Hi, Y’all!
I know that I always like when one cleaner has additional uses. I’m writing this post today, because I have great news! The shower spray that I brought to you the other day, click this link to read about how to make it, has an additional use: It works wonderfully to clean stone or tile floors. (Note: Do NOT use this spray on wood floors. It will strip the finish.)
Here is how I do it:
I get out my sponge mop, and my EC3 Shower Spray.
Have you watched television lately? I know in a world where most of us are watching Netflix or Apple TV, instead of live television, we miss many of the commercials and breaks in the action. But, if you have watched live TV lately, you have probably encountered a commercial featuring the Mold Test Kit by My Mold Detective.
Because the commercial doesn’t say much about how the testing works or what it bases its science on, I became suspect. So, I decided to investigate it myself to see if it was a legitimate product and way of actually finding out if your home or workplace had a mold issue. When I see something like this product going mainstream to the point where it is advertised on national television, it excites me, because it means that enough people are questioning the safety of their environments to warrant its being advertised to such a large audience.
Today I’m linking to the Sinusitis Wellness Blog to bring you an article authored by sinus expert, Dr. Donald P. Dennis. The article details 4 very simple, but important steps you can take to lessen sinus symptoms, especially, if your issues are caused by mold sensitivity.
Dr. Dennis says that if your sinus symptoms are accompanied by muscle and joint pain, fibromyalgia, dizziness, brain fog, fatigue, swelling, food allergies, Candida infections, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and hormonal imbalance, you are very likely one of the 16% of the population with a mold sensitivity.
Many doctors try to treat and kill only the active sinus infection. Unfortunately, antibiotics and antibacterials do not treat the fungal component that actually causes the infection in the first place. This article helps to detail and explain solutions to the fungal or mold piece. As a matter of fact, numbers 1, 2, and 3 on his list include using products that I use almost everyday and detail in my blog. (Hint: CitriDrops for sinus washes, EC3 home cleaning products, and Mold Test plates.) Reading it may truly change your perspective, and possibly offer you the relief you have been looking for. Because, chances are, if you are reading this blog post, you know that you or someone in your life has issues with mold.
Take care, be well, and continue to educate yourself about mold!
While in New Zealand for graduate school, I was introduced to an essential oil that 3 years later would cure Candida patches on my husband’s skin. Manuka oil is used in New Zealand for just about everything. We call it tea tree oil here in the States.
Manuka oil is antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and suitable for sensitive skin. The honey from the Manuka tree is even used to treat mouth sores, sore throats, and thrush. The key difference is the absence of Manuka oil in all-natural household cleaning and disinfecting products. It is much gentler, less reactive oil, and is usually used more for skincare and topical applications.
Manuka oil, unlike typical tea tree oil has been proven effective in fighting gram-positive bacteria, think staph, strep, anthrax and MRSA. Let’s just say, the stuff is not fooling around. Also, your body never develops a resistance to it, so it will work and continue to work for a prolonged period of time.
Fragrance is a huge thing for me. It has actually been one of the hardest things to let go of when going non-toxic and natural in our home. I miss the lovely floral, fresh linen and ocean breeze scents of some of the old cleaning products I used to use. Most of those smells in store-bought cleaning products are from chemical and synthetic sources, though, so they are no longer an option for my family.
Now that I am making a huge effort to combat mold, in addition to removing toxins from our cleaning products, I am in an even harder position. Those “clean” smells that most people are used to in their laundry, are not a choice for me. In fact, most of those fragrances actually permeate your clothes and can be hard to remove. The perfumes can also seal in bacteria, making biological odors, like body and food odors difficult to remove. So, even though your laundry is fragranced with “fresh linen,” it is, in fact, full of biological odors. That’s pretty gross, right?!!
It is also notable that, because many fragrance compounds are considered “trade secrets” in the fragrance industry, companies are not required to display the list of what comprises the scent on the packaging. For example, on the back of a Crystal Rain-scented Windex bottle, the list of ingredients reads as follows: Water, cleaning agents, carriers, wetting agent, pH adjuster, fragrance, dyes, SCJ formula #35 17344. What? Does that tell you anything about what is in the product? Not me. I have less understanding than before I read it!
After concerns started to arise about these chemicals and how much was unknown about them, in 2008, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) issued a master list of over 3,100 known chemicals that are used by the fragrance industry. Among those on the list are carcinogens, hormone disruptors like galaxolide and tonalide (both synthetic musks), the phthalates diethyl phthalate (DEP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), which have been shown to cause reproductive and developmental harm in laboratory animals, and are linked to similar impacts in humans, and disinfectants, like triclosan and ammonium quaternary compounds, which might contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant germs, interfere with hormone regulation, or be harmful to the immune system. Not surprisingly, numerous allergens are also included in the list. That list alone is enough to terrify me. Unfortunately, there is no data provided on how commonly these chemicals are used, by what amount, or even by type of fragranced product. That’s even scarier to me.
We need flooring. We are finishing a part of the basement, and it’s time to decide what to do about the floors. My fears about flooring, carpet especially, all stem from the mold and chemical sensitivities of my husband and son. Of course, I worry about dust and other allergens, toxic glues, dyes, fabrics, and mold, but add to that the idea of putting it in the basement, and I become totally overwhelmed. Mostly, I worry about mold down there, because it is darker, danker and usually quite a bit colder than the rest of our home. I don’t have to contend with it much now, because it is unfinished space, and we just store things down there, but once it is finished, the kids will want to be down there, and I want it to be safe, usable space.
Because we haven’t decided exactly how to condition the space, I started to really look into flooring materials and options that can withstand humidity, and will not be cesspools for mold. That is when I discovered cork flooring.
Cork tree
Colorful, beautiful and essential to your health, fruits and veggies deserve a prominent place in your kitchen. Ensure they are mold/toxin-free with this DIY wash.
Eating a large variety of fruits and vegetables is important to maintaining your health and increasing your body’s ability to fight off sickness and disease. What you don’t want to do, though, is to purchase all of those colorful fruits and vegetables and become sick from not cleaning them properly prior to consumption. In fact, in recent years, contaminated fruits and vegetables have been the culprit in several large outbreaks of food-borne illness. Fruits and vegetables may become contaminated when soil or fertilizers are not thoroughly washed off, even organic fruits and vegetables are grown in soils that can have E-coli bacteria present, and from when they come into contact with bacteria or harmful substances during harvesting and/or transport. But don’t let your fear of possible contamination prevent you from eating healthfully. I have developed some helpful DIY tools for washing your fruits and veggies.
My husband has to travel almost weekly for work. Unfortunately, that means he spends lots of time in hotels and hotel rooms. With his extreme sensitivity to mold and mold-related allergens, this part of his job poses some difficulty for his health.
These candles can take the mold count in an unsafe room down to nearly zero in 3 hours.
The good news is that MicroBalance Health Products continues to produce handy tools for allergy sufferers that can be used to make hotel rooms less of a nightmare. My husband takes the EC3 Air Purification Candles with him on all of his trips.
This happens to me more often than I’d like to admit, because I’m so conscious of my environment and mold, but I’ll be cleaning my kitchen and come over to where I keep my dish sponge and counter sponges and I’ll smell it—that funky moldy, mildew smell. The minute it hits me, I know I have let my sponges sit too long. They are full of mold, and they smell really bad. Now what? How can I clean my sponges for mold and bacteria?