Small changes that made the biggest difference for our family
Starting a cleaner-living journey can feel daunting, costly, and incredibly overwhelming. There’s the frustration of trying new products and figuring out what actually works for your family, deciding where to start, and learning which products truly meet your standards versus which ones simply have great “clean” marketing.
These were all struggles we faced when we began making changes in our own home.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is this: start small.
Start with one room or one category. Make one simple change at a time. You do not need to throw away everything in your house and replace it overnight.
If you’re just getting started, these are the five changes I would make first. They’re practical, relatively easy to implement, and some of the changes that have made the biggest difference for our family.
1. Replace Harsh Household Cleaners
Household cleaners are a great place to start because they’re products we use constantly—bathroom cleaner, all-purpose spray, disinfecting wipes, glass cleaner, and more.
This was one of the first changes I made after becoming a mom. I started paying much closer attention to the ingredients in the products we were using around our home and, more importantly, around our babies.
Some conventional cleaning products can contain ingredients that may irritate the skin, eyes, or respiratory system, particularly for people who are sensitive to them. Fragrance was another big consideration for our family as we started navigating sensitive skin and eczema.
Some ingredients we personally try to limit or avoid include:
- Added fragrance
- Parabens
- Ammonia
- 2-butoxyethanol
- Chlorine
Two of our favorite brands are ATTITUDE and Branch Basics. We use products from both regularly, and they’ve made switching our household cleaners much easier.
2. Upgrade Your Hand Soap
Hand soap is another incredibly easy swap because it’s something your family uses multiple times every single day.
Some conventional soaps contain fragrances, dyes, and harsher cleansing ingredients that can be irritating or drying, especially for sensitive skin. With eczema being something our family has dealt with firsthand, simplifying the products that repeatedly come into contact with our skin became especially important to us.
And remember: cleaner living doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
If you want to make better choices but still love having a seasonal scent in your kitchen or bathroom, that’s okay! Find the balance that works for your family.
We like products from both ATTITUDE and Branch Basics. ATTITUDE also offers scented options, which can be a nice middle ground if you aren’t ready to give up fragrance entirely.
For our family, we’ve mostly chosen unscented products as we’ve worked to identify potential triggers for our little guy’s eczema.
3. Switch to Lower-Tox Laundry Products
Laundry products are another worthwhile category to look at because our clothing, bedding, towels, pajamas, and blankets are against our skin every single day.
Traditional detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, and scent boosters can contain fragrances and other ingredients that may be irritating to sensitive skin and may be linked to an abundance of other health issues. If someone in your family deals with eczema or easily irritated skin, simplifying your laundry routine may be particularly worth considering.
One of our favorites is the fragrance-free laundry detergent and fabric softener from ATTITUDE. We’ve also used some of their scented laundry products in the past and enjoyed them.
Swapping to dryer balls instead of dryer sheets is not only a healthier alternative, but also an economical and environmentally-friendly one as well.
You don’t need an elaborate laundry routine. A simple detergent that works well for your family is enough.
4. Choose Safer Food Storage
Replacing every plastic food-storage container in your kitchen with glass can get expensive quickly, so this is one swap I definitely wouldn’t recommend doing overnight.
Take your time.
Buy a couple of glass containers when they’re on sale. Put a set on your Christmas list. Replace old containers as they wear out or donate them instead of throwing away perfectly usable items just for the sake of replacing them.
One reason we’ve moved toward glass is to reduce how much plastic comes into contact with our food, particularly when food is heated or stored for longer periods.
If you’re not ready to make the full switch, food-grade silicone and BPA-free containers can be useful stepping stones.
5. Filter Your Water Sources
Water was another area we decided to tackle gradually.
Depending on where you live and your water source, your water can contain different minerals, disinfectants, metals, and other substances. Rather than assuming everyone needs the same filtration system, I recommend first learning what’s actually in your water and deciding which changes make sense from there.
And just like everything else on this list, you don’t have to do it all at once.
For our family, we started with a whole-house water-softening system and then gradually added filtration in individual areas of our home.
One product we’ve enjoyed using is the Canopy bath filter. I especially like the silicone spout cover and temperature indicator when bathing little ones, and the replaceable filter makes maintenance straightforward.
Water filtration can become one of the more expensive swaps on this list, so this is definitely an area where I recommend taking your time and prioritizing what makes the most sense for your home.
Start Small
Finding products that you love—and that actually work for your family—can be one of the hardest parts of making cleaner swaps.
I’ve spent a lot of time researching products, reading ingredients, trying things that didn’t work, and eventually finding products we genuinely enjoy using. My hope is that sharing what we’ve learned makes the process a little less overwhelming for someone else.
You don’t need a perfectly “non-toxic” home. You just need a place to start.
Pick one swap. Make it work for your family. Then move on to the next one when you’re ready.
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