Need recommendations for hyper-allergenic cleaning supplies

[Anonymous]

I've come to the conclusion that I'm allergic to something in the products our cleaning service uses to clean our home. I think I need to provide our own supplies, but have no idea what they are currently using (there's a bit of a language barrier) or what good replacements would be.

I'd like to put together a kit with everything they would need, with products unlikely to cause allergies, and not-crazy expensive. Anyone have advice on what to include?

Before we got cleaners, I stuck to dish soap and water for most things, with soft-scrub for the bathrooms, so am a little clueless here.

[Anonymous]

I think the term you are looking for is hypo-allergenic.

Are you having breathing difficulties (asthmatic) or skin reactions or some kind of histamine response where you get a runny nose, itch eyes, that kind of thing.

I find for breathing issues it is best to avoid anything with bleach and strong chemical cleaners. Skin reactions or runny nose/itchy eye reactions tend to be more related to scent ingredients.

So look for unscented ingredients or scents that don't bother you (for me I do best with citrus if it must have a scent), and more natural cleaners. Bon Ami cleanser, Seventh generation/Method products that aren't scented, Tide Free detergent for laundry.

[Anonymous]

I clean my house with vinegar and baking soda, that's it. I used to have a cleaning person for whom I made cleaning products. I mixed a few drops of natural dish soap with vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner I put in a spray bottle. I also bought some all natural products from Whole Foods, MOMs. Do not get anything at Trader Joe's! They are not natural, no matter what they say. You can find lots of natural recipes online, just google natural cleaning product recipes. Toilet bowl cleaner I bought at Whole Foods. There are several decent brands. I like Biokleen products. Seventh Generation is OK, but not fabulous. Buy the ones with no fragrance for best results. Read the labels carefully. Some are made by the people who bring you the nasty cleaners, and they don't list ingredients. Biokleen and some others do list ingredients, and I trust those more than others labelled "natural" but really, there's no way to tell if they are. Also go to EWG's website and search for the highest rated products. It's very helpful: http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners

GL, OP. We have terrible allergies, and going with vinegar and baking soda works best for us. The toilet takes some elbow grease, but everything's clean, and no one breaks out in hives or wheezes.