Home Toxins to Throw Out

When we found out we were moving I knew immediately I wanted to make this a fresh start for us. After nearly a year of trying to rid our home of toxins this was going to be my shot. The things that I don’t want in our home are the items that are just not making the move. The best part is I don’t have to feel bad about all of the items that are still partially used. Now I can still use the excuse that the leftovers aren’t worth moving. I’m usually too cheap to just throw things out but with this excuse I don’t feel so bad. Here is my list of home toxins to throw out from your home. 

Febreze

I got these for like a dollar at the grocery store shortly before I started our toxin free journey. They smell so good but I know that they are actually horrible for our house. They tried to make these ones look more natural and “better for you” but, rest assured, they are still just as bad. The fragrance in them holds all kinds of chemicals. The good news is I was able to use a couple bottles up. With all of the showings and people that were in and out of our house I wanted to make sure everything smelled good. Knowing that we are leaving it all behind made me less hesitant to use it. Plus, let’s face it, we needed to sell our house to be able to move to the new one. That meant I needed to do whatever I could to make sure that happened. In this case, the Febreze was a small price to pay. I still don’t like using it or being around it but knowing it was temporary somehow made it okay for me. 

Cheap Essential Oils

When essential oils first started getting big I wanted to use them but I did not want to pay the price behind the quality for them. I got several bottles from our local grocery store and called it good. I couldn’t understand why they never worked until I actually started using the real ones and saw their power. Sellers like this manufacture cheap and synthetic essential oils. There are literally no medical benefits to synthetic oils. The pure oils, like young living, are the ones that will actually have an impact. Synthetic fragrances are also known to cause allergic reactions and can contain carcinogens. However, me being cheap, I wanted to find a way to make them work and use them up. I decided to use them on our dryer balls. I bought these years ago and I’m happy to report that before we move this last bottle will be used up for our fresh start. We will only be using our Young Living oils on our laundry moving forward. I even bought new organic laundry balls too so we can leave these toxin filled ones behind. 

Method Laundry Soap

Method is a brand that has been super greenwashed. I so foolishly believed that because Grove was selling Method items they were better. Their packaging also made me feel like it was a better choice. I didn’t realize at the time that is what manufacturers do. They strategically use their labels to make you confused and to make you think that what you are getting is better. Some products are definitely better and their labels reflect that. Method taught me that I shouldn’t judge a product by the label though. We had so much laundry soap and my sister gave me some too. It’s been years since I bought laundry soap too! I’m so thrilled that we are at the very end of this bottle. With all of the stuff that I’ve been having to wash lately to get packed up or sold we will definitely empty this bottle before moving. 

Color Safe Bleach

I got rid of all of the bleach from our house a long time ago. It’s a chemical that we just don’t use or need to keep around. I’ve considered keeping some on hand for emergency use but that is pretty much all I would do. This color safe bleach is also super old. I honestly had it when I bought my first house 6 years ago and it’s been with us ever since. That means, it’s time to go. Not only do we not use it very often but it’s a toxin that I don’t want to use. I may use some of it up to clean my husband’s t-shirts before we leave but otherwise this is one thing that will be hitting the trash.  For my frugal friendly people out there- it’s got a quarter of a box left so I’m not wasting too much of it. 

Melaleuca Cleaner

One of my friend’s cleans houses and she hooked me up with this cleaner. She claimed it was a toxin free alternative for a multipurpose cleaner. This cleaner scored an F on ewg.org. As we all know, that’s the worst you can get. Being able to dilute the small bottle has made it last forever though. Seriously, I think it’s been nearly 3 years. I’ve been able to use up most of this for all of the showings and visits too though. Between all of the cleanings I swear I’ve filled this up nearly 3 times. Our house isn’t that dirty but when you are cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen constantly it goes quickly. Yup, that’s right, I used it for the bathrooms too. I knew it was something that I wanted to use up so I’ve really put it to use the past month or so. I think there will be a very minimal amount leftover. We will most likely clean the house before we leave though and that will use the remainder. 

Love, Beauty, and Planet Shampoo & Conditioner

Another one of those products that I thought I was doing the right thing by purchasing! This is another very greenwashed brand. By the packaging you would swear this is the very best thing out there. They make it look so clean and so good for you. In reality, there is more fragrance in it. Fragrance is a huge endocrine disruptor and for someone who, like me, struggles with hormones already it is very unwelcome in our home. I only shampoo my hair 2 times per week though. This means that shampoo and conditioner tends to last awhile. I feel very confident that this will be gone or gone enough to throw the remainder out before we move. 

Mrs. Myers Lotion and Room Spray

Brand #3 that fooled me. Mrs. Meyers is also sold at Grove and also has some pretty tricky labels. Mrs. Meyer’s lavender lotion is a 5 on the ewg website. That means it’s not great and not horrible. It is another product that has a mysterious fragrance in it. We don’t know exactly what the fragrance is and it could be hiding quite a bit. The room spray very obviously has fragrance. There is also no way I’m going to get through both of these. The room spray is ¾ full and the lotion is ¾ full. These will be discarded prior to moving and they will not be missed. 

There are tons of things that are not making the move with us. These are some of the ones that I encourage you to clean out of your home even if you aren’t moving. They are toxins that can be easily replaced. What toxins are you hanging on to but know you should get rid of?

In my next post, I’ll talk to you about the products that we are bringing instead of these to get us a fresh start.