Chemical Purge

I haven't shampooed my hair in over a week. It's been almost as long since soap has touched my face. And that Seventh Generation cleaner I always used on my kitchen counters? Well, it's been over a year.

While you're on hold with CPS to report the squalor I'm allowing Ethan to live in, let me assure you that my house (and body) is perfectly clean. I've just been gradually removing chemicals from my cabinets in favor of more natural remedies. It started around the time Ethan began crawling. Even though the Seventh Generation cleaner I'd always used is supposed to be natural, I was looking for something totally baby-proof. So I went old-school. Starting with the kitchen counters, I began using a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and water. Then I began using it in the bathrooms, too. With the addition of my new steam mop, all of my cleaning agents are now homemade, and my home is even more sparkling than before!

Then I discovered coconut oil. I was looking for a lotion/diaper cream for Ethan, and it became a fixture in my bathroom cabinet as well. This stuff is an amazing moisturizer, it smells divine, and you can use it in the kitchen to boot! I slather it on my hands every night, and it's cloth-diaper safe, so I can use it on Ethan without fear.

My most recent switches have come in the past week only because I wanted to wait until after graduation since there is a bit of an in-between time where you can look a greasy mess. I first heard about going "no-poo" from a blog written by a local mommy friend of mine last November. I decided then that I wanted to try ditching the shampoo but decided to wait until the pony-tails of summer allowed me to hide my greasily-adjusting hair. Y'all, this method is amazing! My hair already feels healthier and silkier. It's definitely still adjusting as the oil levels regulate themselves (it takes a couple of weeks), but I don't foresee going back to shampoo.

While I was already greasy from the no-poo plunge, I decided to try out the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). Using the science of "like dissolves like" this involves washing your face with a mixture of castor oil and olive oil. After the first night, my face felt silky and smooth, and it's such a relaxing process! I had heard there could be an adjustment period with this method as well, but I honestly haven't noticed any difference. The breakout that was starting when I began the OCM was stopped in its tracks. We'll see if it passes the test of hormonal breakouts or not, but I have high hopes for this method as it avoids any need for facial cleanser or moisturizer, and, at the very least, it seems to work just as well.

So what started as an attempt to keep chemicals out of Ethan's crawling environment has become a process of detoxing the house entirely. I have a feeling there will be more changes over the coming months as I discover new ways to ditch the chemicals in favor of more natural methods. But there are still some things I'll hang on to. Most notably: store-bought deodorant, more specifically antiperspirant. In just the past week, two different recipes for homemade deodorant have come up on blogs and forums I follow. My husband has been trying to get me to stop using antiperspirant since we met, but I've just told him it'll be his job to care for me when I'm struck by the aluminum-induced Alzheimer's. I may not know who I am, but at least I won't be sweaty.