Cleaning chemicals and asthma--

[Shellydon]

If someone in your household has asthma, have you found switching to different types of cleaners to be helpful? 

[Pen]

Yes 

[Tanaqui]

Oh, heck yeah.

[easypeasy]

Absolutely. Yes.

 

(edited to add: We didn't switch to ALL all-natural products or anything either. Just stopped using certain products that seemed to trigger the asthma symptoms and tried something else. I also started buying the wipes version of a cleaning product for a lot of things. We tend to be pretty environmentally conscious here, so I hated to try it, but the tradeoff was worth it. We spray less "stuff" into the air, which causes fewer flare ups.)

Edited January 19, 2019 by easypeasy

[Sharon77]

absolutely yes. with the most dramatic results seen from not using Cascade. That stuff has bleach. and also no burning candles or any type of air fresheners, including no plug ins. basically, if you can smell it, it was a no. 

[MrsRobinson]

We noticed improvement across the board but the most dramatic improvement was switching to hand soaps with no dyes and All free and clear laundry detergent. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Yes, carefully avoiding fragrance is first priority.

Then comes avoiding solvent smells.

 

[Arcadia]

Depends on the triggers.  For me it is bleach, turpentine (paint thinner, nail polish remover), any artificial fragrance. My dad would put lots of cut lemons and open all windows and main door (it has a door grill) during spring cleaning when I was a kid.

DS14 has hives from dryer fumes so that window next to the dryer vent has to be kept shut. We stay in a condo so our neighbor’s dryer vents affect him too. It affects my husband as well but not to the extent of hives.

[theelfqueen]

As I am the person with asthma in my house, and I do all the shopping, so I don't THINK about the triggers I'm avoiding LOL (and scents not only set of my asthma but are a migraine trigger for me, too! So DOWN WITH PERFUME!)

I read this thinking "I don't really do that". But I totally do.

My number one worst reaction to a cleaning product ever is "Kaboom" Whatever the heck is in that is out to kill me. I bought it once, used it twice (because surely the first time was a fluke) then disposed of it.

Bleach doesn't bother me. (Thank goodness -- I love bleach LOL)

Certain scents of tide, and most things with citrus scents (especially dish soaps and dishwasher detergents). Though I always end up going back to some form of Tide because it gets my clothes cleaner.

No candles, air fresheners, etc. (Which makes my mother in law crazy, and if she stays here she goes out and BUYS scent spray stuff to use in the bathroom... and then I throw it away when she leaves, because I like breathing. What the heck is it with my family not recognizing my need to BREATHE?)

I've always been picky about body washes, shampoos, deodorants, hand wash etc... so I don't know which ones I avoid so much as that I am loyal to the ones I do use.

[drjuliadc]

Extreme difference in my husband’s asthma.  We do 100% natural everything except for Tide Free and Clear because it gets stains out that nothing else does, poop, for example.

Fabric softener is the worst. We use wool dryer balls and don’t need it and love not having to buy something over and over again instead of once. They also make things dry faster.

 

[Pippen]

Yes, but as others have mentioned, cleaning products were only one small piece of the puzzle. 

I found this book C-lean and Green: The Complete Guide to Non-Toxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping making cleaning supplies -to be helpfu. It's older, so there's likely something newer on the market: 

https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Green-Non-Toxic-Environmentally-Housekeeping/dp/1886101019/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=clean+and+green&qid=1548002155&s=Books&sr=1-1

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by Pippen