15 Tips To Detox Every Room In Your Home

Learning tips to detox every room in your home has a hugely positive impact on your health – and the planet’s!

By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

They say that charity begins at home, and that’s true for trying to be more eco-friendly, too.

There’s a lot of nasty stuff in our houses that we take as being ‘normal’. For example?

chemical air fresheners
scented candles (often packed with VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
mattresses, pillows and sofas are often sprayed with flame retardants, which seriously pollute the planet, the air in your home, and your health.

In fact, there’s plenty to think about in terms of how to make your home greener and cleaner. But it’s definitely worth the effort!

You’ll be creating a healthier environment for yourself, your family and even the entire planet.

Let’s go room by room to see how.

Image below: homeaddons.com

How To Make Every Room In Your Home Greener

BATHROOM

1. Buy organic cotton towels

Our skin absorbs whatever comes in contact with it. So having a healthy fabric to dry yourself after having showered is very important. Organic cotton or linen bath towels are gentle on the skin, as well as the environment.

2. Use only organic toiletries

As with towels, organic toiletries — such as soap, shampoo and conditioners — will benefit your health, and the planet, since no harmful chemicals will be come in contact with your body go into the oceans. These days, there are plenty of amazing organic soap, conditioner and shampoo options to choose from, no matter what your budget!

3. Ditch plastic toothbrushes

Have you ever walked along a beach and seen plastic toothbrushes washing ashore? Using so much plastic is a shame. Especially when there are more eco friendly options available.

For example? Bamboo toothbrushes are naturally antimicrobial, and are biodegradable, as well.

4. Use recycled toilet paper

We use it daily. So to detox your home, make sure your toilet paper is eco friendly! The average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year (over 20,000 sheets). This is detrimental to the tree population, since virgin forests are cut down to make the stuff you wipe your butt with. To save the trees, ensure you buy recycled, unbleached toilet paper! Bog roll that uses bleach, chlorine and fragrance is NOT good for you – or the planet.

5. Clean with natural products

One of the most obvious ways to detox your home is to ditch the chemical cleaners.

Most people don’t realise the products we use to clean with are damaging our health. The chemicals in most powdered and liquid household cleaners are so strong (and toxic), they come with a poison warning!

There’s really no need to use that rubbish anymore. You can use white vinegar, lemon, and Borax to clean pretty much anything in your house. Just like great-grandma did! But if you’re not up for making your own, you can also find fantastic natural cleaning brands like those below.

BEDROOM

6. Use organic sheets

We spend a great amount of our life in bed. People usually sleep 6 to 10 hours per day, and studies have calculated that the average person spends about 26 years sleeping in their life! Therefore it is important to have a healthy fabric to rest on that doesn’t contain synthetic chemicals, and which isn’t made from petrol-based fibres or synthetic dyes.

Organic cotton sheets are also kinder to the planet and it is a great incentive to those farmers who are committed to growing high quality cotton without the use of toxic methods.

7. Invest in an organic mattress

One of the most important ways you can detox your home is by choosing an organic mattress. Non-organic ones can offset harmful gases for months after you buy them!

There are a variety of health benefits that come from using organic mattresses. They are antibacterial, mould resistant, chemical free and repel dust mites. They also main themselves warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Choosing an eco-mattress is also better the planet, because the use of clean and natural materials that are biodegradable and have been grown ethically will help prevent the destruction of ecosystems.

8. Do your laundry every other week

Sure, sleeping on fresh sheets is a luxury, But is it really necessary to clean the sheets every week? I’d say no, especially if you sleep in pyjamas! Avoiding the weekly laundry routine will save water, energy, money and the items you want to keep clean. If you wash your sheets every two weeks rather than every week, it will extend the life of your linens and save energy, too.

Want to further detox your home? Ensure you use only natural laundry soaps. Oh, and just forget about bleach and fabric softeners. Toxic!

9. Use a battery powered clock

I know this doesn’t come to mind for most as a tip to detox your home. But trust me: getting rid of digital clocks (including your phone) is a good one!

In past centuries, the morning sun was the natural wake up call, followed by the rooster’s crow and church bells. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that alarm clocks became of common use in private homes, with the advent of the mechanical wind-up version. Over time, they cemented their position our the bedrooms.

However, modern digital clocks that stay lit up also in the dark provide major stress, anxiety and insomnia, since people have been found to look at their clock when they wake up during the night, calculating the hours they have left to sleep.

Plus, studies have shown that any kind of lights at night can alter sleep. The situation gets worse if you use your smartphones as an alarm clock. Apparently, people give in to the temptation to keep checking their devices, even at night. Mobile phones emit blue light, and this can reduce your melatonin levels by up to 22%.

The solution? Go back to the good old fashioned, battery powered clock to start your day on the right foot!

Image below: makingagreenlifebylily.com

KITCHEN

10. Try organic dish soap and cleaners

We can never stress enough how our skin is semi-permeable and that it is an easy entry point for toxins. Using a chemical dish soap is clearly bad for our planet, since it gets flushed down the pipes and into the sewage system, badly affecting marine flora and fauna. The same can be said with the products we use to clean our stoves and kitchenware.

By using non-toxic cleaners, we create a safer environment for adults, children, pets and all living creatures. It takes very little effort to shop for organic dish soap and cleaners. Especially if you know all the best brands.

We recommend Dr Bronner’s. One bottle of their organic soap has a full 18 functions, from acting as a dishwashing and laundry soap, to even a shower gel or shampoo!

Other great brands to help detox your home include:

Bar Keepers Friend Powdered Household Cleaner
Biokleen Carpet and Rug Shampoo
ECOS Furniture Polish + Cleaner
ECOS Liquid Laundry Detergent
Ecover Dishwasher Tablets
Method Dish Soap
Method Squirt + Mop Hard Floor Cleaner

11. Say goodbye to Teflon forever

This is one of the most essential tips to detox your home. Teflon is toxic as heck.

When heated at high temps, the coating on non-stick cookware starts to break down. And then? Up to 15 toxic gasses and chemicals are then released into the air. And guess who inhales those fumes? Yep, you! They can even lead to something called Teflon flu.

Other chemicals in non stick coatings, such as PFAs, PTFE and PFAO, have been linked to infertility, birth defects, liver damage and thyroid disease.

Luckily, there are loads of great healthy, alternative pots and pans you can try instead.

Image below: dreamyhomestyle.com

LIVING ROOM

12. Use recycled and upcycled furnishings

A fun way to detox your home is by choosing to upcycle old furniture and decor. This means diminishing forestation, lowering fuel resources, and decreasing what ends up in landfills. Plus, upcycling old pieces unleashes your creativity in transforming old objects into something new and unique!

Recycling – just using old, existing furniture without altering it – is another wonderful option. But don’t think ‘recycled’ means some nasty, flea-ridden, mouldy sofa found on the street. Even choosing to buy antique furniture instead of new counts as recycling. And it’s always a chic decor option!

13. Grow LOADS of plants

One of the easiest ways to detox your home is by using plants.

We all know that plants are good for us, as they produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. Living in metropolitan areas that have plenty of pollution, plants are pretty much a must-have in any household. Plus, this is one of the cheapest way to greenify your home, as they make for cheap and gorgeous interior decoration!

Want to know the best plants to clean the air? There’s a great variety of air-purifying plants to choose from. Not sure how to use plants as decor? Check out some suggestions here.

14. Avoid so-called “smart” appliances

“Smart” home appliances are those lighting and electronic devices that can be controlled remotely by the owner, often via a mobile app or or a voice assistant like Amazon Echo, and Google Home. Some people enjoy asking “Alexa” to switch on the lights, or telling “Pandora” what music they would like to listen to.

Besides the aberration of using energy to fuel something that’s a convenience rather than a necessity, and so-called ‘smart’ appliances create more electromagnetic forces (EMFs) i your house, which can have negative consequences on your health.

Smart meters, smart TVs, smart thermostats, Alexa, cordless phones and all wifi linked devices emit EMFs, and according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), EMFs are “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

The IARC believes that some studies have shown a possible link between EMFs and various kinds of cancers. Is it really worth raising your cancer risk for convenience?

15. Forget about LEDs

Yes, they use less energy. But did. you know light-emitting diode (LED) lights are bad for your health?

In 2019, the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES), published a 424-page report on the health effects and potential hazards of LEDs.

Researchers found a “disruptive effect on biological rhythms” of blue-rich LED lighting, stating that “LED lighting and objects significantly increase exposure to blue light.”

The report states LED lighting can cause disrupted sleep, failing eyesight and an increased “risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.”

The solution? Buy incandescent light bulbs whenever possible!

I know it can seem overwhelming. I mean, changing one thing in your home takes effort. But 15? Yikes! But as they say, every journey starts with a single step.

Do you know of any more tips to detox your home? Let us know in the comments, below!