Since the REAL Food Challenge was such a success and we had a lot of interest in other areas of REAL, we decided that each month we’d spend some time focusing on one area. This month we’ll all be talking about REAL clean. Healthy, natural, non-toxic, or homemade alternatives to the things you use to clean your house, your pets, your kids and yourselves.
Here at Chiot’s Run we started detoxing our cleaning products many years ago and our personal care products a few years ago. For cleaning I’ve always used vinegar, baking soda, Dr. Bronner – Sal-Suds and some of my own cleaners.
I started thinking about the ingredients in personal care products when I was on a patch medication. I would apply a tiny patch to my hip once a week and enough medication would be absorbed through my skin throughout the week so I didn’t have to take a pill every day. That got me thinking about all the soaps and lotions that we slathered on our skin each day and how we absorb all those chemicals through our skin! I read The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances and was appalled by the things I learned about all of the ingredients in personal care products. We threw away all of the products we were using and started to search out products made from organic non-toxic ingredients. If I won’t eat it, I wouldn’t put it on my skin! This area is kind of a minefield though as there aren’t really any regulations to govern the labels. You’ll find things labeled “organic”,”non-toxic” or “all-natural” that really aren’t. Some “all-natural” ingredients like mineral oil are anything but safe!
After trying all kinds of products we’ve finally settled on a few that we love. I’ll be talking about my favorite personal care products next week and I’ll do a post about my homemade cleaning products later this month as well. We’ll be doing a giveaway for some Tropical Traditions Lotion and Deodorant as part of our REAL clean month as well, so check back for those.
What are some thing you’d like to hear about during the REAL clean challenge?
Resources for the REAL Clean Challenge: I’ll be adding more links throughout the month for specific products and links with great information & recipes.
Books with Recipes for Homemade Personal Care Products:
This is my favorite little home cleaning book:
Not Dabbling In Normal 
The biggest challenge we face here is getting the rest of the family on board. Easy to change the household products, and my own personal care products. But you’ll pry the Head&Shoulders out of my husband’s cold, dead hands.
It is tough getting family on board!
Mr Chiots was a bit the same for a while (also a Head & Shoulders guy), but eventually he started asking “Hey, do you mind if I use your face wash?” Etc. now he’s loving it.
I put a Liggett’s shampoo bar in the shower and he tried it and likes it, I bought him a new kind of beer soap that he loved and then he was hooked. Sometimes it takes buying extra special more expensive products in the beginning to make them feel special & get them used to using new stuff.
I will anxiously await your next couple posts because I don’t really know what I want or need, I just know I’m not happy using chemical cleaners for my house or for personal care items.
I suppose overall what I’m looking for is simplicity. One cleaner that can do most anything in the home. Which, right now, all I know is vinegar but my family does not love the smell. Is there an alternative cleaner that does not have a strong odor?
For personal care items, I’m looking for inexpensive and effective. It’s hard to tell from ingredient lists which are natural and which are not because I’m not familiar with all the names. I used to use a lot of Burt’s Bees products but now they feel like they’ve sold out and are very commercialized. Are they natural? Also, are there any items available at major chain stores like Target that are good to use so I don’t always have to drive further to the health food store?
Thanks for doing this series of CLEAN posts. : )
I use vinegar and add lemon juice so that it smells almost like lemonade…and for the really tough to clean moments, I’ll add a little borax or washing soda.
Cheries: I’m with you on the vinegar smell. I wanted to use it too, and asked my Husband what smell he’d like to smell as a cleaning product. He said “Windex”.
He’s a funny guy.
I ove this challenge and am anxious about all the recipes you have to share. I have though almost the same way you do and changed already most of our cleaning products (except the laundry soap), but I still don´t know how to change my beauty items. No to mention my husband ones. Anyway, I know this is a good room to share and learn. So, I´ll keep “online”.
Thanks.
Love this challenge! I look forward to all the reicpes and ideas.
I’ve started to use my own homemade soaps about a year ago.
Once I had a little table at our village fair to sell them as well, and all people that did buy my soap, are coming still back for refills.
I decided, as you did – to use only eadible products – as natural as possible.
Though I still have to clean out the cleaner – cabinet, I will wait in suspense for you next post!
I just purchased mrh wild rose oil and toner I’m still waiting for my package. It would be nice if you could write a review about the wild rose oil I know a lot of people have been wanting to try it but are apprehensive due to the lack of reviews. Thank you!
I carry the Green Beauty Guide in my store. A copy came in with missing pages. I had it in the back and one day was all caught up on my work (very rare occurrence) and I flipped it open randomly and starting reading. The section I was reading was on hair colour. By the time I finished the section, I had decided to stop coloring my hair. I had to have my roots done every three weeks. It was a long process but my lovely white hair is down to my shoulders again. I am SO happy I did it.
I love this site and the recipes and all. I am going to recommend it on mine.