensitive myself and trying out some of the options.
These are non-toxic mattress covers to seal in flame retardants, dust mites, pesticides, scents, or mold spores. These options are vetted by the chemically sensitive and mold-sensitive. As for blocking gases, foil is better than plastic, as plastic will eventually absorb the VOCs/scents, and so they will come through to the other side. However, plastic can …
This post covers bed frame options for the chemically sensitive. Metal and metal finishes, solid wood and laminated wood.
Laminate flooring is a click-together wood-look plank floor made of a fiberboard base and a melamine top layer with a printed image. My top picks: My top pick for the most non-toxic laminate flooring is Mohawk. Their lines are formaldehyde-free and ultra-low-VOC. After that I would consider other no-added formaldehyde brands, however we don’t know …
Why Would you Want a Breathable Paint? Some wall assemblies call for “breathable” or vapor-open walls. In Passive House design high permeability of interior wall coverings is often specified to ensure that the system can dry to the interior. In some assemblies the opposite is called for, a vapor retarder paint (a less breathable than …
What Gives Wood its Odor? The majority of the identified odorants in wood from one study were 1) fatty acid degradation products 2) terpenoic substances and 3) odorous substances resulting from the degradation of lignin. (Source) 1. Fatty acid degradation products (69% of the odor of wood!) These include alkenals, ketones, alkylic acids and intramolecular …
This post is my overview post on non-toxic sealers.
