DONE & DUSTED
THE ORGANIC HOME ON A BUDGET
by Stephanie Zia
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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Version 4 - Revised and Updated July 2011
First epublished March 2010 by http://blackbirdebooks.com
LONDON
© Stephanie Zia 2010 All rights reserved
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Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
“I admit to being the worst house-cleaner of anybody who has ever lived. I hate housework. But not any more! This book has CHANGED MY LIFE! BRILLIANT book. It should be required reading for every housewife/househusband.” NoDamnBlog
"I was partly expecting it to be yet another ‘lemons and white wine vinegar’ kind of book, but it’s actually full of interesting new ideas and products." Penny GoLightly
"I LOVE IT!! The writing style is so readable and no nonsense. I used the cleaning method described in chapter 1 a long time ago but never used it properly. The book is fantastic." Deborah McDonnell, BA, BSc (Hons), MCPP Holistic Herbal
"Jam packed full of startling facts about how much damage we are potentially doing to the environment simply via our choice of cleaning products." The School Run Website
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All prices quoted are liable to fluctuation and change at any time. It is the reader’s responsibility to check with each individual supplier whether taxes, postage and packing are included before placing any orders. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While the information and advice in this ebook are believed to be accurate and true at the time of publication, neither the author, publisher or distributor can guarantee results nor accept any responsibility or liability for any damage or losses of any kind resulting from any advice included in this guide, be it from the author, any person or persons mentioned in this guide, or any product, listing or mention, whether directly or indirectly. Successful treatments and savings are the responsibility of the reader of this book.
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for Jennie Trisnan
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Stephanie Zia is a British writer and journalist who originally trained and worked as a researcher and director on BBC TV arts documentaries. Stephanie began writing when she left the BBC to become a full-time mum. She took a beginner's course in creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College where she later became a guest tutor. Author of 2 Piatkus commercial fiction novels and 2 Hamlyn non-fiction books, Stephanie has written for a variety of British publications. From 2005–11 she was the cleaning guru for The Guardian newspaper’s popular Space Solves column. As well as Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget, her ebook publications include Ten Good Reasons To Lie About Your Age a romantic comedy for the Bridget Jones generation who don’t feel they’ve grown up yet let alone old, and Babe On Board, a romantic comedy about a single 40-year-old first-time mum. Stephanie lives in London with her partner and teenage daughter.
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Housework Hater's Healthy Quick Cleaning Guide
Chapter 2 What About The Vinegar?
Chapter 3 Toxic Chemicals in The Home
Chapter 4 How to Make Healthy Home-made Air Fresheners
Chapter 5 The Cheapest Way to Double Your Storage Space
Chapter 6 The Humane Way to Get Rid of Rats, Mice and Ants
Chapter 7 A Healthy Kitchen
Chapter 8 How to Get Kids to Eat Raw Fruit & Veg
Chapter 9 Why Optical Brighteners are Optical Illusions - 30 Degree Washing the (nearly) Eco Way
Chapter 10 My Favourite Moneysaving Craft Tip
Chapter 11 A Little Bit of Dirt - What's Wrong With Chemical Anti-Bacterials
Chapter 12 A Healthy Bathroom
Chapter 13 Stain Removal Without A Chart - The Knowledge
Chapter 14 Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Household Contents Insurance?
Chapter 15 Help! 100+ Readers' Stains and Cleaning Catastrophes Solved
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Introduction
This ebook is a practical cleaning and lifestyle tip miscellany to help you reduce your toxic chemical footprint on your body, your home and the planet without breaking the budget. It's not anti-non-organic or anti-chemical - everything is made of chemicals - but about balance. How to avoid the possible nasties and make informed, affordable compromises.
Avoiding the dubious chemicals lurking in the products we regularly use for cleaning, laundering and 'refreshing' the air isn't as straightforward as looking at the labels. Consumer information is shockingly vague. Until recently manufacturers were under no obligation at all to reveal what was in their products, often citing trade secrets.
Things are changing, but very slowly. Manufacturers had until the end of 2010 to declare the hazardous chemicals in their products to The European Union who plan to list them online. This will, they say, “Create pressure to remove them.
Harmonisation will especially be conducted for substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to the reproduction or respiratory sensitivities”.
What on earth are those carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic substances still doing in our household products in the first place? And why do we have to go to some obscure online list to find them?
In the US, organisations like Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (http://www.saferchemicals.org/) and Women's Voices For The Earth (http://www.womensvoices.org/) have a tough job on their hands persuading Congress to change their policies in the face of powerful corporate opposition. In Europe, all the provisions set out in the EU REACH chemical regulation agreement won't be in place until, a staggering, year 2018. In the meantime it's down to you.
I hope this book will help. You'll find plenty of top tips for using everyday non-toxic products you have around the home for cleaning and stain removal, but also the occasional recommendation for chlorine bleach and oxalic acid. Only as a last resort, though, when no other substance is likely to do the job. Where there are areas of confusion and controversy - the question of chemicals leaching from plastic bottles, for example, or whether we should be avoiding non-stick pans – carefully researched, non-alarmist, websites are recommended to help you make up your own mind.
Stephanie Zia, August 2011
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The Housework Hater's Healthy Quick Cleaning Guide
So, who cleans their house with vinegar? Thought so. Vinegar’s a great grease remover but it doesn’t scour and, even if disguised with essential oil, that smell does linger.
Bicarbonate of Soda is a brilliant mildly abrasive cleaner, deodoriser and stain remover. But it can permanently bleach colours, and those little tubs of baking soda you get at the supermarket don’t go very far do they? Lemons smell wonderful but aren’t exactly cheap or practical.
The good news is, as far as day-to-day cleaning goes, you can forget them all. As you'll see in Chapter 2, What About The Vinegar? they have plenty of uses, but the only thing you need for speedy, efficient cleaning around the home is a cloth and water.
The E-cloth is the most life-changing, chore-reducing product to appear in the home since the dishwasher. Whether it’s the money, health, water and planet-saving or the drudge time-saving aspect that’s so amazing about these cloths is a difficult call.
Let’s start with the obvious:
Money
One £5.00 ($8.00) cloth cleans without the need for any chemicals or cleaning products at all. Over a period of 3 years, the potential saving on cleaning products for a small flat would be about £246 ($398).
How does it work?
Micro technology. The width of each fibre is 1/100th the size of a human hair and each square centimetre of cloth has 480,000 strands. These fibres and their wedge-shape construction give the cloth its extraordinary cleaning power and its high and rapid absorbency. Unlike a normal cloth which pushes the dirt around and leaves a chemical residue, the hundreds of thousands of tiny micro-hooks lift off and absorb grease, viruses, germs, and grime all by themselves. The cloth cleans all hard surfaces, including thick grease and is ideal for the kitchen and bathroom.
If you want a visible test, start by cleaning a window or a mirror. Fold and spritz a dry cloth or the surface very lightly with a spray bottle of water and wipe across the glass. That’s it. Clean, sparkling and smear-free. You'll find you can clean a whole wall of windows, inside and out, in minutes with a better, healthier result (see Chapter 3 – Toxic Chemicals In the Home and Chapter 11 – A Little Bit of Dirt – What's Bad About Chemical Anti-Bacterials). If you’re using the standard E-cloth rather than the (thinner, finer) Glass and Window Cloth, shake out the cloth before use to ensure no grit from a previous clean has been trapped in the fibres.
Fighting the Superbugs
Microfibre cleaning technology was first adopted in Scandinavia, particularly in Norway, during the 1990s to fight hospital superbugs. Using just water, E-cloths are highly effective at removing over 99% of bacteria, including E coli, along with dirt and grease, from domestic surfaces. Because the cloths don't leave any residue on the cleaned surface, there’s nothing left behind to encourage the development of bacteria.
Today this cleaning system is widely used throughout Scandinavia - in hospitals, schools and businesses as well as in homes and the word is spreading. Scotland's new high-tech hospital, the Forth Valley Royal, has installed microfibre cleaning robots in its operating theatres, and they’re working – MRSA stats are down. The NHS are increasingly introducing microfibre cleaning systems across the UK.
If you want extra freshness, choose the antibacterial E-cloth as your first multi-purpose cloth. The antibacterial element is no relative of the chemical sprays. Here it's a natural nano-silver which kills bacteria caught in the cloth.
Time
I resent time spent on housework as much as the next person and, for me, I think this might be the most impressive saving of all. I use E-cloths to clean kitchen surfaces, the hob, the fridge door, walls, tiles, doors, handles, baths, sinks, taps, shower screens, mirrors, windows, furniture (wooden and upholstered), skirting boards, shelves and floors. I also use them to:
• wipe down curtains
• clean inside my car - upholstery, windows, mirrors, interior doors and dash
• clean upholstery and clothes. They’re excellent for dry-clean only coats, dresses and soft furnishings that only need a bit of a freshening up.
• as a quick carpet cleaner when I can’t be bothered to get the vacuum out. A quick mid-week wipe over the floor around the sofa, dining table and fireplace is a very effective use of 5 minutes a week.
Do’s and don’ts
• Don’t use soaking wet. The less water the stronger the microfibres can grip.
• Don’t be tempted to use with any cleaning products. They’ll obstruct the power of the microfibres even more than excess water does.
• For general cleaning use very slightly dampened, spritzed with a spray bottle. If you find you’ve used too much water, for cleaning a window, say, you’ll have to add extra minutes by wiping off the excess drips and smears with a kitchen towel to achieve a sparkling, smear-free result.
• Do use dry as a duster (shake out first if cleaning mirror or glass).
• When you're cleaning floors or other very dirty areas, the cloth (or E-cloth Mop) will trap a lot of dirt and hair. Rinse in a bucket of water between wipes and wring out to eliminate the bulk of the water before wiping again. Pour used dirty water down the toilet rather than the sink which could block.
Where to buy
There are microfibre cloths and microfibre cloths. Many have a denier of approximately 1.00 over a normal cleaning cloth's 200.00 denier. But the denier of an E-cloth is 0.26. It's this high density of fibres which gives them their superior cleaning power and toughness. Most microfibre cloths are made using a moulding technology. E-cloths are woven using high quality cotton. One £5.00 ($8.00) cloth can be washed back to full clean strength about 300 times and lasts for years. Look for the ® trademark in the shops or buy from the website http://www.e-cloth.com/. Am I jeopardising my journalistic impartiality here backing this one product? Well: no. I’m proud to be a fan and love the comments I receive from readers who have discovered them through my website, column pieces or books. In my opinion they’re a no brainer. Simply the healthiest, most efficient and most economical way of cleaning your home. And now they’re loving right back at me. See this book's accompanying blog http://www.donedust.blogspot.com for a 10% discount code redeemable right across their products.
How many?
On the website you’ll see that E-cloth makes a huge variety of cloths tailored for different jobs. There are kitchen cloths, bathroom cloths, window cloths, screen and lens cloths, hob & oven cloths, car and boat cloths, outdoor cloths, tea and hand towel cloths. Now they’ve even brought out a range of exfoliating and make-up removing cloths. Though each has been formulated for its specific purpose, don’t be put off by thinking you need a whole range. Most cleans, apart from delicate lenses and computer screens, can be done with the one basic £5.00/$8.00 cloth. I started out with one cloth and for a long time only had two: one for floors and one for surfaces. I had to carry them from room to room and wash them more, but it’s simply a matter of laundering or boiling them up. I use a very small amount of detergent in a saucepan of water and leave them to simmer for 20 minutes or so. This boiling rags part of it is a strangely satisfying thing to do. You can launder E-cloths in the washing machine at 60 degree C (140F), preferably in a washing bag, but for a full clean they need to be boiled at 90 degrees C (194F). Don't use fabric conditioner or bleach. My recommended starter kit, if you can afford it, would include, in addition to a basic cloth, the Deep Clean Mop (my favourite product, swipes across floors in seconds – done), a Window/Glass Cloth and a T-Towel.
Hygiene
The most frequent question I get asked about E-cloths is to do with washing: if dirt and bacteria are trapped in the fibres, surely they'll still be in the cloth. So the next time you go to use it, won't some of the dirt be spread all over your surfaces again? Shouldn't they be laundered at 60 degrees C (140F) after every use, which is impractical?
I asked the E-cloth people about this. Whilst rinsing won't remove all the dirt particles trapped by the cloth, tests have shown that when an E-cloth is re-used, any dirt it has picked up will remain trapped deep within the fibres and will not go back onto your surfaces. So the answer is no, you don't need to launder your E-cloth after every use. Rinsing out in hot water after every use and laundering once a week is sufficient. I throw mine in the sink until my next cup of tea, then chuck over the remains of water boiled in the kettle.
The other reaction is disbelief that cleaning with just water can be as hygienic as using chemical cleaners and anti-bacterials. Well, the manufacturers recently had their cloths tested by Sillliker, the leading international food safety research labs. Results showed that cleaning with an E-cloth and water removes up to 99.9998% of E coli, 99.97% of Listeria and 99.3% of Aspergillus, proving that water, elbow grease and a cloth can be as good as leading cleaning products against microbiological contamination. I, and many other converts, would say 'as good as' isn't the half of it – their performance is superior to chemical products and the air in your home is fresher and healthier to boot.
How to have one of those 'I've got a cleaner' homes
Thanks to the FlyLady (see below) I've got into a habit of going around my flat every day, wiping every surface that's clear. For 6 days out of every 7 I never spend more than ten minutes on cleaning. It took a while to make it a habit, but this means we now have one of those ‘I’ve got a cleaner’ homes that never looks or feels dirty, with chemical-free, fresh clear air. Another great thing about E-cloths is that, once you've dampened them, you only need to do a quick wipe-over using one hand. One of my favourite multitaskers is to grab an E-cloth whilst chatting on the phone, especially long gossips with friends, and wander around wiping door-knobs, shower screens, taps, skirting boards etc.
Once a week I mop the wooden and tiled floors and vacuum the carpets. If I'm feeling flush I'll buy some scented flowers and treat the big pine table and any clutter-free wooden surfaces to a beeswax cream polish. I invest a fraction of the money I'm saving on cleaning products in a really luxurious cream polish that feeds and protects the wood.
One of the very best is Roullier White's Mrs White's The Bees Knees, a multi-purpose 100% British beeswax polish that's nourishing, eco-friendly, non-abrasive and free from petrochemicals and synthetics (£10.00/$16.19) http://www.roullierwhite.com. The beautiful, subtle, lingering smell of natural beeswax mingles with the scent of the flowers and lasts for days.
If you have a large home and/or a big family it's obviously going to take you longer than it takes me to whizz around my small London flat. But if you can get into the habit of wiping down just the main living areas and bathroom/s every day, leaving the whole home for a quick once-around wipe-down once a week, you will notice a big difference.
For a helping hand with some guerrilla habit-forming tips, check out the remarkable Stateside Domestic Goddess, Marla Cilley, aka FlyLady http://www.flylady.net/ - your free online coach who'll help you gain control of the clutter. Her 31-step 'Beginner Baby Steps' system (see the panel at the left of her website) guides you through small tasks that build and turn into routines so slowly that you barely notice.
I only made it as far as Step 8 but I still keep my sink shiny and put my next day's clothes out the night before (mostly). My subsequent E-cloth habit is, I'm sure, partly down to FlyLady's system sticking in the back of my mind. It certainly works for a lot of people. Her free e-mail group full of handy tips and routines is a phenomenon with hundreds and thousands of subscribers.
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Vinegar has been around for over 10,000 years. It's a natural mild bleach and water softener that dissolves dirt and grease. I may not use it for cleaning, but, along with lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda and the other old favourites, I put it to good use:
• Add half a cup to washing machine fabric conditioner tray as water softener.
• Place a mug of vinegar in the bottom of dishwasher and run on a short, glass-cleaning cycle to clean and deodorise.
• Use as a poultice on stained sinks, soak a cloth and leave covering overnight.
• To remove limescale at base of taps mix into a paste with salt and scrub with old toothbrush.
• To remove limescale from tap spouts and showerheads, pour into a plastic bag and secure with an elastic band. Leave overnight, brush off limescale with old nailbrush before polishing up with an e-cloth, a lemon, bicarbonate of soda or Barkeepers Friend.
For more uses, tips, recipes and everything you need to know about vinegar see The Vinegar Institute http://www.versatilevinegar.org/. Where to buy: from supermarkets. If storage space isn’t a problem, look out for 5 litre containers of white vinegar in Indian shops and in the warehouse-type discount supermarkets. (See the bulk basics page at http://www.summernaturals.co.uk where 5 litres costs around £4.39/$7.10.)
Bicarbonate of soda (baking powder) ! Warning – can permanently bleach, use with care on coloured fabrics, carpets and surfaces. Always do a colour-test first.
This is what I use it for:
• To remove smells from the microwave, dissolve 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda in a cup of water, and cook on high for 3 minutes.
• To clean ovens, sprinkle over surfaces and spritz with a water bottle to dampen. Leave for 10 to 30 minutes before wiping off, longer for burnt-in stains.
• Sprinkle over inside of the fridge and wipe off with damp cloth to clean and deodorise.
• Keep a bowl in the fridge to absorb smells.
• I know it's there as a standby to extinguish grease fires.
Where to buy: You can find small tubs of baking powder in baking section of the supermarket. For cleaning purposes buy household non-food bicarbonate of soda in bulk at http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/.
Carbonated Water (Known in UK as Soda Water, in US & Canada as Seltzer)
Many stains, even red wine stains, can be completely removed with water if they’re treated quickly enough. With carbonated water you get an extra boost as the carbonated bubbles sink into the stain and lift the dirt with them as they rise. Keep a bottle in the cupboard for emergencies.
• If you spill something on the carpet, saturate the stain with soda water and cover with kitchen towels, pushing down on the stain. Keep on replacing them with dry ones as they absorb the water.
• If you have a baby or toddler, keep a bottle of soda water next to the high chair to wipe up food spills on bibs and clothing.
Washing-up liquid (In US & Canada Known as Dishwasher Detergent)
One of the best stain removers of all. Use sparingly or it’ll need lots of rinsing.
• Apply with cold water to protein stains and hot water to greasy stains (see chapter 13 to learn how to identify).
• Most of us use too much washing-up liquid. In most cases a dribble rather than a squirt is all you need. Make yours go twice as far by diluting 50/50 with water.
Oxygen Bleach ! Colour test before using a higher concentration than the manufacturer’s recommendation.
• A great laundry booster and safe to use on colours at recommended dilution.
• Having said that, mixed with a little water it makes a powerful stain-removing paste. At this strength you must always do a colour test first or permanent damage can result. I use the paste mainly on shadows of stains left on whites.
• Remove difficult stains from carpets and upholstery but always colour test first. If you have a dark mark on a light carpet that’s been completely impossible to remove in any other way (and assuming you are not covered by accidental damage in your insurance policy), use the bleach to lighten it into a less-noticeable mark.
• Whiten plastic surfaces that have yellowed. Apply to stain and leave for 30 minutes, rinse. Don’t let it come into contact with wood, lacquered/varnished/silk surfaces or mild steel.
• Is a brilliant non-toxic cleaner for outdoor wooden decking areas. When bought in bulk it goes under its chemical name, sodium percarbonate.
Where to buy: Wizz Oxi Ultra Plus from supermarkets. Order pure sodium percarbonate online at http://mistralie.co.uk/. It comes in various packs costing around £8.53/$13.82 for 50g up to £64.53/$104.55 for 25kg.
Soda Crystals
A coarser, tougher, and cheaper relative of bicarbonate of soda, Soda Crystals soften the water and dissolve grease. They’re very cheap and widely available in the UK, to purchase in the US and Canada, go to http://www.msodistributing.com/.
• Add a scoop to your washing machine detergent tray. The crystals soften the water and your fabrics and you’ll only need to use half the amount of detergent. They also help keep the pipes in your washing machine clear and free of gunge and help remove grease, blood, ink tea and coffee stains.
• Soak old towels and fabrics for half an hour to give them back their softness. Rinse well.
• Clean greasy extractor fans and remove burnt-on food from saucepans, grills and casseroles. Rinse well.
• Pour half a pack down the sink followed by hot water to keep your drains fresh and free of grease.
• Dissolves stains from the inside of cups and teapots. Leave to soak for an hour or so, scrub with a scourer and watch the stains effortlessly peel away. Rinse.
• Remove moss and algae from patios.
3% hydrogen peroxide solution ! Highly inflammable. Highly corrosive to metal, keep away from taps and bathroom fittings.
This strangely versatile substance is used, amongst other things, as a mouthwash and to make bombs. It’s actually a very close relative to water, being just one oxygen atom away. Chemically, this makes it a much less toxic cleaning product than chlorine bleach but, because of its explosive nature, handle with extreme care and follow all safety and storage instructions. It’s for this reason you won’t see it on the pharmacy shelves but have to ask for it.
• An excellent blood stain remover. Apply to the stain and watch it disappear. Launder the fabric after you've applied the solution or you might get bleach stains. If the blood is on a mattress, apply solution, sprinkle with salt, leave to sit for a minute and watch the stain fizz into the salt, then wash with soap and cold water. Rinse.
• Contact lens solution contains 3% hydrogen peroxide, squeeze directly onto stain to lift blood, red wine and protein stains.
For the many uses of hydrogen peroxide solution see http://www.truthorfiction.com/.
Where to buy: From the pharmacy.
Lemon juice
Lemon juice is a natural, mild bleach. Always colour test first as it can lighten fabrics, carpets and some surfaces irreversibly.
• Great for cleaning chopping boards.
• Clean taps and stainless steel to a shine.
• Will sometimes remove fruit and red wine stains on kitchen surfaces. Make a paste with a little flour and, after testing non-white surfaces, leave as poultice covering the stain overnight.
• If fabric isn't affected by lemon juice stain, squeeze onto fruit and wine stains and leave in the sun to dry.
• For badly-stained toilet bowls, mix to a paste with Borax Substitute, and leave overnight.
• Can remove some stains from some types of marble.
• To remove rust, mix with salt to make a poultice. Leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Milk ! Rinse off fabric in cold water afterwards or you’ll be left with a milk stain.
The active enzymes in milk that turn it into cheese make it an excellent stain remover.
• Removes ink, wine, mould, pomegranate and red juice stains. Sour milk by adding a little vinegar and soak stain for 30 minutes. Always rinse thoroughly in COLD water or you'll be left with a smelly milk stain.
• If water and biological detergent foam don't shift carpet stains, try milk.
• Remove ink stains from tables and other surfaces by soaking a kitchen towel in soured milk, place over stain, weigh down with a vase or bowl, leave for 30 minutes. Rub. Repeat, if necessary several times. Toothpaste speeds up the rubbing process but can lighten some woods and damage veneer, test on hidden part of surface first.
Methylated spirits ! Always colour test before using.
Commonly known as Denatured Alcohol, Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) is mixed with a small amount of Methanol to make it unfit for consumption and then dyed purple or blue.
• Use neat to remove some dye and pigment stains.
• If the stain isn’t on silk or wool, mix with ammonia to make an even stronger solution.
Where to buy: Hardware stores.
Shaving cream ! Use the smallest of squirts or you’ll never rinse it out.
• Handy emergency carpet and upholstery stain remover, especially if travelling.
Borax ! Borax is an eye irritant. Wear rubber gloves and keep your hands away from your face.
Borax, also known as sodium borate, is a natural, alkaline salt that comes from the evaporation of saline lakes.
• Excellent everyday toilet bowl and drain cleaner.
• Good for cleaning badly stained tiles, sinks, floors, walls, windows, mirrors and painted surfaces.
• To remove difficult stains from tiles and carpets, mix three parts borax to one part cold water and work in well. Leave to dry, then vacuum off.
Where to buy: Difficult to find in the shops but easy to source online. It’s now known as Borax Substitute in Europe. The properties are identical but Substitute isn't suitable for pest control. £1.55 ($2.50)/500g http://www.thegreenstoreonline.co.uk/default.aspx/Page/1 but 500g won't go very far. £8.19($13.25)/3.6kg from the bulk size ordering page of Summer Naturals http://www.summernaturals.co.uk/.
Glycerine (also known as Glycerin/Glycerol)
Sold in pharmacies as a soother for sore throats and coughs, Glycerine is an excellent tannin stain remover.
• Dab difficult old red wine, coffee and tea stains with Glycerine. If you see the stain fading, repeat and repeat again until it’s gone.
• For a general stain remover to keep in your cupboard, mix equal parts Glycerine and washing-up liquid (dishwasher detergent) to four parts water.
Where to buy: From the pharmacy.
Ammonia ! Don't inhale. Wear a mask. Apart from with methylated spirits, never, ever mix ammonia and don’t use on wool or silk.
Ammonia is a natural gas that is reproduced chemically, diluted in water and sold in liquid form. It’s an alkaline, which means it’s at the opposite end of the scale to acidics (like vinegar and lemon juice) and can therefore neutralise acidic stains.
Household ammonia is 5-10% ammonia; skin contact can cause burns; high concentrations can cause chemical pneumonia; mixing with alkalis releases ammonia gas; mixing with chlorine bleach forms poison gas. Though scientists say household ammonia (5% solution) is about as toxic as vinegar (3% acetic acid), I don’t like recommending ammonia for general use. It is good, though, for getting rid of persistent, lingering smells that refuse to budge. Leave a few bowls of ammonia in the room overnight and close the door. Ventilate the room thoroughly afterwards before allowing anybody in there, especially children and animals. Don’t use to remove animal smells if the animal is resident as it can make the area more attractive to them.
Where to buy: From hardware stores.
The commercial stain removing and cleaning products I find really useful:
Magic Sponge ! Wear rubber gloves or the grease will get all over your hands. Don't use on varnished, polished or dark surfaces.
• Magic sponges make excellent oven cleaners, they’re chemical-free, fast and very effective. They work on the microfibre principle. There was an email scare in the US a few years ago with a warning that these sponges contain formaldehyde. They don't. Snip off as much sponge as you need (they're not reusable like the e-cloth) and simply dampen and wipe.
• Remove burnt-on food from cookware.
• Remove rubber and skid marks from wood and vinyl floors.
• Removes a variety of stains from walls, wood, vinyl floors.
Where to buy: Poundland (£1.00/$1.61)
Goo Gone
A safe, citrus-based sticky stuff remover that many Americans swear by. It’s difficult to find in the shops outside the US but you can get it on eBay. Apply to the stains and leave to penetrate but don't let it dry out.
• Removes, amongst other things, gum, blood, ink, crayon, make-up and shoe polish from all sorts of surfaces.
• Some vets use it to get tar off pets and wild birds.
Where to buy: http://www.axminster.co.uk/ (around £6.70/$10.84)
Graffiti Go!
A solvent-free, pH neutral, non toxic solution that cleans off with water.
• Removes tough stains like marker pen, paint, leather dye, crayon and chewing gum.
Where to buy: http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/ (around £9.18/$14.86)
Astonish Orange Paste (UK) Orange Glo Power Paste Foaming Cleanser (US)
A versatile non-toxic, orange-fresh cleaning paste.
• Great for really dirty enamel baths, sinks, ovens and tiles, plastic garden furniture, window surrounds.
Barkeepers Friend
Safe to use around food areas, good for cleaning inside the fridge.
• Cleans stainless steel, porcelain, ceramic tiles, plastic, copper, china, fiberglass, imitation marble, tile, grout, chrome, and composition sinks.
• Mix with water into a paste to remove stubborn stains.
Where to buy: Around £3.00 from hardware stores and supermarkets.
Quickleen-S
A non-toxic cleaner only available online (http://www.quickleen.co.uk/). I use this as a last resort on all sorts of surfaces - stainless steel, copper, brass, silver, aluminium, ceramic tiles, carpets and more.
• If you have an impossible stain that nothing else has shifted this is worth trying. It has even removed hair dye stains from my painted wooden surfaces. I use it to spring clean my (non-varnished) pine table. It removes wine rings, water rings, ink and food stains. The wood does dry out and needs replenishing afterwards with a restoring deep polish. If used on surfaces not specifically recommended by the manufacturer, always test on a hidden area first.
Wine Away
A non-toxic product that removes red wine and other red stains from carpets and fabrics. Made from fruit and vegetable extracts with no bleach or phosphates, this is an excellent spray-on red stain remover that works on old stains as well. Where to buy: £10.99/$17.79 http://www.lakeland.co.uk.
Ecover Biological (with Enzymes) and Non-Biological (without Enzymes)
The UK’s leading brand of green cleaners. (For the leading brand in the US, see http://www.seventhgeneration.com/.) Completely biodegradable washing detergent which causes minimum impact on aquatic life, is not tested on animals and suitable for septic tanks. Biological is recommended for whites and colourfast laundry. The enzymes help break stains down. Non-biological is recommended for coloureds and hand washing. For whites and colourfast laundry add a scoop of Oxygen bleach. Unlike most detergents, Ecover doesn't contain optical brighteners (see Chapter 9). Add Soda Crystals to your wash and use less detergent. This will more than deflect the higher cost of this excellent brand.
Green Force
I’m hearing rave reports on performance and price of this eco-friendly household brand. Products include laundry powder/liquid/tablets, dishwasher tablets and toilet cleaner. (In the US Greenforce is one of the original eco-friendly cleaning companies. They operate in the San Francisco area, but, wherever you live, if you or your company employ cleaners, you might well find an eco-friendly cleaning company nearby.) Where to buy: http://www.ocado.com.
Ariel Biological Liquid Detergent
I keep a bottle of this as a bad stain pre-soaker and stain remover. If any stains remain after soaking, I put a little liquid directly onto the stain before laundering. For carpet stains that won't come out with Soda Water, whoosh up some Ariel with lukewarm water and apply the froth to the stain. Rinse.
Last but not least, the only household product in the world with its own fan club http://www.WD40.com.
WD-40
! Makes surfaces dangerously slippery. Follow up with a grease-cutting washing-up liquid solution and good rinse.
Developed in the 1950s as a rust preventative for the aircraft industry, WD-40 gets its name from the inventor’s 40 attempts at water displacement before he reached the magic (secret) formula. Its primary purpose is to clean, protect and loosen rusted parts, free sticky mechanisms and stop squeaks. But it also:
• Removes Blu Tack and other sticky deposits.
• Removes crayon marks from hard surfaces, inc wallpaper.
• Removes candle soot.
• Cleans scuff marks from floors.
• Cleans dog mess from shoes.
• For more, see 2,000 uses for WD-40 http://www.wd40.com/uses-tips/.
Toxic Chemicals in the Home
All major supermarkets now sell own-brand 'green' cleaning products. Ecover is widely available as is Seventh Generation in the US. Significantly in Europe, new legislation came into force in 2007, regulated by a European Community directive called REACH. REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. Its mission statement is 'to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.'
The latest announcement from REACH, as I write this in mid- 2011, stated that “Six substances of very high concern will be banned within the next three to five years unless an authorisation has been granted to individual companies for their use. These substances are carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction or persist in the environment and accumulate in living organisms.”
In the next 3 to 5 years? Better than not at all, and quicker than some. These substances are:
5-ter-butyl-2,4,6-trinito-m-xylene (musk xylene) A synthetic musk fragrance that mimics natural musk. Largely phased out but still present in some cosmetics and fragrances.
hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) Primarily used as a flame retardant in polystyrene foam thermal home insulation. Other uses are upholstered furniture, automobile interior textiles, car cushions and insulation blocks in trucks, packaging material, video cassette recorder housing and electric and electronic equipment.
bis(2-ethylexyl) phthalate (DEHP) widely used as a plasticizer in manufacturing of articles made of PVC. Accounts for appx 18% of all plasticiser usage in W Europe. Used in many medical devices – catheters, dialysis bags and tubing, blood bags, transfusion tubing, air tubes.
benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) BBzP was commonly used as a plasticizer for vinyl foams often used as floor tiles. Also found in traffic cones, food conveyer belts and artificial leather. Its use has declined rapidly in the last decade. There are only two producers remaining in the EU.
4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane (MDA) a curing agent used in some epoxy-resins.
dibutyl phthalate (DBP) a commonly used plasticizer. Also used as an additive to adhesives or printing inks. It is soluble and found in solvents. Also used in an antiparasitic drug called ectoparasiticide.
REACH calls the worrying chemicals SVHC – Substances of Very High Concern. You can see the full list on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_of_very_high_concern
Replace what you can replace and be aware
A problem beyond individual chemical poisons is the cumulative (or 'cocktail') effect of exposure to multiple chemicals. This relates to phthalates in particular. Phthalates are used in the manufacture of plastics to increase their flexibility. As well as plastic containers they're found in all sorts of things - disinfectants, aerosols, moth repellants, air fresheners, cosmetics, paints and lacquers.
It's impossible to know what's in what. The best course of action beyond replacing what products you can with healthy, environmentally friendly alternatives is to Be Aware. If you have the need to use any powerful chemical household products or solvents, take precautions, open windows and don't inhale.
Navigating The REACH Labyrinth
A task way beyond this book - but there is plenty of information and opportunity to get involved online:
The Health and Environment Alliance http://www.env-health.org/), otherwise known as HEAL, is a network of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and other not-for-profit organisations in the field of environment and health. In collaboration with other partner organisations across Europe, HEAL has set up The Chemicals Health Monitor Project (http://www.chemicalshealthmonitor.org/):
“The project will contribute to the tools and structures necessary so that important health stakeholders can understand the REACH labyrinth and have their views about key decisions voiced. The project will also provide authoritative information (in a form accessible to the nonspecialist public) to support measures to reduce harmful effects of hazardous chemicals on human health and the environment, and to choose safer alternatives.”
They have produced a very useful free PDF dowloadable book called “Navigating Reach – An Activist's Guide to Using and Improving The New EU Chemicals Legislation”. The introduction summarises the good news:
“The improvement of Health and Safety information; safer substitutes for the most dangerous chemicals; industry, consumer and retailer right to know about the hazardous chemicals present in products.”
But also the loopholes and flaws:
“Companies may be allowed to continue importing, producing and using many hazardous substances associated with cancer, birth defects, reproductive illnesses and hormonal imbalances, even when safer alternatives exist.
Registration will only apply to 30,000 out of over 100,000 chemicals known to be on the market today and only rudimentary information may be required for 60% of those 30,000. Although the authorities could request more, information is likely to be insufficient to make a decision.
The decision on whether to make manufacturers replace chemicals that can mimic hormones (endocrine disruptors) with safer alternatives, whenever they exist, has been postponed to a future date.”
CHEM Trust (http://www.chemtrust.org.uk) is the charity which now runs the campaigns against toxic chemicals started by the World Wildlife Fund.
“CHEM Trust is uniquely placed in the UK to address the chemicals and health issue and will fill an important niche vacated by WWF, Greenpeace (UK), and Friends of the Earth (England and Wales). We will build on their work and continue to make a real difference to human health, wildlife and the wider environment.”
It has this to say about the REACH agreement:
“The final text of the new REACH law brought good news and bad news for the environment, wildlife and human health. The good news is that chemicals which build up in living organisms and those which linger in the environment for a long time will have to be replaced whenever safer alternatives are available. The bad news is that chemicals which may cause cancer or birth defects, affect DNA, disturb the hormone system or cause other serious illnesses (so-called CMRs and hormone disrupting chemicals) will continue to be allowed on the market even if safer alternatives are available.”
The International Chemical Secretariat (www.chemsec.org/) has produced a Sin List of the 378 Substances of Very High Concern (http://www.sinlist.org/)
“The SIN (Substitute It Now!) List is an NGO driven project to speed up the transition to a toxic free world. The List 2.0 consists of 378 chemicals that are identified as Substances of Very High Concern based on the criteria established by the EU chemical regulation, REACH. The SIN List is an important tool for speeding up the REACH legislative process, and is based on a straightforward concept: substitute hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. Think of it as a fast track to a toxic-free world.
Substitute It Now! The 378 chemicals on the SIN List 2.0 are currently being used in everything from detergents and paints to computers and toys. Sometimes in high levels. Yet consumers have no knowledge of this. The SIN List puts pressure on legislators to move forward with speed and urgency. It provides progressive retail companies with a helpful list of hazardous chemicals to avoid as they aim for a sustainable future. It also challenges certain chemical companies to shape up.”
The REACH website is at the European Commission for the Environment
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm
Beyond Europe
In the US, progress on the vital matter of chemicals in the air that we breathe is even slower. Professor Anne C Steinemann of the University of Washington’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Evans School of Public Affairs, specialises in environmental pollutants and public health. In 2008, she carried out three sets of studies on air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products. Her findings were widely reported at the time. In a letter to a state Board of Education she said: "I am very concerned that air fresheners and cleaning products with an added fragrance are being considered for use in your schools. Air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products, even ones certified as 'green,' emit numerous toxic chemicals — including carcinogenic Hazardous Air Pollutants that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, have no exposure level considered 'safe'.
“To understand this striking gap between chemicals emitted and chemicals disclosed, I investigated the US regulations pertaining to air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products. I discovered that companies are not required to test for toxic chemicals in air fresheners or fragranced cleaners, nor are they required to disclose any of the ingredients—not even chemicals that are classified as toxic or hazardous. In other words, you will not find hazardous chemicals listed on the product labels or material safety data sheets, and that is legal, because they do not need to be disclosed. The company providing you with air fresheners and cleaners is probably asserting that they are “safe.” But that term has no legal definition when it concerns air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products.
“My chemical analyses of a range of air fresheners (including sprays, solid disks, plug-ins, and oils) and fragranced cleaning products (including all-purpose cleaners, glass cleaners, floor cleaners, bathroom cleaners, detergents, and disinfectants) found that each one emitted chemicals that are carcinogens, neurotoxins, and respiratory toxins. Even air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products marketed as 'organic,' 'green,' 'all-natural,' or with 'essential oils' were just as toxic, and in some cases more toxic than the regular varieties. More than 100 volatile organic compounds were emitted by air fresheners and fragranced cleaning products, but none of these chemicals were listed on any product label or material safety data sheet.”
In October 2010: Professor Steinemann published results of new tests. She and her team found that many fragranced household and personal care products, including those labelled 'Green' have at least one chemical classified as a probable carcinogen.
Read more:
http://donedust.blogspot.com/2010/11/chemical-sleuthing-reveals-toxins-in.html
The Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition represents more than 11 million individual Americans. Their website (http://www.saferchemicals.org/) has all the latest information on chemicals in the home and details on how you can take part in their powerful and active campaign for urgent reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The US Environmental Protection Agency's Introduction to Indoor Air Quality (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html) says that concentrations of indoor VOCs are consistently up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds, 'some of which', the Agency states, 'may have short and long term adverse health effects'.
Another problem is the growth of Greenwashing. The environmentally aware consumer who's willing to pay a bit more for 'natural' products is a new, powerful category in the market researcher's row of tick boxes. Now some companies are spending more time and money spinning green advertising and packaging than on environmentally sound practices. Greenwashing is nothing new. The phrase was coined back in the 1980s when an environmentalist realised that the green cards in the bathrooms of a New York hotel asking guests to consider re-using their towels proved to be more about profit than the environment. What is new is that consumers in the know can fight back. In the US, the trusted site Good Guide (http://www.goodguide.com/) have come up with a free barcode App. You scan your iPhone camera over the barcode to get instant and up to date information on the manufacturer's policy on health, environment and social responsibility. There are scores out of ten plus a list of ingredients to avoid in each category. In household cleaners, for example, there's Ammonia, Benzene, Potassium Hydroxide, Quaternary Ammonium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Hypochlorite, Terpenes and Triclosan.
The International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products, is the official representative of the industry in Europe (http://www.aise.eu). Their Air Fresheners Product Stewardship Programme states that it builds on “a series of voluntary initiatives already undertaken by AISE in the domain of safety assessment and sustainability allowing consumers to make the best-informed choices about safe product usage.”
***
How to Make Healthy, Home-made Air Fresheners
I haven’t bought any air fresheners for many years but do like to fragrance the air sometimes, especially if I’ve been cooking kippers or have burnt the toast. I keep a jar of home-made air freshener which I boil up in a saucepan and waft around the flat. The bad smells are replaced with a lovely, subtle lingering scent which you just catch for a day or so afterwards when you come in from outside.
Here's the recipe:
Into a small saucepan of water add:
Two limes, quartered, juices squeezed (or use bottled/concentrated juice)
15 drops of patchouli essential oil
A teaspoon of cinnamon powder or 10 drops of cinnamon essential oil
A teaspoon of grated ginger
5 Cloves
A teaspoon of vanilla essence
Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, add 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda & carry through home, wafting it about, priest-like, as you go.
It’s a rich, sophisticated smell. When the mixture has cooled I pour it into a jar for use next time, topping up here and there as I fancy. It keeps for 6 to 12 weeks. Much longer than this and mould will set in. Adapt as you wish, substituting lemons for limes, leaving bits out altogether it you've run out etc.
To make your own personal air freshener, think about the smells you love. For inspiration, have a look on your bathroom shelves. My recipe started with my favourite face cleanser, Antipodes Organic Lime and Patchouli (http://www.lovelula.com/). I'm still experimenting. One of my favourite smells is Hoof Oil, a thick, creosote-type smell, not all that distant from Inside Summer Shed, another of my favourites that never fails to stir up memories of distant, childhood summers. I'm still looking for the right combination of ingredients to replicate the smell of the Paris flat I lived in for a while in my early 20s. So far I've got coffee, garlic, leather, aniseed. What stops me from even starting to try this one is the difficulty of replicating the subtle, tinny waft of River Seine that flowed beside the street down below. Maybe next time I go to France I'll bottle up a little bit of Seine and start from there.
For a lighter, summer smell you could start with a base of essential citrus oils like lemon, or lavender. In the summer, though, I don’t bother. As I'm lucky enough not to suffer from hay fever, the windows tend to be open. Fresh air with a top note of cut summer grass is the loveliest, healthiest smell of all.
***
The Cheapest Way To Double Your Storage Space
Vacuum bags can double, even triple, your storage space and protect against moths, moisture, odour, dirt, rust and corrosion. They can be used for almost anything that you stuff into cupboards – fabrics, clothes, paperwork, photos, memorabilia, china and silver, books, tents, soft toys, old electronics/computers. The only things to avoid are fur, leather, and anything containing feathers and/or down. The problem is the cost. Good, strong bags with vacuum seals are expensive and the cheaper ones are a bit of a gamble. The sides split more easily and the seals can fail.
Bin liners don’t have the special seals, but you can use them in the same way. Your possessions do get some protection and, as long as you place them in situ as soon as you’ve vacuumed the air out, you can gain all of that precious extra storage space before they start to let the air in and expand out again.
Take a good strength bin liner and place your fabrics, soft toys or whatever inside. Don’t go for the very thick type of garden sacks because they’re impossible to tie at the ends. If you have any small items or irreplaceable pieces of paper, gather them inside a smaller plastic bag first or they could get sucked away.
Scrunch the top of the bag together around the hose of your vacuum cleaner and switch it on. Do it in spurts or, if your vacuum cleaner is anything like mine, it’ll overheat and stop working until it’s cooled down again. When the bag has collapsed to a fraction of its size, tie the ends as tightly as you can. To gain as much space as possible, pile the shrivelled bags on top of each other until there’s no space above or below them on the shelf. There is then only so much surrounding air into which they can expand and you can pack so much more in. Keep bags away from sharp objects and don’t store near any heat source. Make sure everything is clean and bone dry before storing and don’t forget to label the bags or make a little inventory before you forget what's where.
***
The Humane Way to Get Rid of Rats, Mice and Ants
I live in a very old building and used to have mice everywhere. They'd appear from nowhere and stroll about every room as if they owned it. We tried all sorts of humane traps and then bought nasty poisons and traps which we couldn't bring ourselves to use, even though the mice were getting cheekier and cheekier. The problem was solved by Pest Stop 2000 (http://www.pest-stop.co.uk/) and we haven't had a hint of a mouse for years. It's a small plastic device that, when plugged in, emits fluctuating, ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves that mice can’t bear. One is enough to cover a whole house up to 2,000 sq feet. It can also be used to deter rats, squirrels and crawling insects and has a special mosquito setting. It's safe if you have dogs, cats, fish and birds, but not small rodents like hamsters. Pest Stop make products to deter all sorts of creatures from badgers to woodlice, there's even an Ultrasonic Flea Repeller collar for cats and dogs.
There are versions for sale in most countries. We paid about £40.00 ($64.00) for ours. Make sure it’s the electromagnetic type that transmits a signal along every electrical cable in the building. We did try a cheaper £10.00 ($16.00) ultrasonic plug-in deterrent which didn’t work at all.
In the US and Canada, see http://www.electronicpestrepeller.com/.
If you find ants in your home there are two obvious first steps:
• follow the trail to its end and remove the jar of soy sauce, pot of jam or whatever sweet and sticky food source is attracting them.
• go outside, find out where they’re coming in and block it with filling cement.
The sight of ants in the kitchen is always the first sign to me that summer's truly arrived. As we live in a flat, I don't have access to all of our outside areas. I’ve tried every kind of natural repellant: garlic, cinnamon, vinegar, mint, baby powder, drawing a line in chalk across their path. None worked. The best remedy I've come across is a home-made version of the professional ant-busting method. Place a spoonful of borax and syrup or sugar on the trail. The ants will gorge on the syrup and ingest the borax at the same time. Some will be taken back to the Queen and the borax will make her sterile.
***
For several years now I have been cooking for somebody recovering from cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund is a charity dedicated to stopping cancer before it starts. Its latest report, 'Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and The Prevention of Cancer, A Global Perspective', is totally conclusive that a healthy diet and exercise routine helps prevent cancer and contributes to a successful recovery. The chances of other serious illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and strokes, developing and progressing are also reduced. The report is free to download http://www.wcrf-uk.org/cancer_prevention/index.php and the website has lots of recipes and free advice. The Healthy New You Plan leads you through a gradual 12 week programme with tips, quizzes and weekly target sheets.
Recently I went on a specialist cancer and chemo-related nutrition course. The very first thing we were told was that, as a complete lifestyle change would be difficult to sustain and therefore quite possibly more stressful than it's worth, we should absorb all that we were taught and then make small, manageable shifts that we could comfortably deal with in our lives. Here are the small but significant changes I have made at home:
• I have reduced our intake of sugar, by no means completely but by switching small, regular habits
http://breastcancer.about.com/od/cancerfightingfoods/a/cancer_sugar_myth.htm
I've replaced Maple Syrup on porridge with Agave Nectar, for example. It's delicious and actually sweeter than sugar but is 100% natural plant extract, costs less and is available in all the main supermarkets. Agave does have its detractors, cheaper products labelled Agave could be chemical fructose. Read the label and if possible buy certified organic.
• Artificial Sweeteners like Aspartame are another area of controversy. I prefer to avoid them wherever possible.
• I always thought reusing old mini water bottles was a no-brainer, saving both my cash and the environment. On my nutrition course we were strongly advised not to do this, and not to drink from them if they've been left in the sun.
It's confusing because several chemicals associated with plastics have raised concerns: DEHA, DEHP and BPA. If you look at Cancer Research UK's website page, Cancer Controversies A – Z:
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/utilities/atozindex/atoz-cancer-myths
you'll read that the whole plastic bottle scare began with a scientist on a Japanese TV programme in 2002 voicing concerns about the safety of freezing water in plastic bottles. The dangers of plastic leaching into the food and water then spread rapidly on the internet.
Disposable drinking water bottles don't contain the dodgy BPA (see below). Tests done in the US on bottles made of FED-approved polyethylene terephthalate (PET) found traces of potentially hazardous substances but they were minescule and well within regulation safety limits. Many health professionals say the greatest risk in reusing plastic bottles comes from from germs. “The types of plastic bottles in which drinking water is typically sold are safe to reuse as long as their condition hasn’t deteriorated and you can clean them,' says CancerResearch UK. 'They should be cleaned with hot, soapy water and thoroughly dried every time you refill them, to prevent bacteria from growing.”
Bis (2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis%282-ethylhexyl%29_adipate
Bis (2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) was rumoured to leach out of plastic containers heated in the microwave. This triggered the widespread scare that erupted a few years ago about microwaving foods in their plastic containers. The rumours have been traced to their source and the EU has confirmed that it poses no 'general' risk to human health. DEHA has been demonstrated to induce liver adenomas and carcinomas in mice but not in rats. Cancer Research UK says “There is no convincing evidence that DEHA is actually present in plastic bottles or plastic wraps. Even if it was, in the late 1990s, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removed DEHA from its list of toxic chemicals. It said that DEHA 'cannot reasonably be anticipated to cause cancer' as well as a number of other health problems.”
DEHP (Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), mainly used to soften PVC, is one of REACH's “six substances of very high concern” and will be banned within the next three to five years unless an authorisation has been granted to individual companies for their use. Each substance in the six substance list has been given a "sunset date" ranging from 2014 to 2015. “From this date the substance may only be placed on the market or used if an authorisation has been granted or an application for authorisation has been made before the latest application date. This is the date by which anyone wishing to keep using a listed chemical after the sunset date must make an application.”
So it'll be a while yet then before DEHP is out of the way. It accounts for about 18% of all plasticiser usage in W Europe and whilst it hasn't been used in children's toys for several years (banned in 2007) it's still used in many medical devices.