Cleaning the house, anti-cancer style

CLEANING TO COMBAT CANCER

Learn what you can control and control it!
Your home is the best place to start in creating a healthy environment.

With these simple and ideal reminders, you have a great place to start. I use essential oils, in a few different mixtures, depending on what room and what I'm cleaning. 
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Mixed with just a few ingredients such as baking soda, rubbing alcohol and distilled water, I can confidently sanitize my home for myself and my family without having the worry about contributing to cancer or other health ailments!
Here are a few simple tips to get you started on the healthy (and deliciously scented) path to cleaning:
CLEAN UP TOUCHZONES
Some germs are short-lived, others live long times. Regardless, it’s important to clean those areas that are most prone to being holding cells for them. These are areas that your hands come into contact with most frequently. The commonly touched, yet overlooked places of the home: doorknobs, light switches, fridge/oven/dishwasher handles, cupboard knobs, dining room chairs, faucets…..and the toilet flusher!
Clean these places up with a quick spray of a highly effective essential oil blend and swipe them with a cloth and you can be sure to not spread germs throughout the house. Hard surfaces love to invite germs to stay awhile so be sure to give a good scrub to these areas.
Remember, we are here to make healthier homes and bodies. Using toxic chemicals to kill these bad germs off will not get us ahead in this game. No bleach or heavy chemicals needed. Make yourself a solution in a spray bottle and that will certainly do the trick. If you really want to get fancy, you can add isopropyl alcohol to the spray bottle for a boost of germ fighting action.

THE KITCHEN IS GERM ZONE
I’m sure you clean the kitchen often so you are probably thinking your kitchen is good. However, seemingly clean and clean beneath the surface are two different topics. I’m talking mold, mildew, food-borne pathogens, all the yuckies we can’t necessarily see.
To start, you are going to have to deep clean the kitchen! No fun, I know - but necessary. 
Moisture is not your friend in areas that can be breeding grounds for germs: the sink, the fridge. Wipe everything down with your homemade EO kitchen spray. Keep pets off of the counters and tables. Use natural dishwasher detergent and don’t let water sit anywhere in this room. The moisture will quickly and surely become a problem.
Something that has become a handy-dandy cleaning tool for me in the kitchen (and sometimes lends itself in the bathroom: shower) is a steamer. It blasts gunk with steam, pretty fascinating. Saves me from scrubbing. I coat the area with a good layer of kitchen cleaning spray and steam away!
When you are cleaning up produce, meats and other foods – don’t forget they may have brought in food borne illnesses that will make you feel not-so-good. Keep the kitchen clean, always!

ONTO SCRUBBING THE BATHROOM
When we think of where the grossest of germs lives, we typically think about the bathroom. While cleaning sinks, toilets and floors thoroughly is a given (I hope), don’t ignore germ-harboring areas such as your toothbrush, personal care products and makeup containers. In addition to keeping them away from the flushing zone, the toothbrushes should be changed at least every 2-3 months.
Mix up a special blend just for bathroom cleaning and be sure to make that first scrub session a very, very thorough one. Another idea is to re-caulk tubs, windows, faucets to seal up any leaky areas that can contribute to growths that you don’t want growing. From there, you will be on maintenance mode.

Remove all piles of laundry and towels to prevent mildew. Don’t forget to wash the shower curtain. It’s so easy to go months and months with the same curtain hanging, just think of what that thing is housing. Eww. Make it a habit to wash it weekly. Have a spare on hand to swap out so you don’t feel the laundry pressure!
Spray hairbrushes, combs and styling tools with your general bathroom spray. Hey, you never know what’s living on those things!

​My other bathroom tip is to always use new cleaning towels, mops and brushes. Don’t store them without their own cleaning between uses, otherwise you are just shuffling germs around the room. Sprinkling some baking soda to the mix gives an added roughness for the grimy buildups that tend to occur in the bathroom.
Total cleanup on slaying germs while staying chemical free!
Another tip that I do in my own home that I’d like to share, which is also such a simple solution to a regular cleaning schedule is to use a bag in the garbage can. Certainly it isn’t attractive and my leftover grocery shopping bags don’t match my décor, but it saves me from nasty cans and having to touch whatever my family and invited guests have tossed in them.
Pull the bag out when full, give a few spritzes of the pre-made bathroom spray, and stuff a new bag in the garbage can!
 
IF SOMEONE HELD IT, IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED
I’m talking about all of the handheld devices. There are so many of them: phones, tablets, game controllers, remote controls, firestick controllers, keyboards, accessories, and on and on. They get overlooked in the cleaning process in most homes.
A good spray with your general, clean-all spray and a quick and gentle wipe down will do the trick and kill germs so they aren’t being spread by the most commonly touched objects in your home!
How many times have you cleaned your cell phone? Personally, mine gets cleaned several times per day because every time I go into the bathroom, I spray it with my general cleaner and wipe it down quickly. (guilty – I take my phone to the bathroom with me. TMI, I know!).
This particular device, though, is a haven for germs. I’ve caught suggestion (but not proof) that they may even be home to more germs that public restrooms. For something that is a constant gateway to your face: mouth, nose, eyes, ears, it deserves all the extra cleaning love you can give it to prevent the spread of viruses and illness.
I’ve never been that parent to let my kids play with my phone or handheld devices, but for those of you who are – kids are germ bombs! Clean those suckers. A LOT!
 
WASH THE DIGITS
I’m referring to your hands and feet. Now we don’t have to overdo it here, but we need to keep up with our cleanliness. The most effective way to prevent the spread of illness is just by washing with soap and water. I have the most awesome hack in taking the general cleaner and turning it into a foaming soap!
Do you wash your hands good enough or really good? Are you singing the alphabet and getting the tops, bottoms, and in-betweens? Under the nails and around the wrists? If you are, you will need to sing that alphabet song two times!
Alert: antibacterial soap is toxic! I can’t tell you what to do, but I can recommend that you use the Thieves soap and put my twist on it for a foaming wash!
 
Now that we’ve covered hands, how about feet? No, I don’t expect you to wash your feet like you do your hands (unless they stink like my teenage boys, then I will ask you to kindly give a few courtesy washes throughout the day)!
 
The overlooked germ culprit: wearing shoes in the house.
Just yuck! We wear our shoes in public places: parking lots, gas stations, RESTROOMS, we walk through oil, bird (and who knows what other kinds of) poop, pee, squashed insects, fertilizers, chemicals, and all the other grossness of the world. Why – oh why – do we all not take our shoes off in the home?
One of the best ways to keep dirt and germs including allergens and dust at bay is to ask absolutely everyone who steps foot in your house to:
Please remove their shoes!
This also makes cleaning so much easier. Lay a rug down or put a boot tray by the door to allow people to keep their shoes orderly, by the entryway.
 
EXTRAS
“Things” can also live in your bedroom. It’s a really good idea to wash your bedding weekly: sheets, pillowcases, blankets and comforters. They are the kind of germs that spread around town, but they certainly challenge your immune system and have the power to make you feel like crud.
Pet bedding, too!
And, I’m sure we’ve all tried to wash a pillow or two only to pull it from the dryer deformed and never to be the same again. Replace pillows like you do your toothbrush. Or, consider getting a silver pillow

DIFFUSE "CLEAN" AND "HEALTH" INTO THE AIR
First, be sure to change the filter on your furnace. This can immensely improve the quality of your home’s air.
Next, consider an air cleaner. Check out Air Doctor. It’s like bringing fresh air into your home, every time you turn it on.
Finally, and my favorite, diffuse essential oils into every room you inhabit during the day. The blends and benefits are endless. I would love to welcome you to my group to share recipes, tips and tricks in diffusing essential oils in your home!
 
PLAY CLEAN
If you have kids or grandkids or babysit, chances are you have toys that need to be cleaned. I’m not talking about wiping down each and every single toy down on the daily, but I do recommend taking that general spray blend and after you (or the kids) have layed out their toys (or before they clean their messes) spray EVERYTHING!
Play time is learning time and that’s great but we don’t’ need to spread germs in the process!
Want my essential oil tips and tricks? Join my private facebook group to give and take all the suggestions regarding essential oils, including CBD.

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