What Are the Most Important Cleaning Product Swaps to Make for Babies & Kids?

What are the most important cleaning product swaps to make for baby and kid safety? 

Mom Detective answers:

Swapping cleaning products for safer versions is one of the best things any parent or caregiver can do to improve indoor air quality at home. Conventional cleaning products contain any number of potentially harmful chemical ingredients meant to kill germs and bust up filth. Unfortunately in the process of “cleaning,” these cleaners leave their own mess behind, typically in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that vaporize into the air you breathe and can also leave chemical residue behind on surfaces.

VOCs and other chemicals released from cleaners have been linked to respiratory problems like asthma, plus headaches and allergic reactions, says the American Lung Association. If you’ve ever smelled an air freshener or your bathroom after you’ve scrubbed it, you may associate the fragrance with being clean. But what you’re smelling is indoor air pollution. 

Children are uniquely vulnerable to VOCs because they’re still developing and because they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. It’s difficult to know what exactly you’re breathing because cleaning product manufacturers are not required by law to list all their ingredients on their containers or make them public (though some states including New York have been trying for years to push for household cleansing product information disclosure). If you buy shampoo or even cereal, you know what’s in it. Toilet bowl cleaner, not so much. 

Making the Swap

So what cleaner to swap to first? I would say everything! Still, making lasting change is specific to the individual. You’ll need to set realistic goals that work for your family. Start with the items that are impacting your baby and kids daily, and build up from there. These include:

Floor and rug cleaners, especially in households with crawling babies (while you’re at it, institute a no shoes indoors policy to limit dirt, germs, and chemical residue on those floors)

All-purpose cleaner used on high chairs and toys

Dish and dishwasher soap used for baby bottles, kids utensils, and more

Laundry detergent for all of those tiny clothes and bedding

Ditch air fresheners or plug-ins entirely, especially in kids’ rooms and playrooms 

Bathroom products, especially for the kids’ tub

Rethinking Cleaning

What are you trying to clean — and why? If no one in your household has been sick recently, you don’t need to wipe everything with chemicals so harsh their bottles have skull and crossbones warnings on them. So much of what we buy to clean, we do on autopilot. If you’ve never read the directions on your cleaning products, try it. You may not be diluting the product enough or using it with adequate ventilation. Never use cleaning products in a small, enclosed space. Always open windows when cleaning. Maybe you don’t know to never use bleach with ammonia; the gases created when combined are highly toxic. If someone has been sick, or if you’re cleaning up after, say, raw chicken prep, there are less harsh ways to kill germs than household bleach, even when adequately diluted. Hydrogen peroxide, for example, is just hydrogen and oxygen and is registered by the EPA as an antimicrobial pesticide. (Pro tip: Peroxide works for laundry whitening, too, but even it can cause skin and eye irritation, depending on the concentration.) Though equally effective, “green” cleaners may not work the same way you’re accustomed to. 

Fragrance

Many people equate chemical fragrance scent (think fake lemon) with “clean.” But fragrance is sneaky; due to trade secret rules, the specific ingredients of any given fragrance formula aren’t required to be disclosed. Hundreds of unlabeled and unknown chemicals can be included in any one fragrance. Common fragrance chemicals include phthalates, reproductive and developmental toxins, and carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde. Scented cleaning products release these into indoor air. Scented laundry products including dryer sheets put fragrance in your kids’ beds. I swapped my laundry detergent for a fragrance-free natural product after perfume residue gave my baby a rash. Natural, non-synthetic scents can also irritate skin, but they don’t linger in indoor air. 

DIY 

There’s almost nothing that can’t be cleaned with warm water and safe dish soap. White vinegar is also a workhorse — and edible. I keep a spray bottle of vinegar mixed with water in my kitchen and use it to wipe all surfaces down nightly. Vinegar works well on wood floors, high chairs, glass, and mirrors, too. For tubs, baking soda and baby mild liquid soap makes a good scrub. These are just the basics, though; entire books have been written on the subject.

Buying Safer Options

Not a DIY type? Buy safer products widely available at most stores. You won’t miss the carcinogens, hormone disruptors, plus lung, eye, and throat irritants, I promise. 

Makers of cleaning products should not wield more power than the protection of kids’ health. Join Moms Clean Air Force to demand our elected officials place the onus on cleaning product manufacturers to make safe cleaners for all, especially our children.

Alexandra Zissu writes the Mom Detective column at Moms Clean Air Force, a series of investigative stories about what’s hiding in everyday stuff. She’s also the author of six books about the connections between environment and health: Earth Squad, Get on Top, The Conscious Kitchen, Planet Home, The Complete Organic Pregnancy, and The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat.