Is use of chemicals for hygiene really worth it?

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Think about it. The chemicals could potentially cause cancer and it has probably raised cancer rates (although less people die of cancer nowadays because of higher survival rates).

However, the potential consequences of not having a clean place is that you get sick. For the most part, getting sick just means an inconvenience and you need to rest for a day. Even if you get really sick, it is easily treated with antibiotics.

It seems like getting sick is better than getting cancer.

I never use chemicals to clean my room in university and if I ever lived on my own in the future, I would avoid using any chemicals to clean my house. And I rarely get sick anyways. Just make sure you practice good personal hygiene. (tbh, I don't consider myself having good personal hygiene. I have a habit of touching my fingers to my nose and mouth and when I cook, I would throw something out into the garbage, with my hands touching the lid, and I would be lazy with washing my hands).

You can have a clean place, and a clean self, without using commercial products containing harmful chemicals.

In fact many natural methods of cleaning your home and caring for your own personal hygiene are more hygienic, healthier and generally better for you - as well as better for the environment and cheaper. It's known as Natural Living.

For home cleaning I use apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and diluted tea tree oil, I use soap nuts or washer balls for my laundry, I use mostly natural toiletries (including methods like Oil Cleansing Method, don't use shampoo, etc. which is all much better for skin/hair), etc. - my house is spotless and totally clean, I'm very healthy, and I've not only great hygiene but perfect skin and hair too.

It's not a matter of avoiding all chemicals or commercial products either, as well as organic products and natural things you can use commercial products, it's just down to learning how to read the ingredients lists of products to know what is harmful - like you learn how to read food ingredients to know how healthy/unhealthy food is, knowing chemicals in products you use allows you to make wise choices.

Natural Living @ Livejournal
Skin Deep
WEN Household Cleaning Factsheet (pdf)

Bloodheart, do you know of a good way to wash dishes without detergent?

Dishwasher or by hand? Not sure it really matters.
1:1 combination of baking soda and borax, as long as you wear gloves to wash with and rinse well as borax would be pretty nasty to consume - rinsing in vinegar too, soap flakes (mix with water, then add glycerin and some tea tree or lavender essential oil) or soap nuts - my mother loves soap nuts, uses them for dishes, laundry, floors, all sorts.

I just use washing-up liquid, it's easier, and if environmental/health concerns are an issue it's much easier to just use a more natural brand like Ecover or Seventh Generation than mess about with the above methods - or at least that's my opinion.

I have no qualms about using "chemicals" to clean my dishes/apartment. Boiling water is quite good at cleaning basically everything, including fats.

As for all this "natural is better" I imagine many of the active ingredients of plants are probably actively selected to kill/deter animals that eat them. Look at Corn Lily, for example.

I know I should not be antagonistic about this, but this is backwards. More people are dying of cancer now than ever, especially in developing countries.

"Over 22 million people in the world were treated for cancer in 2000, representing an increase of approximately 19 percent in incidence (cases) and 18 percent in mortality since 1990."



.. it's a steroid?? It is kind of a pain to clean my apartment but not such a pain that I bulk up on 'roids to do it. Vinegar, baking soda: you eat these things. They are perfectly safe.

I worked for a cleaning service for a few years and we used 'all natural "green"' products and that stuff was still aggravating to the skin. I had weird chemical burns and bumps on my hands after the first month until I started wearing gloves to do every-thing.

That said, I use no harsh chemicals to clean my apartment or my body. It's all plant-based. Coconut oil on my hair/skin, tea tree oil for antiseptic needs (it is totally awesome on acne if you cut it with a thicker oil), clove oil on sores in my mouth, etc. I used to make my own toothpaste but I am not that much of a hippie anymore

Yeah, I think I'm with you on that. Thanks!



I just use baking soda mixed with some salt. My mouth and teeth are way happier now.

I guess thats true but thats because people are living longer than ever (cancer risk increases with age) and there were other issues in the past like high infant mortality rates and lack of vaccinations for the most dangerous infections, of which most have been reduced to isolated communities, if not already eradicated. AIDs still kill many when they are young (when risks for things like cancer are still really low).

Yes, it makes sense that cancer has increased in the developing world. It will take some time before they develop medical measures to treat cancer or have early prevention.

I'm another baking soda user, my teeth are terrible from fluoride damage and my gums peel like crazy from SLS's.

If I stopped using chemicals to keep up with my personal hygiene, plants and animals would die whenever I walked past them.

Seriously though, a combination of the medication I take and my hormones make me smell awful if I go even one day without practicing decent hygiene. So I guess whether or not I should worry about getting cancer from cleaning up is a moot point.

Use eco-friendly, non-toxic detergent.

This is possibly the most healthy soap you can buy.

It can be used for showering, your hands, your dishes, your kitchen and even things like the bathroom floor and toilet if mixed with a small amount of white vinegar.

http://www.drbronner.com/faqs_main.html

I pour it into liquid soap disposal things and then mix it with 1 part Dr Bronners to around 10-12 parts water.

Same for the spray bottle for wiping work tops.



I have also heard from people, and think it is most likely true, that an overly clean environment can affect the development of a babies immune system.

Edit: my friend wrote this on facebook, dont know the source though.

That surely cannot be healthy?

Probably bacterial-part specific, like penicillin. If the FDA approved it I trust it, those as*holes kill by being too cautious with releasing drugs.

Well, I urge anybody to look into casteline soaps such as Dr Bronners.

a mix of articles of casteline soap and normal soaps. all with references,

http://www.naturalnews.com/030429_micro ... myths.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/029700_natural_soap.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/029006_antib ... oxins.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/029114_tricl ... _soap.html

I remember using the peppermint soap. I loved the tingle I got from it and it worked great.
Problem with me was not diluting it and then accidentally getting it in my eye. That was a little painful, but not enough to teach me to not do it a second or tenth time.

I believe I am allergic to the peppermint ever so slightly. I use the lavender one all the time and love it.