Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home: The Simple, Room-by-Room Plan for a Natural Home – 50+ Organic DIY Recipes for Detoxing and Family Wellness Paperback – March 5, 2019

I did a lot of “healthy home” research when I started having babies ten years ago. My youngest is five now, and, after reading this book, I realize that a lot has changed since I first started my journey toward greener living. The basic principles are the same: typical household and personal care products have a ton of added chemicals that are hurting us on a daily basis. But I can’t believe how many more readily available and budget friendly organic resources there are now. Seriously, ten years ago, I could barely find cloth diapers, even quasi-organic skin care, reusable sandwich bags, and the list goes on. I’m happy to see how many more options are out there.Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home starts off by explaining all the reasons why it’s important to use as many organic household products as possible. There isn’t much new to me in this section, but I guess it’s always good to lay a foundation for the newbies… She encourages readers to go through the entire house and throw away all products that are filled with chemicals. If you feel bad about wasting products, then use what you have and buy an organic alternative the next time around.Chapter 5 is very useful in that it goes through the few simple products you’ll need to get your house clean. Author Rapinchuk lists them out and then details what tasks they can be used for. So for example, hydrogen peroxide can be used to treat stains (on white clothes), clean grout, or disinfect toilets and showers. Other basic cleaning products she uses are soap, vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, epsom salt, kosher salt, coconut and almond oil, oxygen whitener, rubbing alcohol, vodka, and borax. She gives a ton of “recipes” for cleaners, but her simple, all-purpose cleaner is a good place to start:All Purpose Vinegar-based Cleaner3/4 cup water3/4 cup vinegar5 drops lemon essential oil5 drops lavender essential oilChapter 7 is another favorite of mine, where she lists ten changes you can make right now to get your home cleaner—like taking off your shoes when you're inside, putting plants in high-traffic rooms, using an air filter, and opening the windows.The last part of the book gives room-by-room cleaning suggestions. She lists ingredients in products to look out for (and remove), suggests cleaning products (purchased and DIY) to replace them, and offers quick tips for making immediate changes. Her advice covers the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living areas, laundry room, entryway, garage, and basement.One of the things I love most about this book is that, in addition to giving so many DIY cleaner recipes, she also offers affordable, available, and effective product suggestions. Like I said, there are so many more “green” options available to families than there were even just a few years ago. What a game changer.This book has already been an invaluable resource to me. It is packed with information, and even though I know I can’t possibly make all these changes at once, it has given me both a good place to start and a goal to work toward. I know I will be referencing it again and again.

I have made my own cleaning and laundry items for years. I like to try new things and over the years I have changed to things that work better for me. When I saw this book I decided it was time to try a few new things. I first purchased the audio version and within the first hour of listening to it I went back on line and bought a hard copy. The product education in the book is exceptional. I have tried the moisturizing hand soup (great), several of the cleaning products for countertops/sinks/showers (all very good) and I made a batch of the laundry detergent (outstanding). If you need to learn a cleaning routine this book will help, however if you already have that down the cleaning item recipes and the best I have ever found. If you are interested in having a clean house, avoiding harmful chemicals, saving money and finding a few new ways to be kinder to the environment then buy this book NOW.

Everyone is different but for me I found this book as a really good resource to finally start using all natural products in my home and I highly recommend it for 2 main reasons.1) When I started doing the weekend kick start as recommended in the book, I started calculating the cost of all the products I buy for various tasks around the house. These costs for specific window cleaner, counter cleaner, toilet cleaner, air freshener, hand soap etc etc really add up. With this book as a guide, I figured I could purchase 5-8 inexpensive items (vinegar, baking soda, castile soap, some essential oils) and have all natural products for a fraction of the cost! Not only is it better for me and my family, I can make and change EO fragrances whenever I fancy and feel good about it all. So I started slowly and have made a few of the recipes she suggested. Its remarkable how well simple natural ingredients work. You don't need the name brand chemical filled stuff in the stores.2) The other great reason I think this book rocks is that she simplifies this all natural home remedy thing. I've been bouncing all over the internet trying to get started but by following her weekend kick start plan, YOU WILL get started. Then make the all-purpose cleaner and keep rolling along. I'm going along slowing but having fun. My honey even noticed the new hand soap and loved it. Go ahead and purchase this resource. I think you'll be glad you did.

This book is amazing! Clean Mama's Guide To A healthy Home is a great way to help me & everyone get their home in order, non-toxic & clean. There are easy swaps from toxic cleaner to non-toxic as well as recipes for homemade cleaners that work great. This book was an eyeopener for me. I had no idea how toxic the cleaners were, especially for my sweet dog Snuggles. If you have small children and/or pets, you really need this book as well as following Clean Mama on Instagram & Facebook. Becky has some great post to with all your cleaning needs, even a routine. Which I desperately needed. If you don't buy this book or follow Clean Mama, you are really missing out! Happy Reading.