Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget

The Housework Hater's Healthy Quick Cleaning Guide

2012-02-25T23:08:00.000Z

CHAPTER ONE

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. 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.

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 and 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) 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 - 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.

End of Chapter 1

To read Chapter 2 and the first 30% of this book, go to Smashwords.

To purchase all ebook versions of this ebook, ePub, NOOK, Kindle etc, and the UK and US paperbacks, click here.

Free Your Home Magazine Competition - Win Win Win!

2011-12-06T08:43:00.001Z

Blackbirdebooks have teamed up with E-Cloth and Your Home magazine to produce a free online competition.

Answer a simple question and click to win a whole bundle of E-cloth goodies plus an ebook copy of Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget.

Done & Dusted is packed full of environmental household tips plus over 100 Guardian columns by Stephanie Zia solving readers' impossible cleaning and stains problems the non-toxic way. There's also a handy section on inventive ways to use your E-cloths you may not have thought of before.

To win your bundle of e-cloths and your free ebook, go to

YOUR HOME MAGAZINE, answer a simple question and click!

PARKINSON'S DISEASE LINKED WITH TCE SOLVENT

2011-11-14T10:08:00.002Z

On the BBC news this morning: results of an international study on the impact of solvent exposure reveal a significant link between the solvent TCE and Parkinson's Disease.

Banned in most countries since the 1970s, TCE was found in dry-cleaning solutions, carpet cleaners, paints and glue. It's still used as an industrial degreaser in the US and Europe and groundwater contamination is widespread.

Three other three solvents examined - toluene, xylene and n-hexane - revealed no statistical link. However, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and perchloroethylene (PERC), which are still in everyday use "tended towards significant risk of developing the disease".

Where do you find CC14 and PERC?

The BBC report says: "PERC, like TCE, is used as a dry-cleaning agent and degreasing agent, and is found in many household products. CCl4's major historical use was in the manufacture of chlorofluorocarbons for use as refrigerants, but it has also been used a fumigant to kill insects in grain."

PERC is the smell of Dry Cleaning shops. Also known as "dry-cleaning fluid" and "tetrachloroethylene". The industry has started replacing PERC with other chemicals. Some cleaners now offer a service called GreenEarth. This uses the chemical siloxane, which isn't as nasty as perchloroethylene and carries none of those toxic, lingering odours, but still doesn't get the thumbs-up from Greenpeace. 'Because heat and chlorine are required to produce siloxanes, manufacture of these chemicals could lead to the formation of dioxin, a potent cancer-causing substance in humans,' it says.

Greenpeace asks that we urge our dry cleaners to offer a non-toxic alternative. The most successful in terms of results is the CO2 method. This has yet to reach UK high streets but is getting the thumbs-up in the US. Carbon dioxide is naturally abundant in our environment, and it can be collected as a byproduct of industrial processes such as alcohol production. It also has a deodorising effect, so your clothes and bedding come back smelling pleasant and fresh.

I don't generally dry-clean any of my clothes, just the occasional coat which I always hang outside to 'air' when I get it home - PERC can evaporate from dry cleaned clothes straight into your home, I would never, ever dry-clean bedding. If a non-washable fabric needs cleaning I find a wipe down with a damp E-cloth does the job.

PERC can also be found in some paint and spot removers, water repellents, break and wood cleaners, glues, and suede protectors.

Read Neil Bowlder's full BBC News report here.

Read The Green American on dry cleaning options.

Hate Housework? Read on

2011-10-21T11:57:00.003+01:00

Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget by Stephanie Zia is a practical cleaning and household tip guide 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, make informed, affordable compromises and get the cleaning out of the way as quickly as possible. Stephanie Zia was The Guardian's Space Solves cleaning guru from 2005-2011.

CHAPTER ONE

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.

Let’s start with the obvious:

Money

How does it work?

Fighting the Superbugs

Time

• 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.

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.

• Do use dry as a duster (shake out first if cleaning mirror or glass).

Where to buy

How many?

Hygiene

How to have one of those 'I've got a cleaner' homes

2011-09-21T08:38:00.000+01:00

WhatAbout the Vinegar?

Vinegar has been around for over 10,000 years. It's a natural mild bleachand water softener that dissolves dirt and grease. E-cloths may take care of all my day to day cleaning needs, but, along with lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda and the other oldfavourites, I put vinegar to good use:

• Add half a cup to washingmachine fabric conditioner tray as water softener.

• Place a mug of vinegar inthe bottom of dishwasher and run on a short, glass-cleaning cycle to clean anddeodorise.

• Use as a poultice onstained sinks, soak a cloth and leave covering overnight.

• To remove limescale at baseof taps mix into a paste with salt and scrub with old toothbrush.

• To remove limescale fromtap spouts and showerheads, pour into a plastic bag and secure with an elasticband. Leave overnight, brush off limescale with old nailbrush before polishing upwith an e-cloth, a lemon, bicarbonate of soda or Barkeepers Friend.

For more uses, tips, recipes and everything youneed to know about vinegar, see The Vinegar Institute. Where tobuy: fromsupermarkets. If storage space isn’t a problem, look out for 5 litre containersof white vinegar in Indian shops and in the warehouse-type discountsupermarkets. (See the bulk basics page at http://www.summernaturals.co.uk where 5 litrescosts around £4.39/$7.10.)

Bicarbonate of soda (baking powder) ! Warning – canpermanently 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 themicrowave, dissolve 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda in a cup of water, andcook on high for 3 minutes.

• To clean ovens, sprinkleover surfaces and spritz with a water bottle to dampen. Leave for 10 to 30minutes before wiping off, longer for burnt-in stains.

• Sprinkle over inside ofthe fridge and wipe off with damp cloth to clean and deodorise.

• Keep a bowl in the fridgeto absorb smells.

• I know it's there as astandby to extinguish grease fires.

Where to buy: You can find small tubs of baking powder in baking section of thesupermarket. For cleaning purposes buy household non-food bicarbonate of sodain bulk at www.summernaturals.co.uk.

Carbonated Water (Knownin UK as Soda Water, in US & Canada as Seltzer)

Many stains, even red winestains, can be completely removed with water if they’re treated quickly enough.With carbonated water you get an extra boost as the carbonated bubbles sinkinto the stain and lift the dirt with them as they rise. Keep a bottle in thecupboard for emergencies.

• If you spill something onthe 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 absorbthe water.

• If you have a baby ortoddler, keep a bottle of soda water next to the high chair to wipe up foodspills on bibs and clothing.

Washing-up liquid (In US& Canada Known as Dishwasher Detergent)

One of the best stainremovers of all. Use sparingly or it’ll need lots of rinsing.

• Apply with cold water toprotein stains and hot water to greasy stains (see chapter 13 to learn how toidentify).

• Most of us use too muchwashing-up liquid. In most cases a dribble rather than a squirt is all youneed. Make yours go twice as far by diluting 50/50 with water.

Oxygen Bleach ! Colour test before using a higher concentration than themanufacturer’s recommendation.

• A great laundry boosterand safe to use on colours at recommended dilution.

• Having said that, mixedwith a little water it makes a powerful stain-removing paste. At thisstrength 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 stainsfrom carpets and upholstery but always colour test first. If you have adark mark on a light carpet that’s been completely impossible to remove in anyother way (and assuming you are not covered by accidental damage in yourinsurance policy), use the bleach to lighten it into a less-noticeable mark.

• Whiten plastic surfacesthat have yellowed. Apply to stain and leave for 30 minutes, rinse. Don’t letit come into contact with wood, lacquered/varnished/silk surfaces or mildsteel.

• Is a brilliant non-toxiccleaner for outdoor wooden decking areas. When bought in bulk it goes under itschemical name, sodium percarbonate.

Where to buy: Wizz Oxi Ultra Plus from supermarkets. Order pure sodium percarbonateonline at Mistralie. 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, andcheaper relative of bicarbonate of soda, Soda Crystals soften the water anddissolve grease. They’re very cheap and widely available in the UK, topurchase in the US and Canada, go to www.msodistributing.com.

• Add a scoop to yourwashing machine detergent tray. The crystals soften the water and your fabricsand you’ll only need to use half the amount of detergent. They also helpkeep the pipes in your washing machine clear and free of gunge and help removegrease, blood, ink tea and coffee stains.

• Soak old towels andfabrics for half an hour to give them back their softness. Rinse well.

• Clean greasy extractorfans and remove burnt-on food from saucepans, grills and casseroles. Rinsewell.

• Pour half a pack down thesink followed by hot water to keep your drains fresh and free of grease.

• Dissolves stains from theinside of cups and teapots. Leave to soak for an hour or so, scrub with ascourer and watch the stains effortlessly peel away. Rinse.

• Remove moss and algaefrom patios.

3% hydrogen peroxidesolution ! Highly inflammable. Highly corrosive to metal,keep away from taps and bathroom fittings.

This strangely versatilesubstance is used, amongst other things, as a mouthwash and to make bombs. It’sactually a very close relative to water, being just one oxygen atom away.Chemically, this makes it a much less toxic cleaning product than chlorinebleach but, because of its explosive nature, handle with extreme care andfollow all safety and storage instructions. It’s for this reason youwon’t see it on the pharmacy shelves but have to ask for it.

• An excellent blood stainremover. Apply to the stain and watch it disappear. Launder the fabric afteryou've applied the solution or you might get bleach stains. If the blood is ona mattress, apply solution, sprinkle with salt, leave to sit for a minute andwatch the stain fizz into the salt, then wash with soap and cold water. Rinse.

• Contact lens solutioncontains 3% hydrogen peroxide, squeeze directly onto stain to lift blood, redwine and protein stains.

For the many uses ofhydrogen peroxide solution see 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 andsome surfaces irreversibly.

• Great for cleaningchopping boards.

• Clean taps and stainlesssteel to a shine.

• Will sometimes removefruit and red wine stains on kitchen surfaces. Make a paste with a little flourand, after testing non-white surfaces, leave as poultice covering the stainovernight.

• If fabric isn't affectedby lemon juice stain, squeeze onto fruit and wine stains and leave in the sunto dry.

• For badly-stained toiletbowls, mix to a paste with Borax Substitute, and leave overnight.

• Can remove some stainsfrom some types of marble.

• To remove rust, mix withsalt 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 amilk stain.

The active enzymes in milkthat 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 vinegarand soak stain for 30 minutes. Always rinse thoroughly in COLD water or you'llbe left with a smelly milk stain.

• If water and biologicaldetergent foam don't shift carpet stains, try milk.

• Remove ink stains fromtables and other surfaces by soaking a kitchen towel in soured milk, place overstain, weigh down with a vase or bowl, leave for 30 minutes. Rub. Repeat, ifnecessary several times. Toothpaste speeds up the rubbing process but canlighten some woods and damage veneer, test on hidden part of surface first.

Methylated spirits ! Always colour test before using.

Commonly known as DenaturedAlcohol, Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) is mixed with a small amount of Methanol tomake it unfit for consumption and then dyed purple or blue.

• Use neat to remove somedye and pigment stains.

• If the stain isn’t onsilk 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 carpetand upholstery stain remover, especially if travelling.

Borax ! Borax is an eye irritant. Wear rubber gloves and keep your handsaway from your face.

Borax, also known as sodiumborate, is a natural, alkaline salt that comes from the evaporation of salinelakes.

• Excellent everyday toiletbowl and drain cleaner.

• Good for cleaning badlystained tiles, sinks, floors, walls, windows, mirrors and painted surfaces.

• To remove difficultstains from tiles and carpets, mix three parts borax to one part cold water andwork 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 knownas Borax Substitute in Europe. The properties are identical but Substituteisn't suitable for pest control. £1.55 ($2.50)/500g www.thegreenstoreonline.co.uk but 500g won't go very far. £8.19($13.25)/3.6kg from the bulk size orderingpage of Summer Naturals.

Glycerine (also known asGlycerin/Glycerol)

Sold in pharmacies as asoother for sore throats and coughs, Glycerine is an excellent tannin stainremover.

• Dab difficult old redwine, coffee and tea stains with Glycerine. If you see the stain fading, repeatand repeat again until it’s gone.

• For a general stainremover to keep in your cupboard, mix equal parts Glycerine and washing-upliquid (dishwasher detergent) to four parts water.

Where to buy: From the pharmacy.

Ammonia ! Don't inhale. Wear a mask. Apartfrom with methylated spirits, never, ever mix ammonia and don’t use on wool orsilk.

Ammonia is a natural gasthat is reproduced chemically, diluted in water and sold in liquid form. It’san alkaline, which means it’s at the opposite end of the scale to acidics (likevinegar and lemon juice) and can therefore neutralise acidic stains.

Household ammonia is 5-10%ammonia; skin contact can cause burns; high concentrations can cause chemicalpneumonia; mixing with alkalis releases ammonia gas; mixing with chlorinebleach forms poison gas. Though scientists say household ammonia (5% solution)is about as toxic as vinegar (3% acetic acid), I don’t like recommendingammonia 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 theanimal is resident as it can make the area more attractive to them.

Where to buy: From hardware stores.

The commercial stainremoving 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 makeexcellent oven cleaners, they’re chemical-free, fast and very effective. Theywork on the microfibre principle. There was an email scare in the US a fewyears 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) andsimply dampen and wipe.

• Remove burnt-on food fromcookware.

• Remove rubber and skidmarks from wood and vinyl floors.

• Removes a variety ofstains from walls, wood, vinyl floors.

Where to buy: Poundland (£1.00/$1.61)

Goo Gone

A safe, citrus-based stickystuff remover that many Americans swear by. It’s difficult to find in the shopsoutside the US but you can get it on eBay. Apply to the stains and leave topenetrate but don't let it dry out.

• Removes, amongst otherthings, gum, blood, ink, crayon, make-up and shoe polish from all sorts ofsurfaces.

• Some vets use it to gettar 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 likemarker pen, paint, leather dye, crayon and chewing gum.

Where to buy: http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk (around £9.18/$14.86)

Astonish OrangePaste (UK) Orange Glo Power Paste Foaming Cleanser (US)

A versatile non-toxic,orange-fresh cleaning paste.

• Great for really dirtyenamel baths, sinks, ovens and tiles, plastic garden furniture, windowsurrounds.

Barkeepers Friend

Safe to use around foodareas, 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 apaste to remove stubborn stains.

Where to buy: Around £3.00 from hardware stores and supermarkets.

Quickleen-S

A non-toxic cleaner onlyavailable online (www.quickleen.co.uk). I use this as a last resort on all sorts of surfaces - stainlesssteel, copper, brass, silver, aluminium, ceramic tiles, carpets and more.

• If you have an impossiblestain that nothing else has shifted this is worth trying. It has even removedhair 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 foodstains. The wood does dry out and needs replenishing afterwards with arestoring deep polish. If used on surfaces not specifically recommended by themanufacturer, always test on a hidden area first.

Wine Away

A non-toxic product thatremoves red wine and other red stains from carpets and fabrics. Made from fruitand vegetable extracts with no bleach or phosphates, this is an excellentspray-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 (withEnzymes) and Non-Biological (without Enzymes)

TheUK’s leading brand of green cleaners. (For the leading brand in the US, see www.seventhgeneration.com.) Completely biodegradable washing detergent which causes minimumimpact on aquatic life, is not tested on animals and suitable for septic tanks.Biological is recommended for whites and colourfast laundry. The enzymes helpbreak stains down. Non-biological is recommended for coloureds and handwashing. For whites and colourfast laundry add a scoop of Oxygen bleach. Unlikemost detergents, Ecover doesn't contain optical brighteners (see Chapter 9).Add Soda Crystals to your wash and use less detergent. This will more thandeflect the higher cost of this excellent brand.

Green Force

I’m hearing rave reports on performance and price of thiseco-friendly household brand. Products include laundry powder/liquid/tablets,dishwasher tablets and toilet cleaner. (In the US Greenforce is one of the originaleco-friendly cleaning companies. They operate in the San Francisco area, but,wherever you live, if you or your company employ cleaners, you might well findan eco-friendly cleaning company nearby.) Where to buy: www.ocado.com.

Ariel Biological LiquidDetergent

I keep a bottle of this asa bad stain pre-soaker and stain remover. If any stains remain after soaking, Iput a little liquid directly onto the stain before laundering. For carpet stainsthat won't come out with Soda Water, whoosh up some Ariel with lukewarm waterand apply the froth to the stain. Rinse.

Last but not least, theonly household product in the world with its own fan club (www.WD40.com):

WD-40

! Makes surfacesdangerously slippery. Follow up with a grease-cutting washing-up liquidsolution and good rinse.

Developed in the1950s as a rust preventative for the aircraft industry, WD-40 gets its namefrom the inventor’s 40 attempts at water displacement before he reached themagic (secret) formula. Its primary purpose is to clean, protect and loosenrusted parts, free sticky mechanisms and stop squeaks. But it also:

• Removes Blu Tack andother sticky deposits.

• Removes crayon marks fromhard surfaces, inc wallpaper.

• Removes candle soot.

• Cleans scuff marks fromfloors.

• Cleans dog mess fromshoes.

• For more, see 2,000 Usesfor WD-40.

The above extract taken from Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget by Stephanie Zia

How to Make A Quick Green Smoothie That Doesn't Taste of Pondweed

2011-08-28T11:52:00.002+01:00

A few years ago I went on a nutrition course to find out about the foods I could prepare to help my partner's recovery from bowel cancer. I was amazed to discover that the recommended 5 fresh fruit and veg a day should actually be more like 12, with a ratio of 80/20 veg/fruit.

The only practical way to get anywhere near this is to drink a green smoothie every day. I went on yet another cancer centre course to learn how to make these. We were taught the real importance of getting as much chlorophyll and oxygen in our systems as we could. The leafier, greener and fresher the veg the more chlorophyll it contains. Iceberg lettuces, a supermarket favourite because of their long shelf life, score very low here and I haven't bought one since.

The core ingredients of the green smoothie are:

cucumber

celery

sprouting sunflower seeds

pea green sprouts

To which can be added whatever greens and natural flavourings you like.

You don't need a juicer. Blenders retain the pulp which is where much of the goodness is and are so much easier to clean.

A good, high end blender breaks everything down into liquid, including whole carrots and apples (with the core and the pips – very rich in Vitamin B17). If money's no object, the Vitamix blender (£423 from John Lewis) is a kitchen gadget that will change your life forever. It even makes hot soup: fill with vegetables, whizz, done. If money is very much an object, Argos' Cookworks blender (£19.99) is made of stainless steel, has a glass jug and makes perfect smoothies as long as you steer clear of the carrot-type hard vegetables. I've had mine for about 2 years, it's used daily and is still going strong. It can cope with melon seeds but can't deal with any part of an apple, let alone its core.

The sample made for us on the smoothie course (with a Vitamix) had all sorts in it - avocado, spinach, mange tout, spring onions, ginger, lime, garlic, salt, pepper, basil. It was very drinkable, but I had other things to do than sourcing ingredients and making smoothies all day. Finding the right recipe to make quickly at home took quite a while and a little compromise. This one has most of the good stuff in, isn't expensive, is quick to make and, most importantly of all, tasty.

For 1 glass:

Cucumber (a slice appx the length of a large egg)

A stick of organic celery

A banana

A big, round slice of fresh Fair Trade pineapple (or any fresh fruit in season)

A handful of sunflower (or other) sprouting seeds.

Pea green sprouts if you can source them.

Put a little water in the jug first, add everything else and whizz.

If your smoothie is part of diet routine fighting severe illness, as mine was, I suggest adding either a green tea concentrate (Matcha organic super power green tea) or a good quality chlorophyll tablet supplement like Sun Chlorella. These tiny rocket bombs of concentrated green algae were highly recommended by our tutor, a specialist in nutrition for cancer sufferers. They're suitable for children, and pets as well, but not for anybody on Warfarin (https://www.sunchlorella.co.uk/).

The above article extracted from Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget (2011 blackbirdebooks) by Stephanie Zia. Avail as ebook and paperback in US and UK.

THE HOUSEWORK HATER'S HEALTHY QUICK CLEANING GUIDE

2011-07-25T13:46:00.013+01:00

Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget by Guardian cleaning guru Stephanie Zia is a practical cleaning and household tip guide 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, make informed, affordable compromises and get the cleaning out of the way as quickly as possible.

CHAPTER ONE

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.

Let’s start with the obvious:

Money

How does it work?

Fighting the Superbugs

Time

• 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.

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.

• Do use dry as a duster (shake out first if cleaning mirror or glass).

Where to buy

How many?

Hygiene

How to have one of those 'I've got a cleaner' homes

COMING SOON: DONE & DUSTED - THE PAPERBACK!

2011-06-28T17:35:00.002+01:00

Done & Dusted - The Organic Home On A Budget (blackbirdebooks) was first published as an ebook in March 2010.

A new, updated version will be available shortly as an ebook and a paperback as well. The book will be available from both Amazon.co.uk (with free postage in UK) and Amazon.com (with standard US Amazon local postage offer).

Back Cover information

As the cleaning guru for The Guardian's Weekend Magazine Space Solves column from 2005 to 2011, Stephanie Zia helped hundreds of readers deal with their near-impossible stains and cleaning catastrophes. This book gathers together 100+ of the best of her columns.

PLUS:

• Cleaning without chemicals - the housework hater's healthy, quick cleaning guide.

• Non-toxic stain removal - the knowledge. Learn the quick, easy way to identify and treat stains instantly without the need of a chart.

• How to avoid the nasty chemicals lurking in everyday household products with links to online experts for further study.

• What about the vinegar? The best uses for vinegar, baking powder, lemon juice etc - what works and what doesn't. And much, much more.

Introduction

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 to reveal what was in their products at all, 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? Whatsmore, all the provisions set out in the EU chemical regulation agreement won't be in place until, a staggering, year 2018.

In the US, organisations like Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and Women's Voices for the Earth have a tough job on their hands persuading Congress to change their policies in the face of powerful corporate opposition.

In the meantime it's down to you. I hope this book will help.

Done & Dusted is a practical cleaning and lifestyle tip guide 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.

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, oxalic acid and ammonia. Only as a last resort, though, when no other substance is likely to do the job, and always with strong 'do not inhale/wear gloves' advice.

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, June 2011

Blogging soon:

CHAPTER ONE - The Housework Hater's Healthy Quick Cleaning Guide

With details of a special discount code for my favourite cleaning product of all time.

What pesticides are on your food? Pan-UK 25th Anniversary Appeal

2011-05-23T10:45:00.010+01:00

The 2009 tests made by the UK Government's Food Standards Authority comparing organic and non-organic vegetables found no difference between them.

In February 2011, the WHICH? Gardening report “Is Homegrown Organic Veg Better For You?” said “there appear to be little, if any, nutritional or taste benefits to growing organically".

But!! both of these reports only looked at the nutritional benefits and didn't take pesticides into account at all! The reason most people choose to eat (and grow) organic is to avoid the chemicals that are sprayed on non-organic foods. Some organic chemicals are best avoided also, (see What's On Your Food on the right) and organic fruit & veg needs to be washed just as thoroughly.

Pesticide Action Network UK - Pan-UK - lists which pesticides are sprayed on which foods. In the US, go to PAN North America to download the free App listed to the right here. These are US stats but it gives an idea of what could have been sprayed on UK foods also.

Of course individual pesticides are tested before use, but it's the cocktails of chemicals that nobody really knows about. If you hit Apples or Grapes on the Food Chart you might also decide to switch to organic for those foods. Personal fussiness in the supermarket aisles is only the end of a chain which is having devastating effects on bees, 3rd world farmers, the whole environment. PAN UK is the only UK charity focusing solely on the problems of global pesticide use. But their future is at risk – just when their work is more urgent than ever. The financial crisis has hit them hard and their income has halved in the last year. Without financial support they will struggle to continue their fight against the use of toxic chemicals. Here's the moving appeal from Pan UK director, Keith Tyrell:

"PAN UK was set up twenty-five years ago to expose and tackle the damage that pesticides cause to health and the environment. Today, our work is more vital than ever. Tens of thousands of people in the developing world die every year from accidental pesticide poisoning and countless more suffer from chronic illness. Alarmingly, more than 250,000 people take their own lives using pesticides every year, many of them poor farmers driven into despair by debt. It is a cruel irony that they end their lives using the very pesticides that forced them into debt.

PAN UK trains African farmers to use organic and low input techniques and creates markets for products like organic cotton, so that the farmers can escape poverty without jeopardising their own – or their family’s – health.

Meanwhile, the pesticide industry pours millions of Euros into lobbying. The UK government has ignored public and NGO concerns about new pesticide legislation, choosing to side with industry, thus sticking with the current, environmentally disastrous approach. We will be challenging this sad outcome, in the courts if need be.

I joined PAN UK as Director nine months ago. I first started working on pesticides in the early 1990s when I saw children as young as 7 in the tropics working with pesticides with little or no protection. PAN UK research shows that these abuses are widespread. I joined PAN UK to put my 20 years of environmental expertise into stopping these atrocities and to see farming – whether UK or African – become more equitable and sustainable.

I want a stronger PAN UK to uncover the concealed problems of pesticide use. Over the coming months, we will fight to prevent deaths with a global ban on endosulfan, and press the UK government for a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides that contribute to the crash in bee populations.

PAN UK is an important counterweight to the powerful agro-industry lobby. The world can easily be fed without using huge amounts of agrochemicals. Our arguments are based on sound science and we offer realistic campaigns and practical solutions to reduce dependency on pesticides. We owe that to victims of pesticide use, to nature and to future generations.

I hope you can help us continue our work. Please give as much as you can."

Donate here

I became aware of the enormity of the pesticide problem after attending a talk and cookery demonstration at Maggie's cancer centre by Guy Watson, director of Riverford Organics. They deliver the freshest fruit & veg to most of the UK. A nice touch are the online recipes which go with each seasonal selection.

Household Uses For Vinegar

2011-05-18T13:06:00.001+01:00

I don't use vinegar for general cleaning. I have my E-cloths for that. But it has plenty of uses. Here's the vinegar extract from my Done & Dusted ebook - coming out very soon as a paperback!

What About the Vinegar?

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 mug of vinegar in 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 cover with a vinegar-soaked kitchen towel and leave overnight. Wipe away.

• 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 amazing website at The Vinegar Institute.

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 Summer Naturals where 5 litres costs around £4.39.)

JOSS STICKS HEALTH DANGER WARNING

2011-03-12T12:11:00.000Z

The Thai government has issued a health warning to Buddhist temples. Inhaling the smoke from joss sticks over a period of time could cause serious health problems, they say, including bladder, lung and skin cancers and leukemia. The chemicals causing this concern are benzopyrene, butadiene and benzene.

See this Guardian article "Burning joss sticks is as deadly as traffic fumes or cigarette smoke".

As I reported in this post late last year, a study by the University of Washington found that nearly a quarter of the 133 chemicals used in common household products tested are classified as toxic or hazardous under at least one federal law. Including those labelled "green" or "organic".

European Commission Bans BPA in Baby Bottles

2011-01-11T16:13:00.001Z

.
BPA is to be banned in the manufacture of baby bottles from 1 March this year.

Importation and sale will be outlawed from 1 June.

BPA is a kind of plastic hardener that has been a cause for concern for some time now in Europe and the US.

For more details see

Breast Cancer UK's No More BPA campaign site

and Martin Hickman's comprehensive report in The Independent, with news of how a secretive US lobby company helped scupper the last EU attempt at BPA regulation. And how the German state broadcaster ARD uncovered undeclared links between the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and the chemicals industry.

Christmas Cleaning Tips From Done & Dusted

2010-12-23T18:38:00.001Z

CLEAN YOUR GLASSES AND DISHWASHER IN ONE

Get the dishwasher ready for the Christmas onslaught and give all those rarely-used brandy, cocktail and champagne glasses a wash at the same time. Stack the glasses carefully so there's no chance they'll rub together (which causes 'clouding'). Leave valuable glasses out to wash by hand, or, if dishwasher-safe, use a special dishwasher glass separating rack. Put half a mug of white vinegar (or brown malt) on the bottom shelf and run on 'glass' setting. Voila - a sparkling clean dishwasher and glasses ready to go.

DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER

Is it possible to have a clutter-free Christmas? Yes, with just a few hours of dedicated preparation. Remove books and ornaments from shelves and surfaces in your main living area and store away in boxes. Wrap the boxes in Christmas paper and make a decorative display of them. If you're seriously short of space, think about clearing just one set of central shelves you look at every day, or even just a mantelpiece. When your presents come in, rather than stacking them in piles on the floor, display them on your empty shelves and surfaces. When it's time to take the decorations down, get ahead of the spring cleaning game - give your books and ornaments a quick wipe-over with a lightly dampened E-Cloth before returning them to their places.

CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS

An old tip. During the 6, 7, or 8 hours it takes to steam a Christmas pudding the traditional way (many will say the only way), a stainless steel saucepan will often discolour badly. Put half a lemon in the water and your saucepan will stay beautifully clean and shiny, and your kitchen will be suffused with a delicious, Christmassy lemony steamy smell which, for traditionalists, is all part and parcel of the festive build-up.

CHRISTMAS CANDLES

To clean off old wax from candlesticks and candelabras, place on a newspaper and a few layers of kitchen towel and warm gently with a hair-dryer, wiping the wax away as it softens. Polish up metal holders with a Stainless Steel Ecloth and glass holders with a Glass and Polishing Ecloth. This method can also be used to get candlewax off virtually anything: fireplaces and floors, upholstery and tables. Be careful when working on soft surfaces that you don't heat the wax up too fast or it'll sink into the fabric/carpet pile. Wipe away the wax as soon as it's pliable. Clean off any greasy residue with a cloth sprayed with a little WD40. Rinse. To make candles last longer, store them in the fridge.

BE PREPARED FOR CHRISTMAS FOOD AND WINE SPILLS

Many stains, even red wine stains, can be completely removed with water if they’re treated quickly enough. Prepare for those party spills before they happen by having a bottle of soda water standing by. You get an extra boost as the carbonated bubbles sink into the stain and lift the dirt with them as they rise. 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 stained water. For dried-in red wine, tea and coffee stains, try Glycerine . Dab with cold water and rub the Glycerine in with a finger. You may have to repeat this several times. Or use Borax Substitute. (An EU directive states that Borax now has to be labelled Substitute but it's exactly the same stuff as plain old Borax.) Make a runny paste by mixing a teaspoon of Borax with a desert-spoon of hot water. Dribble it over the stain, when it’s turned black, sponge off with cool water. NB - If you have a baby or toddler, keep a bottle of soda water and an E-Cloth next to the high chair to wipe up food spills on bibs and clothing.

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-22T18:55:00.000Z

Thanks to all who entered my Win An E-cloth Hob & Oven Kit Competition and many congratulations to our winner, Bob S of Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset.

Win an E-Cloth Hob & Oven Kit - Christmas Competition 4

2010-12-15T08:36:00.001Z

Thanks to all who entered my Win An E-cloth Glass Towel Competition and many congratulations to our winner, Sheri D of New Southgate.

If you've set your heart on a Glass Towel, or any other type of E-cloth, don't forget E-cloth are offering a 10% discount on all their products for Done & Dusted readers for the duration of our competitions. When placing your order via their website, just enter the promotional code DD10 when prompted.

Some of the nastiest chemicals still allowed in everyday cleaning products are to be found in some oven cleaners. If you do prefer the (undoubtedly) powerful, chemical sort, ventilate the kitchen well, wear a mask to avoid inhaling, follow all instructions carefully and rinse your oven thoroughly after cleaning. There are many non-toxic alternatives:

Magic Sponges (from Poundland or Lakeland)

Bicarbonate of soda (sprinkle over surface and spritz with water to dampen, leave for 30 minutes, longer for burnt-in spills, wipe off)

Astonish paste.

OR! invest in a long-lasting E-cloth Hob & Oven Pack.

The pack contains 2 cloths. The Hob & Oven Cloth cleans stuck-on grime and thick grease from any hard surface including stainless steel, ceramic, glass, enamel and chrome. The second cloth is a Glass & Polishing Cloth which gives a sparkling, streak-free finish to all hob and oven surfaces.

You can see a full review of these amazing oven cloths on Cheryl Pasquier's Madhouse Mummy Reviews! blog.

For the chance to win a Hob & Oven Pack just answer the following question:

How many cloths are there in the E-cloth Hob & Oven Pack?

Email your answer to mail@blackbirdebooks.com with 'Oven Pack' in the subject header.

This competition closes at 6pm on Tues 21st December. One winner will be selected at random and announced here on Wednesday 22nd December. UK mainland entries only. One entry per household and no cash alternatives will be offered. Entries from blackbirdebooks and E-cloth employees will be excluded. By entering this competition you agree to receiving email news from blackbirdebooks. Your details will not be passed to any third parties, except for the winner’s email, which will be sent to E-cloth to arrange safe delivery of their prize. This competition is managed by blackbirdebooks.com. For blackbirdebooks’ full terms & conditions and privacy policy please see here.

Blackbird illustration by Jennifer Copley-May.

Christmas Competition 3 - Win An E Cloth Glass Towel

2010-12-08T08:34:00.002Z

Thanks to all who entered my Win An E-cloth Car Cleaning Kit Competition and many congratulations to our winner, Lou TM of Shrewsbury.

If you've set your heart on a car cleaning kit, don't forget E-cloth are offering a 10% discount on all their products for Done & Dusted readers for the duration of our competitions. When placing your order via their website, just enter the promotional code DD10 when prompted.

The third of our four prizes is one of these E-cloth Glass Towels

These tea towels are a whole 4 times more absorbent than cotton. You don't have to wipe repeatedly for your glassware and crockery to dry to a lint and smear free shine in next to no time.

How do they do that? It's all to do with the density and quality of the fibres. A strand of cotton, for example, has a denier (the unit for measuring fineness of fabric) of 200. A human hair has a denier of 20 and a strand of silk has a denier of 8. E-cloth fibres have a denier of 0.26. An average microfibre cloth fibre (often manufactured chemically in China) has a denier of 1.0. E-cloths are manufactured mechanically in South Korea using high quality fibres. It's this density of 'clever' fibres that makes them so effective and long-lasting.

For the chance to win one of these Glass Cloths just answer the following question:

In which country are E-cloths manufactured?

Email your answer to mail@blackbirdebooks.com with 'Glass Cloth' in the subject header.

This competition closes at 6pm on Tues 14th December. One winner will be selected at random and announced here on Wednesday 15th December. UK mainland entries only. One entry per household and no cash alternatives will be offered. Entries from blackbirdebooks and E-cloth employees will be excluded. By entering this competition you agree to receiving email news from blackbirdebooks. Your details will not be passed to any third parties, except for the winner’s email, which will be sent to E-cloth to arrange safe delivery of their prize. This competition is managed by blackbirdebooks.com. For blackbirdebooks’ full terms & conditions and privacy policy please see here.

Blackbird illustration by Jennifer Copley-May.

Christmas Competition 2 - Win An E-Cloth Car Cleaning Kit

2010-12-01T08:40:00.002Z

Thanks to all who entered my Win A Mop competition and many congratulations to our winner Ashleigh A of Kirkcaldy, Fife.

If you've set your heart on one of these mops, don't forget E-cloth are offering a 10% discount on all their products for Done & Dusted readers for the duration of our competitions. When placing your order via their website, just enter the promotional code DD10 when prompted.

The second of our four prizes is an E-cloth Car Cleaning Kit.

Now I've used a General Purpose E-cloth for cleaning the inside of my car for quite a while. I'm actually not a clean-freak when it comes to the car, but with daughter using it as school run breakfast bar for the last 5 years it really has been a necessity. The cloth works really well and has negated the need for any of those pongy, unhealthy car air fresheners.

Now E-cloth have come up with a special kit for cleaning the ins and outs of all your outdoorsy things. It contains 3 separate cloths. You use the Heavy Duty Mitt to remove heavy grime and dirt from exterior surfaces (cars, boats, caravans, bikes, motorbikes etc) and follow up with the Microfibre Chamois for a streak-free polish. The Car Cloth is mainly for the interior. Use dry for dusting the dashboard and damp for cleaning upholstery and other interior surfaces. It can also be on the exterior to remove water runs, marks on the bodywork or insects on windows. All three products are machine washable and should last for years. Don't forget to first shake out your cloth before applying to any glass or shiny surfaces. This applies to any cloth, not just E-cloths.

For the chance to win one of these packs, just answer the following question:

Is the Car Cloth mainly for cleaning interiors or exteriors?

Email mail@blackbirdebooks.com with 'Car Kit' in the subject header.

This competition closes at 6pm on Tues 7th December. One winner will be selected at random and announced here on Wednesday 8th December. UK mainland entries only. One entry per household and no cash alternatives will be offered. Entries from blackbirdebooks and E-cloth employees will be excluded. By entering this competition you agree to receiving email news from blackbirdebooks. Your details will not be passed to any third parties, except for the winner’s email, which will be sent to E-cloth to arrange safe delivery of their prize. This competition is managed by blackbirdebooks.com. For blackbirdebooks’ full terms & conditions and privacy policy please see here.

Blackbird illustration by Jennifer Copley-May.

Done & Dusted Competition - Who Wants A Mop?

2010-11-24T15:00:00.024Z

c. Jennifer Copley-May

Because I love them so much, the E-cloth people have offered blackbirdebooks some FREE GOODIES! to give away, selected from their latest ranges.

In the run up to Christmas I'm going to be offering them to you as prizes one at a time, starting with my favourite, the E-cloth Deep Clean Mop.

Because they clean with just water, you can zap around your home with one of these in no time. They're suitable for all hard floors from stone through to wood. As for cleaning power, they really do work well, removing up to 99.8% of all bacteria. For best results use in a motion pulling towards you, always in the same direction, in an S shape. This means you never walk over where you have just cleaned and the S avoids missing anywhere. The microfibre mop head fixes to the pole with velcro, so you just rip it from the base, rinse it under the tap, squeeze till it's just damp-dry, place it on the floor, stick your pole back on and away you go.

For the chance to win one of these fabulous mops and get your all floors cleaned up fast in time for Christmas, email mail@blackbirdebooks.com, with 'Mop Comp' in the subject header, stating the percentage of bacteria the E-mop removes using just water.

As a little Christmas bonus, during the course of the competition E-Cloth are offering Done & Dusted readers a 10% discount on all their goods ordered via their website. When placing any order, just enter the promotional code DD10 when prompted.

Good luck!

This competition closes at 6pm on Tues 30th Nov. One winner will be selected at random and announced here on Wednesday 1st December. UK mainland entries only. One entry per household and no cash alternatives will be offered. Entries from blackbirdebooks and E-cloth employees will be excluded. By entering this competition you agree to receiving email news from blackbirdebooks. Your details will not be passed to any third parties, except for the winner’s email, which will be sent to E-cloth to arrange safe delivery of their prize. This competition is managed by blackbirdebooks.com. For blackbirdebooks’ full terms & conditions and privacy policy please see here.

Blackbird illustration by Jennifer Copley-May.

On A Budget Christmas Gift Ideas

2010-11-17T13:45:00.046Z

I'd so love Christmas shopping to be a pleasure instead of an ongoing calculation between what I'd love to give and what I can afford. My normal ploy is to ignore it for as long as possible, hoping some last minute injection of income will appear from somewhere. Like many, I usually end up on Amazon where I get tempted by the bargain deals (see moneysavingexpert's Amazon hidden discount finder). This complete Hitchcock DVD set (from £89.99 to £15.29) went down very well as a birthday present recently:

But, as a main source of Christmas gifts, Amazon books and movies do feel like a bit of a cop out. So I've been thinking about the gifts I've received in the past that have gone on giving long after the whole shebang is over.

Though some would perceive receiving a kitchen tool as a boring insult, especially if they're the Swarovski figurine type, between mates, kitchen gadgets can make the best gifts of all - still there long after the choccies and the booze have been consumed and forgotten.

Here are some of the small kitcheny gifts I've been pleased to receive in the past:

A wooden spoon given to me by a secretary I worked with in my first job in the BBC Russian Section, unwrapped but tied with a big, red bow. I thought it was very odd at the time, but, decades later, I still sometimes think about that spoon. And the giver, a jolly girl called Frances who chortled (no other word for it, somewhere between a laugh and a snigger with hunched shoulders). Natural Spa Supplies have handmade wooden spoons from £5.

A mini Nigella Lawson whisk. I love this whisk. I even took it on holiday to France with me last year (it's the perfect whisk for French dressings). Sadly, I can't find it in stock anywhere online. The closest I can find is the Acacia Wood Whisk (a wooden handle is a must), £3.75 from Denny & Sons.

A pair of tongs given by a friend who must have noticed my kitchen was a bit lacking in that area. They came with a whisper that they might look boring but they'd change my life. When I'm doling out the spaghetti I sometimes still hear her saying that.

I was talking about this with some friends at lunch today (Saff at Whole Foods
Kensington - at under £10 including tea, has to be the best deal healthfood restaurant around). Between us we listed our top 3 kitchen gadgets we couldn't do without:

Mine are:

Nigella whisk.

Rice cooker. A recent discovery, as recommended by Nigella in her latest book Kitchen. At half price from Argos, could be the best £10 ever spent. (They're one third off at the moment, £16.49). Rice-based meals are now effortless as well as economical (I've even started buying those huge sacks from the Indian shop). You just put the rice and water in, switch it on and go off and do something else. It turns itself off when done and keeps the rice warm for up to 12 hours. You can also add veg to steam and make up a quick meal with cooked meats or pulses, fish, sprouting seeds, prawns. Brilliant. Wish I'd had one when daughter was small.

E-cloth. A cleaning cloth? Oh yes. (And not just me. I see they're No. 5 in X Marks' Pressie Ideas.) I devote a whole chapter in Done & Dusted to swapping from chemical cleaning to mechanical by using these cloths.They clean quickly and well using just water, you can use them throughout the home and they're highly reusable. One £5 cloth lasts for years. Unbeatable for real savings on money and time plus chemical-free air in your home to boot. Many of my friends have switched and quite a few readers (see this review of Done & Dusted by one happy convert). One friend, worried about hygiene, is holding back so I contacted e-cloth to see what they had to say about her concerns. They've just had some tests done by Silliker (the leading international accreditor of food safety) to prove the cleaning power in facts and figures. So I can now say it's been scientifically proven that e-cloths remove 99.9998% of e-coli; 99.97% of listeria and 99.3% of Aspergillus. My friend was also worried about bacteria left on the cloth after rinsing. Wouldn't they be going back onto her surfaces with further swipes? As with any cloth there'll be some residue, I said, but with e-cloth they're locked into the fibres, so rinsing after use and laundering at 60 degrees once a week is enough. Tests have now been done to prove this as well. Silliker contaminated a laminate surface with micro-organisms and cleaned it with an e-cloth. The same cloth was then wiped over a sterile surface to measure the bacteria left by the cloth. After repeating the test 10 times, the figure they arrived at for transfer of bacteria from e-cloth to another surface was 0.01%. For more about the amazing e-cloths go here.

Deb's favourites:

Le Creuset (like any good pots and pans, not cheap but always on sale somewhere, 25% off at Debenhams at the moment)

Braun hand blender (£38.39, Pixmania)

FURI kitchen knife £25.95

And Frances':

Garlic crusher

Potato masher

Potato peeler

It's so often the simple things.

So what about you? What are your top 3 kitchen tools?

Green Pans - Non-stick and PFOA-free

2010-11-09T14:24:00.000Z

The dangers of overheating frying pans coated with certain non-stick finishes have been well documented, but because getting a cheap replacement pan would be such a false economy I’ve carried on using mine. The problem is the link between PFOA and thyroid disease. If you accidentally overheat your pan and PFOA gets into the air it stays there, lingering, so I’ve been very careful about cooking on a high heat.

But no more!

Thanks to a very welcome parcel in the post from the lovely people at Green Pan, I can sear and flambé to my heart’s content.

Green Pans are manufactured from heavy gauge, recycled aluminium and coated with a patented natural ceramic coating called Thermolon. They can be used on all cookers except induction and are heat resistant up to 450 degrees C.

More on Green Pans here.

A standard 24cm-sized pan costs £45: John Lewis.

More information on PFOA from Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget:

PFOA is all over the place from carpets and fabrics to greaseproof paper. The US Environmental Protection Agency is working towards a complete elimination of PFOA by 2015.

The World Wildlife Fund has called for PFOA to be classified as a substance of very high concern because of its persistent, toxic and bio-accumulative properties. In a DETOX bio-monitoring study, traces were found in the majority of children.

PFOA is in so many things, cosmetics, clothing, cleaners, it’s difficult to eliminate all products from your home that contain it completely. Before buying major items like carpets and furniture, find out the PFOA content or go for wooden floors and natural materials. For more details see the Environmental Working Group’s page PFCs, Global Contaminants www.ewg.org/pfc-manufacturers.

Deodorants and Breast Cancer - Make Up Your Own Mind

2010-11-09T14:19:00.000Z

When I was writing Done & Dusted last year, a cancer charity was helping me care for somebody recovering from chemo. I heard from several patients there that deodorants containing parabens and aluminium should be avoided. When it comes to writing about the latest scientific discoveries relating to serious illnesses like cancer, screaming tabloid headlines haven't helped anybody. We've become immune. But one of the many useful things about ebooks is that you can link the reader to reputable websites for further reading so that they can make up their own minds - especially handy for controversial subjects like this one.

In Done & Dusted I link to Cancer Research UK which says that there's no convincing evidence that antiperspirants and deodorants cause breast cancer and the whole scare was started by an e-mail hoax. And to the charity Breakthrough Breastcancer which says there is no evidence to suggest that deodorants or antiperspirants to an increase in breast cancer risk.

Breakthrough quotes a research project:

"The largest study to date to investigate this issue examined the deodorant or antiperspirant use and underarm shaving habits of 813 women with breast cancer and 793 women with no history of the disease. There was no overall difference in deodorant and antiperspirant use and underarm shaving habits." The study was published in 2002 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

I said: "There may not be any conclusive evidence but paraben-free and aluminium-free deodorants have now reached the High Street with one currently sporting Breast Cancer charity ribbons. All sorts of big brand 'Natural' antiperspirants with minerals and green packaging are also hitting the shelves, backed by major advertising campaigns. Quite an email hoax. Thankfully it's a personal choice. If you want to avoid parabens and aluminium, check the contents labels of all products, including those in green packaging, before buying. My way round it is to keep a powerful main brand antiperspirant for days when I think I might need it, but for day to day use I'll be sticking to my Weleda deodorant. It contains no aluminium or pthalates (artificial fragrance - another story, see below) and uses natural ingredients to neutralise odour. Cancer Research UK points out that most modern deodorants are paraben-free now (so a move in the right direction then). I'll add, though, that the ingredients to look out for and avoid are: methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, or benzylparaben."

Another advantage ebooks have over paper books is that you can update them with new information as it becomes available. You can also interact with your readers. Several reader top tips have been added to later versions of Done & Dusted. Anybody who's already bought doesn't miss out because the updates go up on this blog and the publisher's newsletter keeps everyone informed of when this happens.

So, back to deodorants: a fine example of this method in action. By chance, a friend mentioned to me that an oncologist had given a talk at her daughter's Year 13 leaving ceremony:

October 2010 Update: A few weeks ago Dr Philippa Darbre, Senior Lecturer in Oncology at the University of Reading, gave a speech at a friend's daughter's school. She talked a lot about parabens and cancer. It was, in fact, her research, back in 2004, that contributed to the debate about deodorants and breast cancer. Her 2004 article "The Enemy Oestrogen" states: "The strongest supporting evidence comes from unexplained clinical observations dating back decades and showing a disproportionately high incidence (up to 60%) of breast cancer in the upper outer quadrant of the breast. A simple explanation may relate to this being the local area to which underarm cosmetics are applied. Another set of clinical observations without adequate explanation are those showing the left breast to be more prone to cancer than the right breast, and this may also simply relate to greater application on the left side by a population which in majority is righthanded. More recently, two epidemiological studies have been carried out with the specific aim of identifying any association between underarm cosmetic use and development of breast cancer. A study in 2002 (as mentioned above) reported no difference in use of antiperspirants or deodorants between patients with breast cancer and those without breast cancer at the time of the study. In stark contrast, a study in 2003 showed an earlier age of diagnosis of breast cancer (by up to 22 years) in those who had used more antiperspirant/deodorant products."

I contacted Professor Darbre to see if, in 2010, she was still concerned about parabens, oestrogen and the links between deodorants and breast cancer. Indeed she very much is. She sent me her paper: 'Environmental Oestrogens and Breast Cancer: Evidence For Combined Involvement of Dietary, Household and Cosmetic Xenoestrogens', written with Amelia K Charles and published in February 2010 by the Biomedical Sciences Section, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading.

It starts off with a few facts. Over the past 30 years breast cancer incidence has nearly doubled in England and Wales. From 21,446 new cases recorded in 1979 (84.5 cases per 100,000 people) to 40,452 in 2006 (145.6 per 100,000 people). In the 1970s less than 10% of breast cancer tumors in the UK were lobular, ductal or medullary. At the end of the 1990s the figure was 75% with ductal carcinomas accounting for 60% of all breast cancer cases. Though research efforts are revealing increasing numbers of environmental compounds with oestrogenic properties measured in human breast tissue, there is still no proven link with breast cancer. At the current time this “remains uncertain”. But, "whilst cosmetic chemicals applied to the underarm and breast also need more research, the disproportionate incidence of breast cancer in the Upper Outer Quadrant is clarified". Professor Darbre doesn't underestimate the amount and complexity of the research that still needs to be done. In the meantime: “the decision to apply oestrogenically active compounds in cosmetic products lies entirely with the user.”

Dr Darbre's online profile states: "The central role of oestrogen in breast cancer poses serious unanswered questions concerning the role of the many environmental chemicals which possess oestrogenic activity and which can enter the human breast. In the modern world, the breast is exposed to numerous oestrogenic compounds through diet, the domestic environment and use of cosmetic products. Studies are focused on determining the cellular and molecular actions of oestrogenic compounds which can be measured in the human breast and on trying to understand how exposure to multiple compounds in the long-term may impact on breast biology. If exposure to complex mixtures of oestrogenic chemicals is a factor in breast cancer development, then a strategy for prevention of breast cancer might become a reality."

Dr Dabre is a patron of Cancer Active a holistic cancer information charity which provides information on orthodox, complimentary and alternative cancer therapies and treatments.
Dr Dabre's work is a subject we'll be returning to in more detail in another ebook currently in production.

To buy Done & Dusted in UK £ (£4.69: PayPal or credit card) please click here.
To buy Done & Dusted in US $ ($3.99 Amazon Kindle) please click here.
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Chemical Sleuthing Reveals Toxins In Household Cleaners, Including "Green" and "Organic"

2010-11-09T14:16:00.000Z

A study led by the University of Washington has discovered that 25 commonly used scented products emit an average of 17 chemicals each. The article is published online today in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review.

“We analyzed bestselling products, and about half of them made some claim about being green, organic, or natural,” said lead author Anne Steinemann, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs. “Surprisingly, the green products’ emissions of hazardous chemicals were not significantly different from the other products.”

Of the 133 different chemicals detected, nearly a quarter are classified as toxic or hazardous under at least one federal law. Only one emitted compound was listed on a product label, and only two were publicly disclosed anywhere. More than a third of the products emitted at least one chemical classified as a probable carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and for which the EPA sets no safe exposure level.

"Manufacturers are not required to disclose any ingredients in cleaning supplies, air fresheners or laundry products, all of which are regulated in the US by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Neither these nor personal care products (regulated by the Food and Drug Administration) are required to list ingredients used in fragrances, even though a single “fragrance” in a product can be a mixture of up to several hundred ingredients," Steinemann said. So Steinemann and her colleagues have used chemical sleuthing to discover what is emitted by the scented products commonly used in homes, public spaces and workplaces.

The study analyzed air fresheners including sprays, solids and oils; laundry products including detergents, fabric softeners and dryer sheets; personal care products such as soaps, hand sanitizers, lotions, deodorant and shampoos; and cleaning products including disinfectants, all-purpose sprays and dish detergent. All were widely used brands, with more than half being the top-selling product in its category.

Researchers placed a sample of each product in a closed glass container at room temperature and then analyzed the surrounding air for volatile organic compounds, small molecules that evaporate off a product's surface. They detected chemical concentrations ranging from 100 micrograms per cubic meter (the minimum value reported) to more than 1.6 million micrograms per cubic meter. The most common emissions included limonene, a compound with a citrus scent; alphapinene and beta-pinene, compounds with a pine scent; ethanol; and acetone, a solvent found in nail polish remover. All products emitted at least one chemical classified as toxic or hazardous. Eleven products emitted at least one probable carcinogen according to the EPA. These included acetaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, formaldehyde and methylene chloride. The only chemical listed on any product label was ethanol, and the only additional substance listed on a chemical safety report, known as a material safety data sheet, was 2-butoxyethanol. “The products emitted more than 420 chemicals, collectively, but virtually none of them were disclosed to consumers, anywhere,” Steinemann said. Because product formulations are confidential, it was not possible to determine whether a chemical came from the product base, the fragrance added to the product, or both. Tables included with the article list all chemicals emitted by each product and the associated concentrations, although do not disclose the products’ brand names.
“We don’t want to give people the impression that if we reported on product ‘A’ and they buy product ‘B,’ that they’re safe,” Steinemann said. “We found potentially hazardous chemicals in all of the fragranced products we tested.”

The study establishes the presence of various chemicals but makes no claims about the possible health effects.

Two national surveys published by Steinemann and a colleague in 2009 found that about 20 percent of the population reported adverse health effects from air fresheners, and about 10 percent complained of adverse effects from laundry products vented to the outdoors. Among asthmatics, such complaints were roughly twice as common. The Household Product Labeling Act, currently being reviewed by the U.S. Senate, would require manufacturers to list ingredients in air fresheners, soaps, laundry supplies and other consumer products. Steinemann says she is interested in fragrance mixtures, which are included in the proposed labeling act, because of the potential for unwanted exposure, or what she calls "secondhand scents."

As for what consumers who want to avoid such chemicals should do in the meantime, Steinemann suggests using simpler options such as cleaning with vinegar and baking soda, opening windows for ventilation, and using products without any fragrance.** “In the past two years, I’ve received more than 1,000 e-mails, messages, and telephone calls from people saying: ‘Thank you for doing this research, these products are making me sick, and now I can start to understand why,’” Steinemann said.

** The Done & Dusted blog adds: CLEAN YOUR HOME WITH JUST WATER USING A GOOD QUALITY MICROFIBRE CLOTH LIKE THE E-CLOTH:

(AVAILABLE IN THE UK HERE)

(AVAILABLE IN THE USA HERE)

FOR MORE TOP CLEANING TIPS SEE:

AVAILABLE IN THE UK HERE
AVAILABLE IN THE USA HERE

Microfibre Cleaning Technology Adopted by Hospital helps cut MRSA

2010-11-09T14:14:00.001Z

The new Forth Valley Royal Hospital is the largest ever NHS construction project in Scotland and one of the most modern and well equipped hospitals in Europe.

The £300m state-of-the-art new hospital is using all the latest engineering and technological developments including a whole army of robots which are delivering food, bed linen, waste, medical supplies. The robots are also cleaning the floors of the operating theatres, using the microfibre cleaning technology so loved by Done & Dusted .

BBC Radio Ulster Interview With Stephanie Zia

2010-11-09T14:11:00.001Z

blackbirdebooks author Stephanie Zia featured on BBC Ulster’s John Toal’s Saturday morning magazine show last weekend. Stephanie and John discussed toxic chemicals in cleaning products and in our homes along with other issues raised in her ebook, Done & Dusted. You can hear the show for the next week here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v2zq2#synopsis

Stephanie’s interview is about 25 minutes into the show at 0.27.32.

2nd Edition Updates - October 2010

2010-11-09T14:08:00.000Z

One of the benefits of e-published books is the ease with which they can be kept current. Especially relevant for consumer and How To guides. By publishing updates online, past purchasers can be referred to the relevant web page as and when.

First published in March 2010, a 2nd edition of Done & Dusted – The Organic Home on A Budget, has now been issued.

To put the information into context, the original text is in itallics:

Introduction
When it comes to household goods, 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 to reveal what was in their products at all, often citing trade secrets. The situation, in Europe at least, is improving. But slowly. Manufacturers have until the end of 2010 to declare the hazardous chemicals in their products. The EU will then list them online which 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.’

ADDED 10.10.10: In the US Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families are lobbying Congress for urgent reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act. To join the 11 million Americans they already represent, click this link to their website. For a clear, uncomplicated introduction to the chemicals in our homes that are causing such concern, go to their Meet The Chemicals page.

Chapter 1: The Non-Toxic Quick Clean Guide For People Who Hate Cleaning

Even without the use of detergents, E-cloths ® are highly effective at removing bacteria, including E coli, from domestic surfaces. Because the cloths don’t leave any residue on the cleaned surface, there is nothing left behind to encourage the development of bacteria.

ADDED 10.10.10: In the fight against superbugs, Scotland’s new high tech hospital, the Forth Valley Royal, has installed microfibre cleaning robots in its operating theatres. And it's working - MRSA stats are down.

Chapter 7: A Healthy Kitchen
It’s confusing because several chemicals associated with plastics have raised concerns: DEHA, DEHP and BPA.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… However: …A 2009 study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of BPA. If the bottles were to be heated they said they’d expect the levels to be considerably higher. BPA is found in plastic containers like baby bottles, kids’ lunch boxes and drinking cups. Some manufacturers have voluntarily eliminated BPA. The six major makers of baby bottles and cups in the US no longer use BPA in their products and Canada banned it in 2008. In December 2009 a dual campaign was launched to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles in the UK and France. Breast Cancer UK’s No More BPA Campaign is backed by the National Childbirth Trust, UNISON, The Women’s Environmental Network, the Cancer Prevention and Education Society and CHEM Trust.

ADDED 10.10.10: Extract from “In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic – No Final Answer” The New York Times 6 Sept 2010. “This year, a presidential panel on cancer and the environment said there was a “growing link” between BPA and several diseases, including cancer, and recommended ways to avoid BPA, like storing water in bottles free of it and not microwaving food in plastic containers. Some cancer experts said the report overstated the case against chemicals, but the concerns it raised seemed to reflect growing public worries.” And so the debate, and the confusion, continues.

• I only cook with olive oil now and make sure it’s never heated to a high, smoking temperature. For stir fries I put the veg in the wok with water, steam, and then put the oil on top and quickly stir. This is because of the toxic chemical by-product of heating oils. Dien Aldehydes occur when any kind of oil is heated but in varying degrees. Coconut oil is the best one to use (if you can cope with the taste), followed by olive oil.

Reader’s Top Tip Addition, ADDED April 2010: Thanks to Hattie Pond for pointing out that Cold Pressed Grapeseed Oil is excellent for cooking at high temperatures.

Smoothie Recipe – For 2 glasses:
A half-pint glass of organic apple juice (purists will scream WATER! here)
Half an organic cucumber (small) (or one third of a large cucumber)
A stick of organic celery
Two bananas
A big, round slice of fresh pineapple (or any fresh fruit in season)*
A handful of sunflower (or other) sprouting seeds
A lump of ice

ADDED 10.10.10: Avoid ‘bargain’ supermarket pineapples, see this
Guardian exposé on the true cost of cheap pineapples.

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

2010-11-09T13:15:00.000Z

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q75F_hjg7o&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is a nationwide effort to pass smart federal policies that protect US citizens from dangerous toxic chemicals.



Live in the USA? Join the campaign HERE

Freeze Fruits Now For Quick Green Smoothies Through Autumn and Winter

2010-11-09T13:11:00.000Z

by donedust on September 10, 2010

Freeze batches of the last of the summer fruits now before they’re replaced by tasteless, expensive imports. Use strawberries, raspberries or any other favourites to make up your individual frozen smoothie portions, wrap in foil and freeze.

This is a timely handy hint for any home-made smoothie fans following Done & Dusted’s Healthy Green Smoothie That Doesn’t Taste Of Pondweed recipe. Chuck your frozen portions in the blender with some cucumber, organic celery, sprouting shoots and a little water for a delicious, healthy start to the day. The great thing is the frozen fruits act as ice cubes as well, saving you time and effort all round on those dark winter mornings.

Getting Rid of Bedbugs - When Toxic Chemicals In The Home Are A MUST!

2010-11-09T13:09:00.001Z

My advice piece on getting rid of bedbugs appears in today’s Guardian Weekend Magazine. It was impossible to fit everything into 140 words and I’m expecting a lively reader response. The bottom line is don’t faff about with home sprays, toxic, organic, home-made or otherwise, but call in the experts immediately before the bugs breed and spread through your home and even into the fabric of your building and into other homes.

Because bedbugs don’t harbour or spread disease, they have been an under-researched species. But the mini-plagues now happening across the US are putting them right at the top of the environmental health agenda. A statistic quoted in one of a whole sheaf of bedbug articles currently appearing in the New York Times reports that a community health survey showed that in 2009, 1 in 15 New Yorkers had bedbugs in their homes:

“A number that is probably higher now… In recent weeks, bedbugs snuggled into the seats at AMC’s movie theater in Times Square, crept around a Victoria’s Secret store on Lexington Avenue and the offices of Elle Magazine and hitchhiked into the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.”

Earlier this summer, branches of New York’s Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister were hit and had to be temporarily closed. Bedbug sniffer dogs are in demand, especially in hotels who have a nightmare needle-in-haystack problem with every infestation.

Bedbugs been around for ever of course – the first recorded bedbug incident in the UK appeared in 1583. So why this resurgence now? What’s going on? Is the extreme idea held by some, that terrorism by explosion has been replaced by terrorism by stealth, so far-fetched?

Well, yes. Hopefully. It’s more down to the successful lobbying of people with viewpoints like mine who are passionate about getting the toxic chemicals out of our bodies, our homes and the wider environment. The widespread use of DDT to clear up bomb sites after World War II virtually eradicated bedbugs from Europe. But now the banning of widespread use of the most dangerous chemicals, along with the increase of foreign travel, has meant that the bugs are back.

Bedbug infestation is now on the rise in the UK. We’ve had them in our flat in central London. As anybody who has been through it will agree, it was hell! It came as no surprise to learn that bedbugs were one of the many instruments of torture used in Stalin’s Gulags (think being placed in a wooden box where hundreds would attack at once, falling off the sides and dropping from the lid). Here in 21st century London, they slide noiselessly into your bed at night on their castor-like toes to feed on your blood, stinging you awake. You can’t even move into another room to get back to sleep for fear of spreading them. Like cockroaches, they have a tough, almost shell-like, exterior and are so adept at hiding and survival you sometimes really feel like you’re battling with a horrible, evil intelligence.

Their peak feeding time, for example, is just before dawn when humans are in their deepest sleep.

Thankfully our battle is now over but it wasn’t straightforward. The insect poison from the hardware store was useless even though it mentioned bedbugs on the packet. We called in the local council pest controllers who told us the store spray we’d been using was only effective for a couple of hours. But then their spraying of toxic chemical didn’t work either so we had to call them back. They kicked us out for 3 hours and sprayed a fine, poisonous mist throughout the flat. Still there were survivors, dealt with by powdering the nest sites with Diatomaceous Earth (use with caution, don’t inhale, follow safety instructions). We were, I suppose, lucky in that the nesting sites in the wooden bed frame were visible. Some infestations are in the building itself, spreading from apartment to apartment, sliding up through gaps in the skirting boards. If we hadn’t eliminated them, the council would have had powers to enter our neighbours’ properties, confirming, the New York Times’ suggestion that the social cost is rising as well.

I didn’t hesitate in allowing the chemicals to be sprayed in my home, though I did ask what they were. They came from a company called Killgerm, and are so powerful they’re only supplies to registered users. Fortunately, the recent US Environmental Health journal report on the links between cancer and certain types of cleaning product recorded that the use of mothballs, pesticides and insect repellents in the home had little impact.

So, whilst I am all for economical, non-toxic ways of cleaning and stain removal, this is a classic case of what I’ve always believed in and advocate in Done & Dusted, my organic cleaning guide – use non-toxic on a day-to-day basis but when needs be REACH FOR THE CHEMICALS! And, in the case of bedbugs, call in the experts with their powerful poisons right away or you might end up resorting to this.

Done & Dusted's Non-Toxic Cleaning Alternatives

2010-11-09T13:00:00.001Z

.
New research just published by the US online journal Environmental Health has found “significant” links between breast cancer and cleaning products, air fresheners and mould removers. The survey, by the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Massachusets is based on interviews with 787 women with breast cancer and 721 healthy women, all aged between 60 and 80.

“Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the lowest reported use. Use of air fresheners and products for mould and mildew control were associated with increased risk. To our knowledge, this is the first published report on cleaning product use and risk of breast cancer.”

The use of mothballs, pesticides and insect repellents in the home had little impact.

The report can’t, of course, state which cleaning products. The main ones in general use I would avoid inhaling are oven cleaners (use a non-toxic Magic Sponge instead), carpet cleaners (use the foam from biological detergent whisked up in a bowl instead), chlorine bleach (except in emergencies, for everyday use choose oxygen bleach), drain cleaners (use non-toxic Soda Crystals instead) and air fresheners (make your own non-toxic version, see below).

You don’t have to go crazy eco-home organic everything. Sometimes we have to use the tough stuff. It’s just not a great idea to use some of them on a regular basis. I keep chlorine bleach for emergency soakings of whites when the area that needs treating is too big for spit (great on blood stains) or the little bottles 3% hydrogen peroxide solution you get from the chemist’s (also an excellent non-toxic solution for blood stains).

Here’s how to address those cleaning/air freshening/mould removing problems:

* Clean all your surfaces, hard and soft, using only water and a £5.00 Ecloth. Clean your home the healthy way and save tons of your time and money as well. Get a free trial-size ecloth here.

* Make your own non-toxic air fresheners tailored to your favourite smells. See how to do it in Wellbeing Magazine’s extract from Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget.

* Tea tree oil and sodium percarbonate (pure oxygen bleach, buy online at mistral.ie) are two non-toxic, environmentally-friendly ways of combatting mould and mildew that won’t damage your health.

Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget (£4.69 blackbirdebooks.com) shows you how to have the cleanest, freshest-smelling home on a budget without using any dubious chemical products at all.

June Update: Some Readers' Top Cleaning Tips

2010-11-09T12:41:00.002Z

All-purpose stain removers

Have you ever come across Citrus Magic? I use it for stains, air-freshener, even tar removal (they've got a special product for that). They sell it at Olivers. Frances Walker, June 2010

Body Shop Chamomile eye make up remover shifts everything. I keep a bottle under the kitchen sink. @salihughes responding to Twitter plea for help to remove a foundation stain from white linen skirt. June 2010

3% hydrogen peroxide solution

3% hydrogen peroxide solution is a 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. Highly inflammable. Highly corrosive to metal, keep away from taps and bathroom fittings.
(From Chapter 5, Done & Dusted)

Contact Lens Solution contains 3% hydrogen peroxide solution & perfect for spot treating stains. 'You can squeeze it directly on stains (I've used it on carpet) to lift blood, red wine, food and other organic-based stains. Deborah McDonnell, June 2010

Cooking at high temperatures
I only cook with olive oil now and make sure it's never heated to a high, smoking temperature. For stir fries I put the veg in the wok with water, steam, and then put the oil on top and quickly stir. This is because of the toxic chemical byproduct of heating oils. Dien Aldehydes occur when any kind of oil is heated but in varying degrees. Coconut oil is the best one to use (if you can cope with the taste), followed by olive oil.
(from Chapter 7 Done & Dusted).

Cold Pressed Grapeseed Oil is excellent for cooking at high temperatures. Hattie Pond, April 2010

Getting rid of ants

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 what m any professional pest busters do. 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.
(from Chapter 6, Done & Dusted)

Ants, We built on a kitchen and had problems for years. I put down sugar-based killer but it made the problem worse. Then I had an ant farm and realised that they were intelligent. So when the ants invaded, I stepped on them and left the bodies for other ants to collect. It worked. Did it for 3 years and now they never come back. We always underestimate the animal kingdom. Hattie Pond, April 2010

Stains on Corian Worktops

Q: I have a stain on my (light-coloured) Corian worktop, I think caused by
fabric softener, and it won't shift. Help!

A: Corian surfaces are made from a blend of acrylic polymer and natural materials
that are homogenous all the way through, so virtually any stain, burn or nick can
be removed. Corian says it may be hard water staining, and recommends a
limescale cleaner, such as Viakal or Limelite (around £2.50 $4.00 from
supermarkets). Apply, leave for a few minutes, then wipe with a cloth in a circular
motion. Wet a second cloth in hot, soapy water, wipe over and dry with a clean
cloth. If that doesn't work, try Barkeepers Friend, apply with a damp cloth in a
circular motion, rinse with warm, soapy water, then dry with a clean cloth/ paper
towel. You may find that cleaning a small area brings back the original lustre, so
you may have to clean a larger area. If the stain still doesn't shift get in touch with Corian at www.corian.co.uk.
(from Chapter 15, Done & Dusted)

Corian worksurface - have lived with it since 1986 - a stain that won't come off or a scratch can be removed with sandpaper. Hattie Pond, April 2010

Press Response To Done & Dusted

2010-11-09T12:31:00.004Z

Tuesday 22 June 2010
Countryside La Vie reviews Done & Dusted.

Wednesday 16 June 2010
Stephanie Zia's top stain removal tips feature on Talk Talk's Home & Garden page.

Tuesday 1 June 2010
To celebrate World Environment Day on 5 June, Stephanie Zia's top ten green cleaning tips published by Hello Eco Living.

Sunday 23 May 2010
Done & Dusted gets a recommendation in the May/June issue of Green Living Magazine.

Monday 10 May 2010
Done & Dusted competition here! Top UK consumer blogger Penny Golightly gives a big thumbs up to Done & Dusted and launches competition.

Friday 7 May 2010
How to Make Healthy Home-made Air Fresheners Extract from Done & Dusted by Stephanie Zia Wellbeing Magazine, May 2010

Wednesday 3 March 2010
Done & Dusted gets its first reader response.
And it's a rave!
Here's an extract: .....I admit to being the worst house-cleaner of anybody who has ever lived. I hate housework. But not any more! Thanks to a new e-book called Done and Dusted, by Stephanie Zia, The Guardian newspaper's queen of clean, I have been introduced to, and fallen in love with, microfibre cloths, which she describes as "the most life-changing, chore-reducing product to appear in the home since the dishwasher." I don't know how many products I've bought over the years that have promised miracles, but certainly lots. And none of them have truly delivered. Until now. for that one tip alone - and there are many, more more excellent ideas in the book, Done and Dusted is more than worth the money, and it has, as Gregg Wallace would yell: CHANGED -MY-LIFE! I don't know Stephanie Zia. I've never met her. I have followed her blog over the last couple of years, which is how I learned about her book. She didn't ask me to write this. But by golly, she's my heroine. :-) www.nodamnblog.wordpress.com

Thursday, 4 February 2010
3.30pm Stephanie Zia appears on The Richard Bacon Show, BBC Radio 5 Live, answering listeners' cleaning and stain removal problems.

Done & Dusted - About The Book

2010-11-09T12:28:00.003Z

Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget
by Stephanie Zia

An original ebook from blackbirdebooks.com.

Do you know what’s inside some of the cleaning products and air fresheners you might be using? Phthalates and musks, VOCs, solvents linked to respiratory and fertility problems, damage to the immune system and worse.

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. Manufacturers have until the end of 2010 to declare the hazardous chemicals in their products. The EU will then list them online which 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.”
Isn’t that astonishing? Wouldn’t you rather know which hazardous chemicals you should be avoiding now?

Done & Dusted is a practical cleaning and lifestyle tip guide to help you reduce your toxic chemical footprint on your body, your home and the planet without breaking the budget. 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 there are links to further online reading to help you make up your own mind.

Get up to date with all the latest information on chemicals in the home, take advantage of the ebook format which links to all the important debates. Buy Done & Dusted – The Organic Home On A Budget now: £4.69 from www.blackbirdebooks.com.