5 Best Tips for Turning Your Bathroom Organic and Protect Your Health

By: Joseph Akintaju on May 28, 2013 @ 11:59 pm.

If you haven’t gone the route of organic throughout the entire home yet, perhaps you can start with the bathroom. It’s a smaller room to tackle, and there are so many little things you can do to help protect your skin, lungs, and overall health from the harsh chemicals found in non-organic items.

With certified organic products, you can be sure that the chemicals you are breathing in and placing on your body are non-existent. If you have allergies or asthma, then you know the significance of that statement. Chemicals are harmful to anyone, but to an asthmatic, it can be deadly. And, the scariest part of it all is that people can develop asthma in their adult life, sometimes without much warning…or, warnings they are not familiar with at all.

So, read on to learn more about how you can protect you and your family’s health by turning your bathroom organic.

Tip #1 – Cleanliness is Next to the Kitchen

Let’s start with our cleaning products. I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with some of the bathroom cleaners on the market. For the most part, they do their job…clean. However, unless we go in with gas masks when working with them, it’s often difficult to breathe during and immediately afterward.

So, I was thrilled to find out during my research that there are many items right in our kitchen pantries that can clean just as well, without making the area toxic. For example, if you mix equal parts of water and vinegar and place it in a spray bottle, it can replace chemical-laden window cleaners or multi-purpose cleaners.

Even when trying to get rid of mold and mildew, you can turn to your pantry. Mix baking soda with water to form a paste, then let it set for a while on the stubborn area, before wiping off with water. Tree tea oil is another option, by mixing 2 tablespoons with 2 cups water.

Tip #2 – Beauty from the Pantry

pantry (Photo credit: donaleen)

While you are in the pantry, take note of ingredients you have for replacing some of the makeup in your bathroom drawers. You could easily replace lipstick and balms purchased at the store by taking a vitamin E capsule and mixing a little beet juice, or even a touch of Kool-Aid powder to it. If you want a stronger stain, use it straight up.

Another tip would be to use a light dusting of cornstarch, in place of pressed compact powder. It won’t give you any tone or color, in fact, just the opposite. The best thing to do with this is to use it sparingly at first, until you reach the desired amount.

Tip #3 – Suds it Up

Just as above, you can replace your shampoos with natural products found in your kitchen. You can use egg, or even mayonnaise to cleanse your hair. Of course, there won’t be any suds when using these ingredients. But, for the most part, ‘suds’ are a gimmick to make it seem like it’s working.

Some of you might not find shampooing with eggs or mayonnaise appealing, and I can personally understand that, but the choice is yours to go this route, or simply buy an organic or hypoallergenic shampoo at the store. Either way, it will remove unnecessary chemicals from your daily routine.

Tip #4 – Natural Skin Care

The skin care market is a highly profitable field, with many expensive facial and body treatments readily available for you to purchase at glitzy salons and spas. However, studies have shown that most are typically no better than a basic product you can find online, at the local pharmacy, or right in your own pantry. Yep, it’s back to the pantry for this category.
Here are some very natural and inexpensive ideas for skin care:

Pineapple and lemon juices can tighten large pores and diminish blemishes
Exfoliate your face and body with a paste made of sugar, salt, or fruit seeds
Goat’s milk will help nourish dry skin
Mix avocado and honey to soften dry and rough skin
Egg whites make a great firming and brightening mask for the face
Citrus peelings also make a great scrub for refreshing dull skin

You can even borrow from the liquor cabinet if you are so inclined. Dab a little vodka on dull skin to help brighten it. Just dabbed, not shaken or stirred.

Tip #5 – Linens and Things

Finally, replace your linens such as towels and shower curtains with hypoallergenic or organic. These are made without chemicals that can spread into the air. Also, the shower curtain can breed mold and mildew faster than you can say it, so it’s best to pay careful attention to that alone.
If you can, replace the curtain with a glass shower door. However, I realize that it could get expensive to do that, if you had to replace the tub and shower to have one fit appropriately. So, if you don’t want that expense, use a cloth curtain, which you can launder frequently, without a plastic or vinyl liner.

To Sum It Up…

If you are considering taking your home into the realm of organic and natural, the bathroom is a logical place to start. It’s small, and has many items of concern when it comes to allergens and chemicals. Fortunately, the transition can be smooth and inexpensive.

As a writer and online marketer, Rick Mercado enjoys working from home most of the time. However, he can occasionally be found down at the local coffee house with his laptop researching his next projects. Currently he is writing on the topic of organic natural skin care products for http://www.mysensitiveskincare.com and looks forward to sharing tips he has discovered. Living with his wife in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Rick enjoys the outdoors by getting in as much hiking and kayaking as possible.

Further Reading