My Chemical-Free House
A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home
The most waterproof flooring options are either plastic or a mix of plastic and an organic material. There is one plastic-free option on the list as well. The other thing to consider is the seams, to be waterproof means water doesn’t make it through the seams nor damage the product when it gets in between. …
What is Prop 65 Proposition 65 is a warning label for Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Any product that is sold in California will have this label even at retailers outside of California. The list contains naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals. It is updated yearly and …
The following paints are the best non-toxic options for painting cribs and other nursery furniture. With cribs, the paint needs to be safe to be chewed on since babies can chew on crib parts. So for this area, we need a Certified Toy Safe paint that has gone through ingestion simulation tests. We also want …
Melamine plastic, also called laminate when it’s laminated onto particleboard furniture, is one of the trickiest surfaces to paint over. There are three non-toxic options for paints that can stick to this Melamine/laminate furniture and cabinets. All three will also work on many other factory finishes like UV-cured paints. No-Primer Method If you want to paint …
If you’re trying to remove fragranced laundry products or perfume residue from clothing this article is going to go over all the methods you can use. These methods can also be used to remove new chemical residues on clothing such as “sizing” chemicals. Some clothes are easier to deodorize than others. It depends on the …
If you’re extremely sensitive and struggling with the chemical residues (including light fragrance cross-contamination, sizing chemicals, formaldehyde, chemicals from the dyes, etc) that come on new clothing here are three protocols designed by the most extremely chemically sensitive. Those who are not very sensitive can use these protocols by adjusting them (as I will note). …
These metal SIPS panel homes by Artspan come in various sizes from this tiny Ice Shack, like the one pictured, that I am going to outline in great detail, to a full-size house. In this case, a client-friend, Shannon, used the Ice Shack kit as a safe haven for environmental sensitivities. Her house also has …
Usually what we don’t find in the studies is what the timeframe is for a material to be completely offgassed. (Seems strange not to study that, but it’s true). Also, offgassing times vary a lot by the conditions: temperature, humidity, and airflow mainly. Inside the cabinets, for example, there is almost no air flow so …
This article is a guide to non-toxic sleeping gear for camping, including sleeping bags, liners, blankets, pillows, and mats. I spent 2 years camping so I have tried many of the options in this article. The aspects to consider are: Part 1 of this series looks at non-toxic tents. Non-Toxic Sleeping Bags 1. Nemo Nemo makes …
GreenGuard Gold certification is the most useful of all the healthy product certifications out there for certifying products low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). GreenGuard has two levels of certification that measure VOC levels in products. For reference, the average house has a total VOC count of mean = 150 μg/m3 and median = 91 μg/m3, …
Paint thinner usually refers to turpentine, mineral spirits/white spirits, or a mix of solvents that can include: methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, xylene, naphtha, glycol ethers, dimethylformamide, ethylbenzene, n-butyl acetate, and butanol. The alternatives, or substitutes, include non-toxic alternatives, less toxic alternatives, as well as simply household alternatives that you might have around the house – …
There are a number of all-natural finishes for wood and some are durable enough for floors, outdoor furniture, and decks. Others are not waterproof and are for indoor wood projects only. Some are food-safe and toy-safe for countertops and children’s toys. Natural finishes don’t look usually like your typical polyurethane coatings. Oils darken wood but …
Linseed, tung, refined hemp, soy, and poppy seed oil, are all-natural oils that on their own can be used to seal and protect hardwood floors (both solid wood and unfinished engineered wood). They are usually called “penetrating oils” on sales pages, but the technical term for these oils is “drying oils”. Drying oils polymerize in the …
What is Uranium Glass? Uranium glass is the older and more general term for green or yellow-colored glass that was colored with Uranium. Vaseline glass is a term that overlaps with Uranium glass, but this refers only to the transparent yellow Uranium glass. Canary glass is an even older name for Vaseline glass (source). Depression …
One of the most critical steps in winterizing your RV is using antifreeze to protect your RV’s plumbing system. Traditional antifreeze contains ethylene glycol, which is highly toxic to humans and animals. Fortunately, there are non-toxic RV antifreeze options available that are safe for your family, pets, and the environment. The following products also work …
This post starts with truly natural floors for the purists out there and goes over all additives, if there are any. A few flooring types are 100% natural with no synthetic chemicals whatsoever. But if you just want the base material to be natural to get that natural look and feel underfoot, there are options …
This article focuses on food-contact-safe sealers/clear coatings that can be used on residential household items like tabletops, serving trays (or boards), highchairs, countertops, and decorative bowls, with one product that can be used on plates and mugs (ceramics). FDA approved? For these applications, we won’t find sealers that are officially FDA-tested for food contact safety (apart from …
The focus here is on non-toxic paints and primers that stick to plastic. For most paints, we need a special primer to stick to plastic and then we can use a variety of paints over it. There are also two brush-on paints, and one spray paint that can go directly over plastic with no primer, …
A lot of essential oils are effective fungicides. It’s no surprise since the plants need to protect themselves from fungi all around them. You could mix up the oils yourself, but having a calculated mix of oils in a blend can help kill a wider variety of molds. You can mix the oil blends into …
What is Prop 65 Proposition 65 is a warning label for Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Any product that is sold in California will have this label even at retailers outside of California. The list contains naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals. It is updated yearly …
This post covers non-toxic waterproof paint for all applications. Most people use the term waterproof to refer to paints that will protect the substrate (like protect wood from rotting) and hold up to outdoor weather. However, if you need waterproof paint that can be submerged you need to look for that quality specifically. This article …
This post lists and compares the 7 best air purifiers to reduce volatile organic compounds VOCs (off-gassing from new building materials). I also focus on which units have the highest amount of sorbent material, the least amount of offgassing, and are best for the chemically sensitive. I have a separate post for air purifiers that …
Those avoiding chemicals may want to avoid area rugs with synthetic latex backing, glues, synthetic moth treatment which is a pesticide (usually permethrin), and other topical treatments such as stain guard treatments which are often per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS). For those very sensitive to chemicals, you may even want to avoid rugs treated with …
Air purifiers with activated carbon are the best option for dealing with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), gasses, and odors in a home. You generally need a lot of carbon (and other sorbent material) to make a significant dent in the problem. This list of air purifiers looks at those with the highest amount of sorbent …
