This Green Carpet Cleaning Recipe is for those machines you rent at the grocery store, or the upright you might have at home. It’s not an official recipe from the company  but more of a creative application from those of us in the field. 

Note the small amounts needed. Very concentrated products. Very Cool. Wonderfully Non-Toxic

I have the sense that I have written about this before but couldn’t find it to repost via my blog. If I am repeating myself just be patient with me.  Memory moments are natural and very mother earthy.

With each recipe always comes a little story…
 
Pregnant with my first child, I asked my husband to rent one of those machines and clean our bedroom carpet. It was the only carpet we had, and I wanted everything spit spot.  Nesting mothers in my opinion clean like mad because the truth is once the little ones are around you seemingly can’t ever clean the way you use to!  

The cost of the products and the machine seemed to me to be very high. Like $50.00 – this was in the late 80′s so bear with me if I don’t actually recall.  We used like 3 bottles of the cleaning stuff.  Doesn’t that seem like alot ? This was before my green cleaning days.  The smell of these products was just horrific.  The residue it left on my carpet was almost grease like.  My husband had to clean it water only like three more times to get rid of that grease like feeling. ICK!

I felt like it was a huge waste of time.  I admit that I had carpet eebie jeebies in the first place. All that dirt left behind from your shoes, your husband’s shoes and whoever else goes in that room shoes, not to mention the synthetic fibers, or all those dust mites – or whatever else finds it’s way onto carpet.

Give me hard wood floors over carpet anytime

Our first home had wall to wall carpet. I felt like it was never clean enough. You could always see the path of use from the front door to the kitchen. Drove me crazy.

My lovely daughter had a bit of a graffiti problem, she liked to write her name on everything, add smiley faces and especially liked to use the color green. One day she made a HUGE smiley happy face on the carpet.

WHY did you do that????   

UGH

I had just started using this green clean non-toxic product line and decided to try this recipe. I was skeptic, the vinegar, baking soda, murphy’s oil soap days had me feel like the only way to clean green was to put forth alot of elbow grease…one had to suffer to be green. When exploring those ” green brands ” available at my local health food store, over and over I found them VERYlow performing and pricey

This better work was all I could say. 

Not only did it work in getting the marker out of the carpet. It worked remarkably well on the dirt. It left not one ounce of residue and the defoamer scent was very very light and lovely. I was positively delighted

I have used this recipe repeatedly, even used it on upholstery…can’t say enough good things about it

For a 4 Gallon Machine

Use 1/8 C of Germicide – epa registered – makes 64 Gallons of Germicide
1/8 of C of All Purpose Cleaner

( very concentrated – organic, the gallon size is green seal certified )

In the defoamer section add 1/4 C of Liquid Fabric Softener

For your 1 Gallon machine

2 teas of Germicide
1/2 T of All Purpose Cleaner

In the defoamer section add 1 T of Liquid Fabric Softener

upright carpet cleaning flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Publisher
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition, Weight Loss, and Green Clean 

The Wellness Company I represent is the proud recipient of the influential PTPA (Parent Tested Parent Approved) Media Inc.’s Seal of Approval for excellence in parenting products. Our astounding All Purpose Cleaning Product, Dish Concentrate and Automatic Dish Concentrate  were all selected based on their value, functionality, quality and appeal of the product in the “Green” category.

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Publisher
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition, Weight Loss, and Green Clean 

I am absolutley delighted to have been invited by Lynn Miller of Organic Mania to join a group of green mom bloggers and to explore a particular topic once a month in relationship to green. 

I have never participated in a blog carnival before, so bear with me as I venture into this project.  Some of these moms I am very excited to get to know better, support their green bloggy efforts and to share the sisterhood we all have as moms.

For those of you visiting Best of Mother Earth for the first time – welcome!

This month’s topic is Global Warming. My thoughts follow:

Imagine yourself in the woods, surrounded by silence, sprinkled with light as it peeks through the trees.  The hush envelops you, and you are reminded of peace and harmony. Nature does that.  I have such an awe for the way nature speaks to us. It reminds us. It calms us. Nurtures us. Nature nurtures me.  I was taught to respect nature, to leave the campground as we found it as they say, or better. 

In the woods we find ways to use sticks, berries, and tree stumps.  Look around, make do with what you have. Improvise. Be resourceful. How inspirational nature is!

The fall after my first divorce had us switch to a new school.  That first morning on the playground I was desperate.  I had just landed a new job and I had noone to watch my kids after school. Hi – my name is Karen – I’m new, can you watch my kid ?   I so hated the way that felt.

Later in the year I took on my first project as a school mom and volunteer. The project was about creating something bigger than us, something that left a deep footprint. Something ever lasting. The image of that footprint really meant something to me. I wanted to be remembered for the good I brought to the world. My project 12 years later is still a function of 5 grammar schools in the district.  Kindof cool.

Global warming and nature tell me something different. They inspire me to tread lightly. They warn me that it’s better to leave not a single thing behind. They shout at me and says leave the campground as we found it – or better.  No footprints.

An article in national geographic years ago took all the plastics found in a typical american home and put it all out on the front lawn. It was a 2 page spread of junk, or things at the time I didn’t even know were plastic or petroleum derived. I was shocked.

Ever since then I have had this silly image in my head. What if graveyards instead of marking our resting place with a headstone, stacked the remains of our household instead?  Can you imagine what that would even look like?  Here rests Jane Doe with enough plastic stuff to float someone around the world. Here’s Jane Doe with a paper stack as tall as the sears tower.  Here’s Jane Doe with more chemicals than a chemical factory. Here is Jane Doe with enough food in her fridge to feed a family of 12 and then some.  

The mere thought of this has had me reconsider not only my demise - death by plastic or global warming.  It’s also had me reconsider my consumption, my needs, my wants. The shift is slow and frustrating.  An entire society does things the way they always have.  Me? I am learning. I am deciding otherwise.

I personally want to be remembered for the footprint I don’t leave behind.  I want the peace and harmony of the woods to still be there for others to enjoy. I want my resting place to have a very small stack.

What about you ?

earthy footprints collage flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean

I recently found these alarming Toxic Chemical Facts and Statistics.

Thank you to Cynthia Latham VP of research and development, for this very compelling sourced data.

Since 1950, at least 70,000 new chemical compounds have been invented and dispersed into our environment. Only a fraction of these have been tested for human toxicity. We are, by default, conducting a massive clinical toxicology trial, and our children and their children are the experimental animals.

[Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free]

150 chemicals found in the home are connected to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological disorders.

[Source: Consumer Protection Agency (CPA)]

3 groups of people are primarily affected by indoor chemical concentrations because they spend more time indoors and their immune systems are weaker. The 3 groups are: Infants and toddlers, Chronically ill, Elderly

[Source: 1988 EPA, 5-year study]

Liquid dish soap is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of six (over 2.1 million accidental poisonings per year). Most brands of liquid dish soap contain Formaldehyde and ammonia.

Of the chemicals found in personal care products: 884 are toxic, 146 cause tumors, 218 cause reproductive complications, 778 cause acute toxicity, 314 cause biological mutations, 376 cause skin and eye irritations

[Source: United States House of Representatives Report, 1989]

Out of 2,435 pesticide poisonings in a one-year period, over 40% were due to exposure to disinfectants and similar cleaning products in the home.

[Source: State of California Study]

Most laundry detergent contains a form of NTA. NTA is a substance we may reasonably anticipate to be a carcinogen.

[Source: The Merck Index]

Household Chlorine bleaches which claim to disinfect are classified as pesticides under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Inadvertently mixing bleach with other cleaners that contain ammonia produces a toxic chloramines gas. These toxic gases can cause coughing, loss of voice, a feeling of burning or suffocation, and even death.

[Source: Guide to Hazardous Products Around the Home, Household Hazardous Waste Project, 1989]

Women who work in the home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside of the home.

[Source: 17- year EPA study]

As more toxic chemicals have been introduced to our everyday environment in greater amounts over the last 20 to 30 years, the level of toxins stored in dipose tissues (fat cells) of our bodies have risen. Bioaccumulation studies have shown that some toxins store in our bodies for life. Greater and greater amounts are being stored at younger ages. One study showed that in the fat of 100% of the people tested was 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, a chemical found in most household deodorizers and room fresheners. Some products release contaminants into the air right away, others do so gradually over a period of time. Some stay in the air up to a year. These contaminants, found in many household and personal care products can cause dizziness, nausea, allergic reactions, eye/skin/respiratory tract irritations and some cause cancer.

[American Lung Association]

Asthma was once a very rare disease. Now the condition is extremely common, the asthma rate has tripled in the last 20 years with nearly 30 million Americans currently afflicted.

[Source: Consumer Federation of America, 1997]

In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men, 82% for women). The higher rate for women is believed to be due to women’s longer exposure times to household chemicals.

[Source: Center for Disease Control]

Childhood asthma has increased by more than 40% since 1980.

[Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, June 1997; 105 (6)]

Asthma death in children and young people increased by a dramatic 118% between 1980 and 1993.

[Source: Environmental Health Threats to Children, Environmental Protection Agency 175-F-96-001, September 1996]

The average child visits the doctor 23 times in the 1st 4 years of life, with the most common complaint being respiratory ailment.

[Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 1997]

Developing cells in children’s bodies are more susceptible to damage than adult cells that have completed development, especially for the central nervous system. During the development of a child, from conception through adolescence, there are particular windows of vulnerability to environmental hazards. Most disturbing until a child is approximately 13 months of age, they are virtually no ability to fight the biological and neurological effects of toxic chemicals.

[Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free]

Today, children have chemical exposures from birth that their parents didn’t have until they were adults. Because children are exposed to toxins at an earlier age than adults, they have more time to develop environmentally triggered diseases, with long latency periods, such as cancer.

[Source: Environmental Policy and Children's Health, Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995; 5(2): 34-52]

Formaldehyde is a highly toxic substance. It is a known cancer-causing agent. It damages the neurological connectors in the body. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and may cause: skin reactions, ear infections, headaches , depression, asthma, joint pain, dizziness, mental confusion, nausea, disorientation , phlebitis , fatigue, Vomiting, sleep disturbances, laryngitis

One in five people are sensitive to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is commonly found in: drugs, mouthwash, hairspray, cosmetics, cleaning products , perfumes , waxes, hair setting lotions, shampoo, air fresheners, fungicides, fingernail polish, floor polishes, dry cleaning solvents, toothpaste, laundry spray starch, Anti-perspirants, just to name a few…

Due to the increase in toxic buildup in our bodies, including the toxic buildup of formaldehyde, dead bodies are not decomposing as fast as they used to. Bodies now start to decompose within 7 to 10 days after death. During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese bodies started to decompose within 24 to 48 hours. However, Americans didn’t start to decompose for 4 to 5 days. Twice as much formaldehyde was needed to embalm a person 20 years ago compared to today.

How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde? Formalin, Methanal, Methyl Aldehyde, Methylene Oxide, Oxymethylene, Bfv*, Fannoform*, Formol*, Fyde*, Karsan*, Methaldehyde, Formalith*, Methylene Glycol, Ivalon*, Oxomethane, Formalin 40, Formalin, Formic Aldehyde, Hoch, Paraform, Lysoform*, Morbocid, Trioxane, Polyoxmethylene, * denotes trade name

Warning labels on containers refer only to toxic hazards from ingestion; however, only 10% of health problems from chemicals are caused by ingestion. 90% are caused by the inhalation of vapors and absorption of particles.

Do you still want to use products in your home that contain formaldehyde?

Phenol is an extremely caustic chemical that burns the skin. Absorption of phenol through the lungs or skin can cause: central nervous system damage, pneumonia, respiratory tract infection, heart-rate irregularities, skin irritation, kidney and liver damage, numbness, vomiting, and can be fatal

Phenol is a very common chemical and is regularly found in the following common products: air fresheners, aftershave, bronchial mists, chloroseptic throat spray, deodorants, feminine powders & sprays, hair spray, decongestants, mouthwash, aspirin, solvents, acne medications, antiseptics, calamine lotions, cleaning products, detergents, furniture polish, hair setting lotions, lice shampoo, polishes, cold capsules, all-purpose cleaners, aerosol disinfectants, anti-itching lotions , carnex , cosmetics, disinfectant cleaners, hand lotions, lip balms, sunscreen and lotions, insecticides, cough syrups, just to name a few…

Do you still want to use products in your home that contain Phenol ?

Alternative Cleaning Products

Plant Based Personal Care Products

Plant Based Skin Care

Mineral Based Cosmetics

me ….thinking green

image sourced from flickr.com – thanks ever so much

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Publisher
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition, Weight Loss, and Green Clean