Bathrooms and laundry didn’t feel clean unless it had that strong scent. I knew the janitors had sanitized the showers at my gym when I got a trace of the bleach smell. That whiff of bleach, however, is toxic.
When chlorine bleach is mixed with ammonia, it creates a fatal gas. Bleach is corrosive; it can burn skin. Bleach can also cause respiratory issues, increase allergies and asthma symptoms, and is linked to breast cancer.
There are healthier and more environmentally sound ways to clean your house and whiten your laundry. Because I was paranoid about chemicals and harming the baby during my pregnancies, I switched to natural products to clean and disinfect: baking soda, vinegar, and lemon. These are inexpensive and have become staples in our house.
Here are a five ways to clean using these products. You don’t get the smell of bleach, but that’s actually a good thing.
1. Use vinegar to clean mold. Our daughter’s humidifier got moldy and instead of using bleach, we soaked it in white distilled vinegar. You can prevent mildew in the shower by spraying vinegar on shower walls.
2. Whiten clothes with baking soda or vinegar. Add a 1/2 cup of vinegar and a 1/2 cup of baking soda to your wash. Your clothes will be whiter and brighter then ever and stains will disappear. Presoaking whites in a solution of 1 cup vinegar and 6 cups warm water overnight will also whiten your clothes.
3. Clean your garbage disposal. Put a lemon or orange down the garbage disposal and grind away. The juice from the fruits and peels clean the garbage disposal and create a fresh citrus scent.
http://living.msn.com/home-decor/cleaning-organizing/all-natural-bleach-alternatives-to-keep-your-house-safe-and-sparkly-clean-1
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