Our homes collect dust!
Did you know? Dust is made up of all sorts of stuff – organic stuff like dead skin, but also toxic stuff from our environment. Although spring cleaning includes dusting because of how wonderful it feels when the dusting is done, it should also be done as a fight against toxins in our homes. The EWG or Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment”. They conducted studies to reveal the dirt about dust in our homes. They found that dust,
“is a place where harmful chemicals are found. One recent study by the Silent Spring Institute identified 66 endocrine-disrupting compounds in household dust tests, including flame retardants, home-use pesticides, and phthalates.
The chemicals in your dust originate from both inside and outside your house:
1. Products inside your house “shed” chemicals over time — furniture, electronics, shoes, plastics, fabrics and food, among other things.
2. Outdoor pollutants enter on your shoes and through open and cracked windows and doors.
Once inside, the contaminants in indoor dust degrade more slowly (if at all) than they would outside in the environment where moisture and sunlight typically break them down.
One type of toxic chemical commonly found in household dust is chemical flame retardants (aka PBDEs). As highly flammable synthetic materials have replaced less-combustible natural materials, PBDEs have been added to thousands of everyday products, including computers, TVs and furniture — among many others.”
To read more: http://www.ewg.org/research/healthy-home-tips/tip-8-get-rid-toxic-dust
The EWG cautions that young children are at a higher risk of being exposed to these toxins because they spend most of their time playing on the floor putting their little fingers and anything they grab into their mouths… so let’s get started and remove dust without adding any more chemicals.
You will need: Enviro Cloth, EnviroWand, Superior Mop Collection, Micro Cleaning Hand Pad
Walls
First you will need to wash your walls from fingerprint height and lower (everything above this height is just dust) using a well-wrung Enviro Cloth. For any scuffs use a small square of a Micro Cleaning Hand Pad and give it a scrub. For dusting, lock the head on your Mop, attach the dry head (yellow), and dust all the way to the ceiling.
Wood Furniture
Put a Dusting Mitt on each hand- the faster you can dust the better- and give the dusting mitts one spray of water. It will remove all the dust, finger prints, coffee marks etc. and leave the furniture streak free.
Doors
Put a Dusting Mitt on each hand, spray one squirt of water and clean the details in your doors beautifully.
Blinds
Put a Dusting Mitt on each hand and hold the blind with one hand and rub along the face and underside of each slat. The mitts will hold a lot of dust while leaving your slats clean.
How to… Dust with Norwex
Door Frames
Bend the EnviroWand in an upside “U” and drag along the tops of your door frames. Quick and simple!!!
Pictures Frames
Put a Dusting Mitt on each hand and hold the frame with one hand and dust with the other.
Light Fixtures & Ceiling Fans
Bend your EnviroWand and give it a squirt of water and gently remove all the dust from those fixtures.
Dusting…Done!
Remember your EnviroWand can bend and flex, so give it a squirt of water and sneak it into areas you have never dusted before.
Between the Dusting Mitts and the EnviroWand you will be able to dust the majority of the surfaces in your home. Isn’t that amazing?
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
