UPDATE: Congratulations to Tara-Lynn Jackson for winning our giveaway!

When Carly asked me to do a review for Norwex cleaning products I was thrilled! I consider myself to be a certified germaphobe, so I never reject somebody basically asking me to clean my house.

One night while puting Ayven to bed I was filling up his humidifier and noticed it needed a cleaning. Because of the cold steam it has the tendency to create a build up of mildew and other sorts of water remnants.

Before

After

I pulled out the Enviro Cloth and gave the humidifier a once-over wipe and the machine looked brand new. I couldn’t believe how simple it was and loved how I removed everything safely without any toxins or soaps. This cloth also worked wonders on a pair of Ayven’s impossible-to-clean shoes.

I tackled dusting our bedroom blinds with the Antibac Dust Mitt and not only noticed the large amount of dust the mitt picked up but thoroughly enjoyed how short-people friendly it was because the dust stuck firmly to the mitt instead of clumping up and falling down on me as I reached up high.

Usually I smirk and avoid our bedroom mirror, as it is prone to having bits of paper towel get stuck in between the small glass tiles, but with the window cloth I was able to wipe away any finger prints or smudges, chemical and paper towel free!

Norwex offers a variety of toxin and chemical free products, including their Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent which I used as a stain remover on a couple of Ayven’s daycare shirts and to wash a load of his laundry

It’s always a pleasure to provide a clean home, but even more satisfying is knowing you are doing so without harmful toxins and chemicals interfering with our environment, and most definitely our children.

Carly note: Oshawa mom Angela Quick provided the products, and sells Norwex via  www.healthiergreeneryou.com. She has given us a fabulous package to give away today: A Norwex Clean Pack which includes  one of each of the following: Antibac Enviro Cloth, Antibac Window Cloth, and Antibac Dust Mitt.

Visit Angela’s site, and leave a comment with why chemical-free cleaning is important to your family. We’ll pick a winner in the next few days. Good luck, and thanks to our germaphobe Krystle for the review!

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Krystle Pereira is a 23-year-old Mom to my 3-year-old Ayven and common-law wife to Adrian, a tradesman.  They live in North Oshawa and are anxiously awaiting our departure back to their native Whitby. Krystle interrupted her journalism studies to become a full-time mom but recently went back to school.  Lover of organization, hater of clutter, seeker of balance for family and lifestyle as a young mom. Read her at Starting Young.

Like most moms I know, I will never claim to have a perpetually sparkling clean house, but it’s always tidy. We tend to give the house a good scrub once a month, and when we do, we’ve almost completely switched to green cleaning products: Shopper’s Drug Mart’s Bio-Life, Method, President’s Choice Green.

So when the ladies from Whitby’s Two Green Moms Cleaning contacted me about their environmentally-friendly cleaning service, I got a tad excited. Then I almost passed out because they offered to come clean my house with their complete line of Melaleuca ammonia-free, bleach-free, phospate-free and abrasive-free products.

Do you know how amazing it is to come home and find those pretty lines on the carpet from the vacuum and you didn’t make them yourself?

That we did a few Saturdays ago. Donna and Carole showed up, shooed us out of the house, and cleaned it from top to bottom.

And let me tell you: It was sparking. Just as good, if not better, than regular cleaners (I’ve found this again and again now that we’ve switched). And the best part: No harsh chemical smell, no toxic products washed down the drain or sitting in my tub or toilet waiting for Lucy to get her hands mixed up in.

(We’ve always paid particular attention to the products we use on her, but especially now that she’s battling eczema and is potty training. She spends more time in the tub and lifting up the toilet to flush away her potty deposits, and the last thing I want her exposed to are harsh commercial cleansers.)

I was particularly impressed with how my (ridiculous, original-to-the-house) white fibreglass sink and white laminate countertops turned out. These are the bane of my existence in a household that loves tea, coffee, berries and tomato products — all of which immediately stain. None of my regular green products or stain-fighting recipes found online worked to get them clean, and I’ve resorted to bleach for the past year. But Carole’s elbow grease combined with Melaleuca’s Tough and Tender lifted it all away! I was astounded.

The ladies were thorough, polite and respectful — a fantastic combination. I love that they’re taking their own strong beliefs they practice at home, and turning it into a unique business to protect the health of other families.

Donna and Carole always give free estimates, and are offering Durham Region Baby readers 10% off their first cleaning!

Give them a shout or email at: Donna or 905-665-5290.

Free safety booklet: Health Canada recently updated their informative pamphlet Is Your Child Safe, and it’s free for download here. It contains tips about products (cribs, gates, strollers), in-house safety and beyond (playgrounds, the car)

Priti: Lucy always notices my painted toe nails, but so far has yet to ask for the same. I can only imagine the time is near, and if had enough expendable income, I’d so pick up some of these — get this — toluene-, DBP- and formaldehyde-free nail polishes called Priti. The set also includes a soy nail polish remover that is 100% biodegradable and free of petroleum ingredients

Is it any less creepy if you only eat the torso?: Another great post from Cake Wrecks. “Someone’s having a baby! Let’s celebrate by eating one!”

Just a few pieces shy of a plastic bubble: Moving up the scale of germaphobia, we have “disposable sanitary hand covers” for kids. I’m not joking. “gLovies used to protect children in a variety of places and circumstances, including public restrooms, malls and supermarkets, zoos and amusement parks, medical facilities, public transportation, or wherever children may come into contact with germs.” You could save yourself $4.99 and just duct tape some plastic bags on your baby’s hands…

Printable games for the car: Free here, for any long-ish car ride

Local fair listings: Some of these have past, but this great list of Ontario Fairs is a neat weekend planning tool for summer and fall (Durham is district 4)

While at the Green Living Show this weekend, I picked up several cards that list cosmetic and personal care ingredients in big and little kid products to avoid. These are synthetics that are potentially harmful — especially to vulnerable, developing babies.

(For the record, I’m SO not saying these ARE harmful or cause cancer or make your arms fall off or or will kill us all tomorrow. They are thought to be harsh or not environmentally-friendly or come from nonrenewable resources. And yes, this information comes from companies that sell naturally-based products with their own agendas. Which is why I’m linking to Wikipedia or Google for definitions, where you can find all sorts of links on your own.)

While I knew of some of these (parabens and phthalates) I thought you might like to see what other things to look for on an ingredient list. As with food, if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not good for you…

• sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate — a cleansing agent that creates foam and suds (which is why many natural products are not near as “soapy” as we’re used to)
• parabens — preservatives used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Controversial studies have linked it to cancer and increased estrogen.
• phthalates — used in plastics to make them more elastic, and found in everything from shower curtains to sex toys to nail polish and perfume and iPods. Controversial studies have linked it to hormonal imbalances (especially in fetuses) and allergies.
• petrolatum — a greasy, film-building skin protector widely used in cosmetics. Byproduct of petroleum (duh).
• phenylenediamine (PPD) — used in hair and textile dyes, printer ink and photographic products. A known allergen.
• coal-tar colours (FD&C or D&C) — synthetic food and cosmetic colour dye.
• diethanolamine (DEA) — used to create a creamy texture and foaming action. Linked to cancer, decreased brain development and miscarriages.
• dimethicone — a silicone oil used in shampoo to make hair slippery and shiny.
• formaldehyde — too. much. to. process.
• phosphate — commonly added to dishwasher detergent to help soften water and boost cleaning power. Excessive amounts in our water can create excess algae.
• oxybenzone — organic compound used in sunscreen and cosmetics as it absorbs UVA rays. A known carcinogen that penetrates the skin and creates free radicals (this one scares me, because I’ve been wearing sunscreen cream for years, and regularly slather it on Lucy. Need to look into it more and find alternatives.)

FYI, two of my favourite Durham retailers (who also happen to advertise, yes) carry wonderful natural baby bath products. Tamarra of Lollipops & Lizards (online) now carries the Little Twig line, and Shelby of Natural Earth Tones (Oshawa) has the All Things Jill line. Both are great priced (the higher cost of natural and organic products is always an impediment for people, myself included, which is why these are great).

President’s Choice had a HUGE booth at the show and was really promoting its Green products. We got a free, full-size sample of their floor cleaner and cleaning putty. Currently, we use the laundry soap, toilet paper and paper towels, and will switch to the dishwasher detergent when our stock is up. I love that these are so accessible and reasonably priced.

A company called Live Clean gave away tons of mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner to promote their eco-friendly body care line. Their stuff is 96% plant derived, and they gave out this neat bookmark that you can plant to make a wildflower garden (what clever, clever marketing).

This post is huge, so I’d better stop before your eyes roll back in your head from too much info or you click screaming away from the hippie-ness. Hope it all helps!

I’ve been slowly exhausting our harsh cleaners and replacing them with biodegradable, chemical-free stuff (such as the Method line). When we moved, we needed almost everything: bathroom cleaner, dish soap, wood polish etc.

It was there, in the aisle of our local Shoppers Drug Mart while looking for more Method, that it happened.

I found the best bathroom cleaner ever. Ever, ever, ever.

Shopper’s has a new line of biodegradable, non-toxic and phosphate-free cleaners called BioLife. So far there is a dish soap, all purpose cleaner and a tub and tile formula.

I’m not kidding: the tub and tile stuff leaves our bathrooms sparkling with hardly any scrubbing (yes, the bottle says to just spray and wipe, but I always scrub). I use it on sinks, the shower, tubs — even inside the toilet bowl. It works kick-ass incredible, far better than the Method bathroom cleaner or any bleachy/harsh product I’ve ever used.

It’s got a sweet pear scent that doesn’t burn your lungs off, and rinses clean. Best part (aside from non-killing-the-environment properties, worry-free baby bathing, oh and breathing): it’s only $4 for any 750 ml BioLife product.

(Note: we have soft water here, so I can’t comment on really tough, hard water soap scum like we had at the old place.)

Go get it. Not now, ’cause it’s Saturday night and you should have better things to do (shut up, we have company coming tomorrow…), but soon.