Homemade cleansers keep your home clean and green

Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, alkylphenol ethoxylates and quaternary ammonium compounds.

These are a few of the hundreds of different chemicals found in common household cleaning products. And with the growing trend in organic living and awareness of the health risks associated with a number of daily-use items, many people don’t want to bring such chemicals into their homes.

Meg Morton of Better Birthing Tennessee has an inexpensive, nontoxic alternative to commercials cleansers — she makes her own, and she wants to help others learn to do the same.

A couple weeks ago, Morton shared her knowledge with about a dozen women at a workshop at Woodland Presbyterian Church. It was the second time she had delivered her “green” pitch at the East Nashville church.

Most of the cleansers have a base of unscented castile soap — an olive oil-based soap made popular in the 1960s by Dr. Emmanuel H. Bronner and marketed as Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap.

“It’s this crazy peppermint cleaner that people used for everything,” Morton said. “You could brush your teeth with it or you could shampoo your carpet with it. It’s a totally biodegradable and body-safe cleaner.”

Depending on what needs to be cleaned, Morton adds different essential oils to the unscented base. She also uses baking soda, vinegar and boric acid.

“[Essential oils] all have different properties, so it depends on what you want to use it for,” she said. “If you’re trying to disinfect, there are essential oils that are perfect for that. For a smell, there are essential oils that are better for that.

“Everything that we use is biodegradable and kid-safe,” she said. “You could use these without worry.”

Everyone in the class went home with an all-purpose cleanser, an abrasive cleanser (similar to Soft Scrub) and a sanitizer spray. She also compiled an information sheet with recipes for a variety of less-frequently used cleaners for stainless steel, granite and countertops.

There are plenty of recipes for homemade cleansers online, but Morton said seeing how they’re made and sharing ideas with others inspired her to add cleansers to her repertoire of childbirth workshops. Visit www.betterbirthingtn.com for more information.