Anyone scared of toxic chemicals but feel hopeless that it's just impossible not to use any of this stuff?

[Gemzooks]

TTC second child, recently started working for an environmental NGO and became loads more aware of risks from household cleaners etc. Now realised in horror that all my personal care products have dodgy stuff in. We have a cleaner who comes every 2 weeks and loves using lots of very powerful cleaning stuff.

Already try to use Weleda etc, but now found my favourite Lush stuff has parabens in it as well. Also can't just stop the cleaner using all her bleach etc. But now worrying about vulnerability to all this in early preg etc.

Any tips?

Ecover cleaning products widely available in supermarkets and very good. Green People excellent for toiletries for the whole family and lovely baby ranges here
Spirit of Nature have great range of environmentally/skin-friendly products here

Get rid of household products you don't want around. Air fresheners not very nice. Replace with Ecover! I am a fan
The thing about parabens is they are oestrogen mimetics and their main problem is accumulation in the environment but there has been a suggestion of a link to breast cancer (deodorant application).

I would have thought that any product would not be able to contain anything dangerous to pregnant women and developing baby by law.

Some garden pesticides (probably now banned from general sale) can be dangerous Just check out things before use if you're unsure.

Even bloody paracetamol suspension for children contains parabens!

I always buy ecover stuff, and get my cleaner to use it too. The only non-eco thing I use is toilet cleaner-- can't find a green one I like that does the job well!

It's easy to change to less harmful products. Buy some and try them!

Faith in Nature seaweed shampoo and conditioner is amazing, really lovely smell and no parabens at all (IIRC)

Why change to less harmfull products? In a lot of cases you can just do without them.

I find that a good toilet brush does as good as any of those toxic cleaners.

Same for the bath and around the sink, a good scrub round the taps/bath ring and wipe around the sink etc and every thing is sparkly.

Have replaced polish etc with just the brush attachment on the vacuum to dust everything thoroughly.

I have never used fabric softeners as I can't see the point of them and they stink of strong artificial smells.

Have never bought an airfreshener in my life. I don't see the point in replacing one smell with another, I open a window or put some orange peel in a bowl on a radiator.

The only cleaner I use is stardrops to mop the kitchen floor as the floor is heated and things get baked on.

i used to have a cupboard full of chemicals for cleaning.

now i have ecover multi purpose which i dilute to use a spray for all over the house, eco friendly dishwasher tabs, ecover washing up liquid and microfibre cloths as they clean most things without even needing anything on them. and i will admit using heavy duty toilet cleaner as we have very hard water but that said i only use it every few months so probably better in the long run.

air fresheners give me a headache, can't stand them, dunno why anyone would use them.

as things run out simply don't replace or relace with eco friendly stuff, make it a gradual transition and it won't seem as bad.

as for the cleaner, you pay her to clean your house... that means she has to do it in a way you're happy with or she gets replaced.

thanks for tips... we're moving and getting a new cleaner in a few weeks, so will just leave the old cleaning stuff behind and start afresh (cleaner doesn't speak any English whatsoever, only Portuguese, so don't want to get into the whole thing). DH is also quite sceptical about it all and believes you 'need' bleach etc.

The whole decorating and painting thing is tough too, for the first time we're getting our own place so need to get a bed, sofa etc, so all the issues of VOCs in paints, non brominated flame retardant mattresses etc, all come up. It seems such a pity that to get a safe home it takes loads of research and you can't just easily buy safe products.. Oh well. thanks for tips!

Vinegar kills 98% of germs (read more), AND removes limescale.
Borax (buy it in Boots) is good sanitiser, too.

There are lots of eco paints, do look into those if you are painting - specially if you are pregnant/likely to be soon.
I'm less bothered about cleaning products for me, if you see what I mean, than for the world; where I worry about me is in toiletries - answer is not to use any!

i use eco wash up liquids, toilet cleaners etc etc, but how do you clean your oven friendlily?! i need to do mine and dont want to buy a harsh cleaner to do it

i think someone said put a paste of bicarb on it and leave it; everything will then come off. But do a search, it might be baking powder that you need! (i've not tried it...)

i found one that says sprinkle bicarb, squirt with water leave it over night to dry then when you wipe it up in the morning all the yuck comes with it. i tried it last night and am proud to report it worked