My Chemical-Free House

A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home

Healthy building

Hempcrete for Mold-Safe, Healthy Homes

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Hemp can be used in building homes in many ways but building with hemp is very different than building with conventional construction methods.

Hempcrete can be tamped into board-formed walls, used as premade bricks, sprayed into cavities, or formed into precast panels.

It acts as insulation and as an interior and/or exterior surface, though it is not load-bearing – you still need a wood frame.

This article will review all the ways that hemp can be used to build a healthy home and is an investigation into whether it’s mold-prone.

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Non-Toxic Deck Stains (For Outdoor Furniture Too)

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This article digs into non-toxic and natural options for staining and sealing wood decks as well as most outdoor wood like fences, furniture, windows, doors, play gyms, and planters.

This post covers both water-based sealants and natural oil-based options that are either zero or low-VOC and have been vetted by the chemically sensitive.

Penetrating sealers require that older decks and outdoor wood be sanded all the way down, but the film-forming options can be applied to lightly sanded older wood.

The water-based finishes don’t work over oily dense tropical woods like Ipe, Teak, and Mahogany but the natural oil-based stains and the hybrid work well over these woods.

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Non-Toxic Decking Material Options

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This is a complete guide to non-toxic decking – types, materials, additives, and brands.

For most people, the main choice is between composite decking and solid wood decking. For the chemically sensitive you will have to get samples yourself of the decking materials as well as the stains needed for real wood – as this choice is very individual.

The long-term benefits of not having to do any maintenance on composite decking can outweigh the initial concerns.

There are also some more unusual options to choose from like aluminum decking.

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Non-Toxic Vinyl Plank Flooring Brands (& the Risks)

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Vinyl Plank, Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP), and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) are very low in volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and offgassing (and one brand is even 0-VOC).

Most people find it odorless, but those like me with a high sense of smell can pick up a little bit of offgassing in most brands.

But the bigger concern is about plasticizers (which all brands contain) and small amounts of metals, explained further in the article.

Just about all vinyl plank is phthalate-free now – though phthalates were replaced with alternate plasticizers. The most common plasticizer used now is Dioctyl Terephthalate (DOTP).

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Review of Boxabl Prefabs (Home of Elon Musk)

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Review of Boxabl SIPS Prefab House

The company Boxabl has created a metal SIPs (structurally integrated panel) house that has caught a lot of folks’ attention.

The main reason it has gone so viral is that it promises it all – fast, easy, cheap, resilient, and healthy.

My job as a Building Biologist is to review homes for durability, indoor air quality and resilience to mold.

It may be cheap and fast, but is this home a durable and healthy home?

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Guide to Non-Toxic Caulks, Sealants & Adhesives

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Updated Winter 2022/2023

Testing wood glues, construction adhesives and silicone caulks was the hardest part of building my tiny house since I did this when I was highly sensitive.

But, you’re going to need caulks and adhesives if you are building so it’s a good idea to start testing them out!

You’re going to need them for repairs and renovations too. I would suggest finding out which are non-toxic and which ones work for you before that urgent repair is needed.

I’m not interested in certifications like GreenGuard Gold here. I’m interested in the official VOC level and how fast it is to offgas. In this type of product, a high initial odor/VOC level could offgas faster than one that is lower VOC, and that can be better for the user. For some adhesive types, the one with the lowest VOC level will be the best. I’ll be sure to specify.

This post covers low VOC, low odor, non-toxic options that are suitable for chemically sensitive or health-conscious folks.

Wood glues and white glues are now here.

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Non-Toxic (Low-VOC) Sealants for Marble, Granite, Limestone

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This is a post is about sealants for light-colored marble, light granites, limestone, and other light-colored cool-tone stones. The sealers are intended for food-contact areas like countertops, stone serving boards, and stone bowels, as well as areas like stone tile backsplashes.

My post on all-natural oil-based sealers for stones focuses on walnut oil (and other non-toxic oils) that work best on dark-colored, medium-tone (or beige-toned) stones since they do darken and yellow the stones slightly.

There is no 100% natural sealer for white and light-colored stones. This should be considered early on if it’s a new build for someone chemically sensitive.

Light-colored stones are also much more likely to be porous compared to some darker-colored stones that can be naturally dense enough to not require a sealant in food prep areas.

Manufacturers of natural stone countertops usually recommend a penetrating or impregnating sealant every few years (depending on the type of stone, the use, etc).

These sealants do not fully disclose their ingredients, but I have dug into the literature to see what is likely in them. Most of them use fluoropolymers as the main technology, a type of PFAS. If you are avoiding PFAS (“forever chemicals”), there is one sealant on the market that is zero-VOC and not based on PFAS.

These four sealers are ones I have researched, compared and actually tested myself. They are the safest, lowest offgassing options out there right now.

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Non-Toxic Kitchen Cabinets: Complete List of Types and Brands

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Conventional Cabinets & VOCs

Conventional cabinets can be a significant source of VOCs in the kitchen – with all of the low and mid-range brands using particleboard or MDF at least in their lower-end lines, which offgas formaldehyde.

There are pressed wood products with no added formaldehyde now, and some cabinet makers mentioned in this post are using these. I don’t always think the alternative glues are better.

The move towards CARB II and GreenGuard Gold has greatly improved the formaldehyde levels in the conventional options in recent years.

Regular plywood-based cabinets (as opposed to particleboard or MDF) offgas quite rapidly, while at the same time more companies are offering formaldehyde-free options.

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Guide to Non-Toxic Flooring 2023

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Updated August, 2023

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 as toxin-free, like luxury vinyl plank, laminate, cork, and bamboo.

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Non-Toxic Insulation: A Complete Guide

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Updated in winter 2023

There are so many excellent choices for non-toxic, healthy, green insulation, there should be one to fit everyone’s needs.

Look out for Greenwashing

There are many new options that claim to be “green” “soy-based” or are formaldehyde-free – this does not mean that they are VOC-free or safe. Look very closely at what’s in it. Also, flame retardants and mildewcides are not counted as VOCs.

Green Certified?

On top of that, certifications are not that useful: almost every insulation now qualifies as GreenGuard Gold, which for sensitive folks is not enough information.

The post includes the best of green non-toxic insulation and includes a cost comparison as of 2021.

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