Clean and safe home

Let's talk about cleaning. Cleaning is not fun, I admitted it. Living in a clean and organized home makes me happy but I don't like cleaning that much (who does anyway?). Bathroom is an easy room for me to clean but I can't stand the pungent order of the toilet bowl cleaner, the bleach, the mildew stuff. Every time I clean our bathrooms and toilets I feel like I choke and need to run out to get fresh air every few minute, no kidding! My nose is burning from bleach fume. Then after the bathroom and toilet are clean, the chemical odor lingers for a very long time. It got me thinking, inhaling these chemicals directly or indirectly couldn't be good in a long term. In this age and time, more and more people have been diagnosed with  cancer that has no cure. The numbers of affected people are really striking and alarming. Although we don't know exactly what is the underlying cause of the disease and who will get such disease, I will want try to minimize the risks as long as I can.
Eating healthy and selecting organic produces are the way to go but we can still expose to the nasty stuff as long as our lives are surrounded by dangerous chemicals in our household. In the past 7-8 years or so, I started switching our typical personal care products to more natural options (soap, lotion, shampoo for example). Some stuff worked well and some didn't. My husband and I never really tried to switch our cleaning products because we didn't think natural based cleaning products could clean effectively We didn't quite believe in the power of nature until recently. I think the only thing we bought and tried was the Seventh Generation Dish Detergent to clean our daughter's bottles when she was younger.
My husband and I are TOTALLY blown away by products from The Honest Company. Years ago, I heard that Jessica Alba launched her brand which focused on safe and natural baby and family products but never checked it out. 99% of the time, I would buy natural baby's products (soap, shampoo, conditioner and sunscreen) for my daughter since she was born and I've tried almost all the brands in the market. We frequently used California baby until one day we ran out so I went to Target and saw a Honest liquid soap/shampoo and bought on a whim. Both my husband and I thought it worked really well. My daughter skin is moisturized after her bath, her hair feels clean and it doesn't leave a residue. That was our first impression with the brand. Then next I found a deal on Zulily.com which I could get the 1st monthly subscription from the Honest Company for just $19.95 (regular price $35.95). The monthly subscription or "Bundles" contains 5 products that you can choose. My thought was that I would just cancel it after one month because I was not into subscription service and I thought it was too expensive. However 4 months later, I am still subscribed. That says something. Everything I've ordered WORKS wonder (except a hair conditioner which doesn't work well with my daughter's fine hair).
I have never written any review for household products but these two are worth mentioning. The reviews are my honest opinions and I paid for the products with my own money.   Toilet bowl cleaner 27 fl. oz. ($5.95): This was the 1st cleaning product I ordered and wanted to try. To tell you the truth, I didn't have a high hope. For years, there are some stubborn stains inside the toilet bowls that no bleach/Lysol could remove. NONE EVER! Didn't matter how much bleach we poured in there.
I was skeptical when I start squeezing the bottle and saw that the liquid was so thick and concentrated, it stayed along the rim (unlike Lysol which dripping into the water). The scent is Eucalyptus. It was nothing comparing to Lysol which was so pungent. After I used the Honest Company Toilet Cleaner for the1st time and started scrubbing, BAM! The stains were melting away like magic! I never got such excitement seeing a toilet bowl but I did that day. My husband was beyond amazed. We are SOLD! The best part is that I could barely detect the odor when in the bedroom. I could smell it slightly in the bathroom but it disappeared not too long after and didn't bother me at all. That led us to explore more cleaning products from this brand. This bottle will probably last for a long time, it is very concentrated. I like the tip because it is pointy and small so it could reach the area under the rim quite well.   Bathroom Cleaner 29 fl. oz.($5.95): after our impression with the toilet bowl cleaner, I decided to try a bathroom cleaner next. I use this to clean kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, shower and bath tub. Our shower's floor once again had stubborn stains that nothing could get rid of. This cleaner has the same scent as the toilet bowl cleaning. The trick is that you have to make sure the surface you clean has to be dry before you spray. Leave it for 5-10 minutes then start scrubbing. My husband said he didn't even have to scrub as hard and the stains started dissolving in front of his eyes. Our shower never looked this clean, the last time we saw it this clean was when we moved in the first year! It was AMAZING and not to mention the Eucalyptus scent, much better than mildew products (yuck!).
I think I enjoy cleaning bathrooms more than ever now. It sounds crazy but true. Knowing that what you use is safer for your family and environment than most conventional products in the market makes me feel better. I wouldn't say it is 100% safe that you can drink out of the bottle but enough for me to feel comfortable using such products around our little one. I highly recommend if you are in the market for a toilet bowl cleaner or a bathroom cleaner.