How Natural Cleaning Improved My Health
- Teresa
- May 31
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 14
Why I Trust Natural Products for a Chemical-Free Home
Years ago, I realized that nearly every product in my home—from shampoo to laundry detergent—was filled with synthetic chemicals. As someone with MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity), I thought, why am I using all of these when I react to chemicals?
I used to use baking soda for cleaning sinks, bathrooms, and even for brushing my teeth. Then I decided to use it for washing our clothes. What could be more natural, I thought. However, I soon became so ill! I was reacting to the baking soda. We had to bag up all of our clothes. Then we had to wash each load five times to remove all the baking soda, so we could wear our clothes again. I researched the issue. Baking soda is considered a natural product; after all, we use it in baking. However, things have changed. Baking soda was once mined, but it is now chemically produced. It is no longer the same product.
Bob's Red Mill Baking Soda is still mined and is processed only with water. You can buy it on Amazon or at Sprouts or health foods stores. I use this product for tough cleaning jobs, such as our kitchen sink or air fryer, and it is entirely safe for me to use.
Many people use hydrogen peroxide for cleaning. After all, doctors recommend it for treating cuts. I had a reaction to it, so I researched it. Doctors no longer recommend it for cuts. They say it damages your skin. Highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide is used as a fuel for jet engines. No more of that for me!
Vinegar is considered a great cleaner; however, for many years, I believed I had a reaction to it because when I ate anything with vinegar, I would often choke. I was wrong! Organic white vinegar is a powerful cleaner, and I'm glad I was open to exploring this idea again! It is terrific and I use it for our laundry. I discuss this more later.
But what could I use to wash dishes, in the shower, for so many cleaning needs that wasn't toxic? I looked for products on EWG (more about this later), but even products with A or 1 scores, all green that were rated the very safest and best, gave me asthma.
So what natural cleaning products could I use that were safe?
That's when I discovered Dr. Bronner's Baby Unscented Pure-Castile Soap. It changed everything. I use ONLY their BABY soap, not any other product. I will explain more about this later, also.
At the time, I reacted with asthma to every oil I tried. Would Dr. Bronner's work for me? I decided to try it.
No reaction!
I ask you to be open-minded about this product because it has made such a difference in my life! I want to explain why. If you are unable to tolerate Dr. Bronner's, I have more ideas about this later, also.
Why Dr. Bronner's Baby Soap?
This soap is truly unique. It has removed so many toxic ingredients from my life! It's made with just one chemical during processing—and that's completely gone by the time the soap is finished. There are two other plant-based additives. The Palm Kernel Oil is certified as sustainable. You can research everything about their product here: https://www.drbronner.com/pages/help?hcUrl=%2Fen-US It contains no added fragrance or essential oils, and cleans beautifully. Despite being made from oils to which I usually react, I've never had a reaction to this soap. I was so thrilled! This is because of the change in the oils turning into soap, which makes the difference or something about their processing of this soap. I thought the fact that I don't have any reaction to Dr. Bronner's Baby soap meant they process their oils differently. That is not true; when I bought other products from Dr. Bronner's, they gave me asthma.
I started using it, and my health improved! I was so thrilled!
I love that I can use it for just about every cleaning need:
Cleaning our home
Washing our hands and bodies
Doing dishes
Shampoo
Even shaving
I use it for every cleaning need except the ones I list below.
And I love that it's just one non-toxic product for almost everything.
The Hidden Dangers of Fragrance and Essential Oils
Most people associate fragrance with nature—flowers, herbs, citrus. But synthetic fragrance is far from natural. It's a cocktail of dozens (sometimes hundreds) of chemicals, many of them toxic. When you combine different scented products, they mix into new compounds, making the air even more harmful.
Reactions are common—studies show that around 30% of people experience symptoms immediately, such as headaches, asthma, or congestion. It is now known that they cause many other harmful illnesses. This is a massive issue in our society regarding health. Do an internet search "are fragrances harmful" and this will be clear to you.
It has been proven that fragrances can cause cancer, ADD, ADHD, Autism, Joint Pain and so much much. The link below shows all the scientific evidence of all the damage done by fragrances:
Even essential oils, which are considered "natural," are harmful and make me very ill. Producing a single pound of oil requires hundreds or even thousands of pounds of plant material. This not only concentrates the oils but also the pesticides and toxins that come with them. Our bodies were never meant to handle such intense exposure.
How We Use Dr. Bronner's and Other Natural Products in Our Home for Cleaning
Dr. Bronner's is different since it is very concentrated. It can plug up the squeeze bottle. It does not create bubbles that last in a sink of water, but the benefits of using it are amazing because you can avoid all the endless additives and chemicals found in many cleaning products. Here's how Keith and I use Dr. Bronner's Baby Soap every day:
Hand & Body Wash
We use a foam soap dispenser, which is so fun:
Mix 1 cup of water with ¼ cup of soap, or follow the directions for your dispenser.
This works great for me, too, when it comes to shaving.
Hair Care
Shampoo: Undiluted soap
Shaving for Keith: Undiluted soap
Hair Rinse: 1 tbsp organic white vinegar in 1 cup water - then rinse out the vinegar.
Leaves hair soft, manageable, and easy to brush. If your hair is difficult to brush out, it is likely due to the chemical residue left behind by other shampoos. For example, some shampoos contain silicone. Why would this be needed in a shampoo? Silicone is one of the most toxic ingredients for me. The easiest way to identify silicone is to look for words that end in one of these: –cone, –conol, –silane, or –siloxane. Once the chemicals are gone, your hair will be much easier to brush out.
If the bottle plugs up, we scrape the soap from under the top. Dr. Bronner's bottles are great since they have a pointy part to help open the lid. We reuse these bottles as needed around our home.
Teeth: I use Bob's Red Mill baking soda.
I dip my toothbrush in a bowl of baking soda, it works so well! I was just using water and flossing. My dentist and hygienist told me I don't need toothpaste since every brand I've tried give me severe asthma. But then I noticed my teeth were getting stained. Problem solved when I started using Bob's Red Mill baking soda.
I use OraMD dental floss that I buy from Amazon. I was using Glide but I began to get gaps between my teeth with lots of pain and bleeding. Problem solved using this dental floss!
Check out my videos on cleaning at the bottom of this story.
Showers, Sinks & Tubs
We use it undiluted with a simple brush, it cleans so well!
Dishes
I have not been able to find a dishwasher soap that I don't react to. The truth is, your dishes get a lot cleaner when you hand-wash them.
We hand-wash using our foam soap on a loofah sponge or a brush (see tools below for details)
Tip: Put a little water on everything before doing the dishes to make it all soft and easy to clean.
Laundry
We used to use only Dr. Bronner's for our laundry. It gets the fragrances out of our clothing from leaving our home and other toxins out of our clothes. But it is not effective for cleaning laundry, and we started getting stains.
Now we wash our clothes again using 1 cup of organic white vinegar. I kept an open mind and tested out vinegar, and I didn't react. What a difference. Our clothes are so bright and clean. It removes odors, stains, and mildew, is a fabric softener, and brightens and whitens clothes. Wow, how impressive!
When we tried using only vinegar I became so ill from the toxins that had built up in our clothes when we didn't use Dr. Bronner's.
We also tried to use Dr. Bronner's and vinegar together. It made the vinegar not effective as a cleaner.
Floors & Surfaces
For mopping, add soap to a bucket of water. I love using the Twist and Shout Mop that I bought on Amazon - no need to spray toxic chemicals on my floor!
For counters and cabinets, stainless steel, and general cleaning, I wet a washcloth, fold in half, half again, then I use our soap from the soap dispenser to clean; I turn the cloth over to wipe the soap off.
For stainless steel that is difficult to clean, such as the front of a dishwasher, I use pure organic lemon juice. I dip a wet cloth in it, wash the dishwasher with the lemon, and then turn the cloth over to clean off the lemon residue. If needed, you can do more treatments. The results are amazing!
For dusting, I use a wet washcloth.
Windows & Mirrors
Clean with water and a wet wash cloth. If needed, dry with a dry cloth.
For tough jobs such as windows outdoors, use organic white vinegar and paper towels.
Deep Cleaning
For our kitchen sink, our air fryer, or other cleaning that needs more power, we use Bob's Red Mill baking soda, which is mined and processed with water; it's the only one I tolerate. All other baking sodas are synthetic.
Tools & Brushes
A Word of Caution About "Green" Products
For cleaning, we use organic loofah sponges from Etsy. I buy this product because they also sell essential oils: Whole Unpeeled Unprocessed Loofah Sponge - Organic, Non-GMO, Heirloom, Farm Grown, Non-treated, 100% Natural (item De-seeded). Then Keith peels it so I stay safe. I buy it from MoonBeamFarmStore.
We use nothing plastic; many cleaning utensils are toxic. I had severe reactions to products that claimed to be plant-based, natural, or "green".
I also buy Bamboo Dish Brush Set,4 Pack Kitchen Palm Pot Brush from Amazon and use them to scrub pots and pans, for difficult cleaning jobs like our sink and air fryer.
To clean these, I put a little undiluted Dr. Bronner's soap in my hand, rub it on the brush or sponge, and rub vigorously between my fingers; this works so well to clean it. I switch out the brushes to let them dry out.
What About Oils?
Surprisingly, I can't tolerate any oils produced in the U.S., even organic ones. A woman who sold CBD oil once explained that a chemical is used to process oils in the U.S., regardless of whether they are organic or not. That's not true in Europe.
Now we use Bono olive oil, 100% made in Italy—and I do not react at all. It's available on Amazon, and I'm so grateful for it. Any oil made 100% in Europe should work fine.
Dr. Bronner's Baby Soap Is Good for My Skin Too
For a long time, I avoided washing the backs of my hands to reduce exposure to soap. But they became dry and rough, almost like alligator skin. I began to wash the back of my hands every time with Dr. Bronner's, and soon, the skin on the back of my hands was soft and healthy. I cannot use any lotions due to my chemical sensitivity, yet my skin is soft and healthy, even living in the desert here in Arizona.
How To Search For Safe Products:
I used to go to EWG (Environmental Working Group including Skin Deep) to search for safe products
However, I often reacted to products they reported as totally safe.
We recently had a crisis caused by a product they reported as green, totally safe and each ingredient was reported as green and safe. It was not.
Ask these two questions on Google
Is there any petroleum in ___________________.
It is also important to ask this question: Are there any harmful ingredients in ________.
To test for yourself what is safe, you can use a VOC meter!
We have a VOC meter that we love! This is the name on Amazon: Airthings 2960 View Plus - Battery Powered
Here is the link: hhttps://a.co/d/eJh6o0Q
We are testing it out. I am going to do a video about it very soon, once we have worked out all the details. It takes a week before the numbers are correct. If you use any scented product, you will have very high VOCs and probably be unable to test products.
We have been using it to test things that I needed to buy, but I was afraid I'd react to, such as shoes. We have found that VOCs higher than 250 give me asthma. I found some shoes with VOCs lower than 250! More on this soon.
Final Thoughts
With just one safe, simple product—Dr. Bronner's Baby Unscented Soap—we clean our entire home without synthetic chemicals. I no longer suffer reactions from everyday cleaning tasks. My skin is healthy, my home is clean, and with other changes I have made, my body has healed!
If you have health issues or want to work to heal our Earth or protect your health in the future, every action to remove toxic chemicals is the right choice.
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