Keepin' it safe

Being what I would term a "relatively-safe" mama, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Safe Mama website from my friend Tricia's new blog. It's a "one stop resource for child safety, product recall, health and well-being", and does appear to have a tremendous amount of useful information on its website. It offers tips and information on keeping your child(ren) safe, and brings a lot of the information floating around on different sites to one concise area, making it easy to click and find what you're looking for. The moms running this site also offer "cheat sheets" on BPA-free bottles, cups and storage containers as well as safe sunscreens and chemical-free body care products. It's an American site, but the information is still entirely relevant, and more importantly, helpful.

And I thought I'd also take a moment to throw in a plug for my all-time favourite safe cleaning product, Pink Solution. Although I had been using chemical-free and safe cleaning products for a few years (I was a fan of Melaleuca and Nature Clean) I made the switch to Pink last September. After dropping Pete off at preschool, and David off at Granny's for a couple hours, I zipped over to Costco to try to stock our home with the basic necessities like food, liquid, and toilet paper. I was abruptly stopped by a young man doing a demo on a new, non-toxic, biodegradable and chemical-free cleaning product. I wondered why he stopped ME - do I scream "tree hugger" from a distance? Did he catch a glimpse of the "I just want to clean my house without impacting or harming my children or pet" desperation in the corner of my eye?

Regardless, he had me at the first little stain he scrubbed out of his tiny little piece of demo carpet in front of him. The slight OCD tendencies in me kept me listening and wanting, so badly, to believe that something this good could be true. Natural? Good for you? Safe? But does it work? I broke into mass hyperventilating the day I gave up my Windex for cleaning my windows . . . I had beads of sweat dripping down my forehead when I thought I'd kissed that "streak-free shine" goodbye forever.

YES, IT WORKS. Pink Solution is a " natural enzyme cleaner, which when mixed with water, emulsifies dirt, grease and grime, and restores finishes to their natural state. This means that it will not only clean, but will actually brighten surfaces that most cleaners dull, such as stainless steel appliances and fiberglass bath and shower stalls. The enzymes will emulsify even the oldest stains, which means that so long as there are not permanent dyes involved, even the oldest of laundry and carpet stains will be removed. Also, it contains no chemicals, and can be inhaled, eaten and used without any gloves, with no ill effects." And YES, he ate it in front of me. He took a big old scoop of that white goo and swallowed it.

I was sold, I bought it, and I've never looked back. I have found the perfect dilution for my windows, my laundry, toilets, bathtub, countertops, stove, etc. I love to use the full paste to scrub out stains on clothing (yes - it whisks away that mustard breastfeeding poop stain from any adorable little baby outfit), carpets and floors. Can you spray it and wipe things clean with a gentle flick of your wrist? NO - let's be realistic now, shall we? No product without chemicals is going to disintegrate dirt and grime on contact. The Pink Solution takes a bit of elbow grease but I personally enjoy a little work out when I clean, and there is nothing in my home that isn't as clean as it was before I switched products.

One of the most satisfying things about using the Pink products is that the boys actually help me clean. I give them each a cloth and a spray bottle with the diluted solution and they follow mommy around the house, spritzing and wiping away.

To music. And, yes, we dance too :-)