Hey all! One of the most important things we teach our patients in terms of eliminating toxicity from their lives is to use non-toxic cleaning products.

Of course, what you eat is HUGE when it comes to toxicity, and we often tend to focus on that with people because it’s usually what needs the most attention in their lives. But once they get a handle on that, we hit cleaning products hard.

Bathroom products are some of the worst. Bleach is really bad for your skin and lungs, and if you or your kids ingest it somehow, it wreaks havoc on your internal organs, even to the point of death. It kills EVERYTHING, which is what makes it so great for disinfecting things, but there are ways to do it without it killing YOU (or your cells at least). Enough in your eyes can blind you. It’s often mixed with chlorine, which is exactly the combination used in chemical warfare campaigns during World War I.

Hydrochloric acid is a common ingredient in bathroom cleaning products, which can cause lung damage and, if ingested, severe kidney damage.

But the most common issue is the fragrances that are added to cleaning products. Of course, if you want any room in your house to smell good, it’s the bathroom, and cleaning product companies know that, so these products have a lot of added fragrances. You know, pine scented, lavender scented, etc. These are often allergy triggers, can irritate your lungs and cause headaches. Just smelling these synthetic, chemical fragrances can give me a headache. They will also disrupt hormone production and your hormones’ ability to communicate with the body (which is their main job).

So, in the spirit of providing you with some alternatives, here’s a recipe for making your own, non-toxic AND effective toilet tablets. And here’s an added benefit: this recipe is environmentally friendly as well. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup citric acid (I’m guessing you’ve never bought straight citric acid – it’s pretty easy to find at Walmart or Home Depot or online)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• A few drops of water
• Essential oil of your choice (for fragrance)

Tools

• Big Ziploc bag – as big as you can find
• A mold, like a muffin tin–or any shape you prefer–you can even use an ice tray, but it’s better if it’s a larger-than-normal ice tray
• A seal-able container

Instructions

• Put all of your ingredients in the bag, EXCEPT the essential oil
• Shake it all up until its well-mixed. Maybe even do a little bag-shaking dance while you’re at it
• Add just a bit of water. I’ve seen some people recommend using a spray bottle and just putting two or three sprays into the bag.
• Knead it all together until you get a consistency similar to cookie dough. If you have to, add a little bit more water so it all sticks together. If you can mold it in your hand and it keeps its shape, but it’s not super slimy, you’ve got it.
• Add 25 drops of your preferred essential oil and knead it all up again so the oil is well-mixed into the “dough.”
• Take about enough of the dough so that it fits nicely in the palm of your hand and mold it into your muffin tin (or whatever mold you’ve chosen to use).
• Put it somewhere out of the way and let it dry for two full days.
• After two days, take them out of the mold and let them dry for another day or so. (Don’t worry, they don’t have to look perfect.)
• After they’re completely dry, put them in a sealed container or plastic bag for storage.

To use your new toilet tabs, just drop them into the water in your toilet, let them fizz out, then scrub your toilet with a brush. If you’ve picked a fragrance you like, your bathroom is going to smell great and you’ll be surprised at how well these clean your toilet–just as well if not better than any store-bought, toxic toilet cleaner.

There’s no schedule to this home cleaning supplies blog series, but if you stay tuned, you’ll catch part II, which I’m thinking will be about grout cleaner. So thanks for reading, stick around and happy house cleaning!