Image Credit: NPA, via Wall Street Journal

Here at BroomHuggers one of our main concerns for the last 4-5 years has been the fluidity of the use of words like “natural,” “organic,” “eco-friendly,” especially in cleaning products. See, no one regulates the use of these words in cleaning products. I could make something out of ammonia, formaldehyde, and petrochemicals and say that it’s natural because the mood hit me. (Of course, I wouldn’t do that… but someone might…)

Green Seal has been a nice source of information, but often unhelpful. It seems that a lot of the small brands that would pass their criteria don’t have the funding to get the certification, and many of the big brands who care enough to certify are only available in industrial contexts.

The EPA has a Design for the Environment qualification, but it lets through pesky chemicals like 2-Butoxyethanol, a carcinogen. Environmentally friendly? I think not. Safe for people, pets, and planet? No.

So, to earn the new qualification of Natural Product Association certification, products will have to meet criteria including the following: 95% of the ingredients in the product, excluding water, must be derived from natural sources. Non-natural ingredients should be used only when alternative natural ingredients are unavailable. The product should contain no ingredients with suspected human health risks. NPA says it is reviewing full ingredient lists from manufacturers who have applied for certification to determine whether their products qualify. The seal will be seen on products in the next several months.

Clorox, the manufacturer of GreenWorks, is on the advisory committee for the organization, and while we don’t consider GreenWorks fully green, they have made larger strides than any other major mainstream manufacturer of cleaning products. So, while hopes are high, my feet are firmly grounded in the reality NPA standards won’t be any higher than GreenWorks.

I’d really like to see their list of ingredients with no suspected human health risks. We’ll see in the next few months which products qualify, and then we’ll know if this is just another incentive (and leverage) for companies to engage in greenwashing, or if we finally have a certification that separates the chaff from the wheat. I have high hopes for this one. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a nice little standard that everyone in the industry used that helped consumers differentiate products when they’re standing in the grocery store aisle trying to make a choice?

And hey, I have to give a shout-out to @squeaky_clean on Twitter who pointed out the news on the Wall Street Journal to us.

This time of year is rough – colds and flu, lots of time indoors where air quality is poor, and that cold, dry air mean that asthma is flaring up all over the place.

Both me and my middle child struggle with asthma, and in the 20+ years I’ve dealt with it I’ve figured out a few things. First, when the doc says you need to take a maintenance medication, you need to take a maintenance medication. But second, there are a few ways to relieve asthma symptoms that aren’t dependent on pharmaceuticals. Let me just tell you, I love albuterol for opening my lungs and letting me breathe. I hate it for making my heart race though.

So when my lungs start to tighten, or my little boy starts coughing, here’s my go-to plan.

1. Fresh air. Forget about smog – outdoor air is cleaner than indoor air.
2. Moisture – and lots of it. The cool air humidifier barely makes a dent. But if I close the doors to my bathroom and get in a hot shower the steam opens me up.
3. Lemon & honey – about half and half, and bottoms up. They help relieve coughing to allow the lungs to settle, and they’re both immune supports. But, the lemon aroma has also been shown to relieve symptoms.
4. Aromatherapy, using only pure essential oils. Peppermint, chamomile, ginger, and lavender. Put a drop of each into a small dish of olive oil and rub it into the feet.

The key to long-term maintenance is knowing your triggers and managing your symptoms before they become problems. Hopefully, clean indoor air, plants indoors, and a healthy lifestyle will help you find your way to managing asthma. In the meantime, maybe these tips will make your emergency situations fewer.

Note: This is meant to help someone manage asthma symptoms at the early onset, not in an emergency situation. A rescue inhaler is always the best bet when breathing is labored.

I got started on the little spots with club soda, and that worked great for those little splattery spots – you know the ones. Just a little discoloration, a little bit soiled. But then there were the piles, and I was stumped. With a toddler, a preschooler, and a kindergartner running around how’s  mom supposed to clean multiple piles of doggie hurl? The club soda worked, for sure, but it would have taken me hours upon hours to soak, blot, repeat.

In steps my Aunt Gigi. “Hey there, hon. I’ll just drop you off my carpet cleaner. It’ll have you squared away in a jiffy!” That’s what I like to hear. Do you know what she brought me? A Bissell ProHeat carpet Shampooer. I sure do love my Aunt Gigi – the way she hugs me tight, spreads her lovin’ on my kids, her brownie trifle, balsamic ginger salad dressing to die for, and now this.

It took me about 40 minutes to clean up all those piles of puppy puke. There’s the big ol’ shampooing part of the machine (that I filled with an all-natural pH neutral cleaner) and there are some cute little hoses too, that does the same thing the main vacuum part does, only for small spaces. Of course, this wasn’t a small space type of job, so I didn’t get much use out of those puny little hoses. You shampoo, rinse, and then vacuum up the moisture, with or without heat. And when I was done, there was no discoloration left. None. My cream carpet was cream again!

Sam’s back home with his own family now, and yes – I learned to keep him and corn dog eating children in different rooms at meal time. And Aunt Gigi has her carpet shampooer back, but I just might want to borrow it again to get rid of the darn purple moon sand that got crushed into the living room floor…

This weekend I needed a room deodorizer to tackle the pesky smell that my sister in law’s new puppy left behind. Candles are great but not always practical with a little kid (and a forgetful mommy) around. Only being able to use what I had on hand I grabbed my small stash of essential oils and an unbleached coffee filter. It only took one drop on the filter and a quick wave around the room and the smell was gone!

Thinking I was on to something, I’ve done a little bit more experimenting with this idea. Using the same filter (I only use different filters for different scents) I dropped another drop of essential oil and put it in the bottom of my trash can when I changed the liner. Through out the day we could smell it whenever we opened the lid to throw something away. I suggest adding another drop or two to the filter each time you change the bag.

Smelly bathroom? Add a drop or two of your favorite scent to the filter then stick it in your toilet paper roll.

You can even leave them just sitting out and the smell will drift through the room hiding any pesky odors you might be dealing with. Change it up through out the day to keep things fresh!

Try it out with your favorite essential oil today!

Even the baby wipes. Once I open them, I can smell them almost instantly throughout the whole house – it’s a nauseating smell. We bought the “sensitive skin” variety of dish soap and it nearly ate the skin off my hands after washing one sink full of dishes.

So now I go through vinegar like it’s water.  I use it for everything – windows, laundry softener, floors, gunk… you name it, vinegar is my go-to friend. It’s been a while since I had to clean with home-made recipes, but since I’m doing it daily I thought I’d share.

Vinegar: 50/50 mix with water is great for cleaning mirrors and glass. I use this for most purposes around the house – kitchen counters, door knobs, you get the idea. Add a generous splash of vinegar to your mop bucket, fill with water, and mop away.

Baking soda: use 2-3 TBS, and mix in enough water to make a paste. Use that to scour your tub, porcelain sinks stove top, or oven. It’s a gentle abrasive (emphasize gentle), so you’ll want to maintain the shiny clean look so as to avoid the need for hours upon hours of scrubbing.

Lemon juice: my favorite for dusting wood furniture! In a small bowl mix a 2 TBS of vinegar with 1 tsp olive oil.  Dip your dusting rag in it and give every wood surface a generous swIpe! The citrus scent of the lemon juice will give you some added energy, and you’ll have a dust-free house with nicely conditioned wood to boot!

I can clean just about anything with those few ingredients from my pantry. Sure, I’d prefer some Shaklee, but shipping to Eastern Europe would cost me more than a month’s worth of pirozhki! I’ll leave you with a few pics of Moldova.

Fields of canola flowers. Moldova doesn’t make canola oil for cooking – they sell this for diesel, only they sell it way below market value.

 No, this isn’t our mode of transport – we live in the city. But outside of the city this is a common sight.

See the castle on the hill? Sorry I didn’t get a better picture. I’ll do better next time. I’ll ask that crane politely to move out of the way…

If however you accidentally put raw meat of unknown quality in your mouth, you may avoid food poisoning by gurgling straight vinegar and chasing it with a shot or two of vodka. This is a rather unpleasant process, and the best medicine is prevention. Raw meat should not be consumed…  (in case you were wondering…)

Enzymes made up of amino acids (proteins) and they’re totally biodegradable, non-toxic, and harmless to the environment and marine life.   They’re a type of chemical that speeds up natural processes. They act as catalysts for chemical processes, sometimes speeding it up millions of times faster than the reaction would happen on its own. Each enzyme is designed for a specific reaction, so for cleaning multiple enzymes are typically combined for a purpose, like a kitchen cleaner would use enzymes targeted to what you find in a kitchen. Got it? In general, they speed up the break down of soap, oils, detergents,  and organic matter. In fact, they break them down into earth-friendly components like oxygen and carbon. Once the organic matter is gone there’s nowhere for bacteria to grow. So, that’s how they do the dirty work.

The same way they attack oils and organic matter, enzymes can also break down odors, contaminants in water, and all sorts of other things. What else? They’re pH neutral, meaning they’re safe for natural stone (granite, marble, travertine, etc.) as well as hardwood floors & furniture and other sensitive surfaces.   We tried out the kitchen cleaner here by NaturallyClean and loved it. Our only caution is to watch the other ingredients in a cleaner, as usual. A truly green product will make the list of ingredients available to you, so look for plant-based surfactants and solvents without artificial scents and what-not.

We found this great post on making your own laundry detergent over at Cozgroovy – they’re a green maid service just like we are, but they’re  up in snow country (cheese country?) Wisconsin.

Has anyone ever tried this? It looks like it might be fun!

As an individual, there are tons of things I love, but don’t allow in our cleaning business either because they aren’t tested, clients may not like them, or they just aren’t easy to use. But oh. I just found a combination of essential oils that’s so. perfect. I use it at home in my cleaning supplies and I just had to share it with our clients. So, if you’re a Broom Huggers client you may have noticed that the no-smell you’re used to having after we clean has been replaced by something so yummy you must be salivating just to know what it is. We have a blend of essential oils that includes:

• cinnamon:  a natural fungicide
• cloves: disinfectant
• ginger: analgesic and antiseptic (and it just smells all homey)
• mandarin orange: antiseptic

We wouldn’t recommend eating any of our cleaning products, but we’ll understand if you want to…