Branch Basics Co-Founders Share 5 Ways To Create A Healthier Home

With warmer weather around the corner and Spring in the air, it always feels right to do a refresh and deep clean of your home.

You may already be paying close attention to the products you use on your body, but did you know that certain household products, like house cleaners, laundry detergent and pesticides, can wreak havoc on the air quality of your home, mess with your hormone balance and cause a slew of issues including headaches, allergies, asthma and even eczema?

Since most of us spend about 90% of our time indoors and studies show that often the air quality inside your home is more polluted than outdoors, it makes total sense to focus on ways to improve your home’s air quality.

But not to fear! Simple changes will get you on the path to a healthier home by reducing your exposure to toxic chemicals and enabling your body to rest and rejuvenate while at home.

We are walking you through our top 5 steps to get started.

Our best piece of advice is to ditch any products with toxic red flag words (CAUTION, WARNING or DANGER), products that have ingredients rated higher than 1 on EWG’s Skin Deep database or products rated below A on EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning and remove them from your home. And we don’t just mean pushing them to the back of the kitchen cabinet or stuffing them in a hall closet. In order to reap the benefits of better air quality, you must remove these products from your home completely. This simple act dramatically improves your home’s air quality! Need help getting started? Check our free Home Cleanse series.

When considering one of the most important ways to create a healthy home, you must focus on laundry. Your clothing sits on your skin all day, you sleep in your sheets all night and you dry off from bathing with laundered towels.

Did you know that most of us spend about 90% of our time indoors? Studies show that often the air quality inside your home is more polluted than outdoors, so focusing on improving your indoor air quality is incredibly beneficial. We suggest using indoor plants, cleaning with a HEPA vacuum and investing in a high-quality air purifier for best results. Another great way to improve air quality? Open your windows and doors for at least 10 minutes a day! Ahh, that feels nice!

Synthetic fragrances have been linked to asthma, allergies, skin irritation, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, cancer, nervous system, respiratory, and endocrine disruption. Look for red flag words – “fragrance”, “parfum” or indications on the label of a “fresh clean smell.” This is a concern with many “non-toxic” cleaners. Many essential oils are processed with solvents that have harmful VOCs, so botanical fragrances should be organic or wildcrafted and must be extracted through distillation, not with solvents. This includes your personal care products, cleaners, laundry and even candles or air fresheners. Even conventional products labeled as “unscented” or “free and clear” can contain masking agents that are added to simply cover up fragrance with another toxic chemical. Always look for an ingredient list and not just the unscented claim.

Thankfully with companies like Primally Pure, you can skip the guessing game when choosing your products. And with our Branch Basics Starter Kit, you can easily transition all of your home cleaning products without the headache!

Any steps you can take to start creating a healthy home are important ones! Need more home cleaning tips? Follow us @branchbasics!