Question from J. Gonzalez

I own a tour company in a small in Alaska. Our local storm drains dump directly into local waterways. We MUST clean & wash vehicles on a daily basis! I’m looking for an organic/natural alternative to using chemicals, and would appreciate any suggestions.

Debra’s Answer

You can actually use any plant-based soap or biodegradable dishwashing detergent to wash cars. No need for special car wash solution. BTW, Clean House, Clean Planet has a whole section on DIY car cleaning formulas.

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Question from J.F.

I know we are supposed to avoid buying pans etc with lead glaze in their paint. But how do we know if there is lead in the paint without driving ourselves crazy! For example, I called sur la table and the sales-person who answered the phone said we don’t use lead in our paint (she did not check with a supervisor), so is this really sufficient or should I go a step further? What confuses me is that for example, Le Creuset Dutch ovens are painted; even corning ware white collection is painted white? But you seem to recommend both those products. However, it would seem that even if le creuset does not have lead in their paint, that over the years the pain would chip nonetheless and get into our food.

Lastly, when I go to Target or Bed Bath and Beyond, for example, they always have cute, fun designed cereal bowls or mugs. Would you suggest just avoiding these products because they could be made with lead? Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

At this point in time, I don’t trust what salespeople say. I’ve run into too many who really don’t know the facts.

I just want to comment first on what you said. You said, “I know we are supposed to avoid buying pans etc with lead glaze in their paint.” That’s confusing right there.

There is lead in paint and lead in glaze, and those are two very different things. Lead is no longer sold in paint, but there may be old lead paint on walls in older buildings. There may still be lead in glaze on pottery items sold today.

So for you to ask the woman at Sur La Table “is there lead in the paint?”…the paint of what? You should be asking her specifically is there lead in the glaze of a specific item.

There is no “paint” on Le Creuset of the type that used to contain lead. Le Creuset has a baked-on enamel finish. Corningware is not painted white. The white is a pigment within the glass. It is not applied on top.

Lead in glaze has been an issue for many years. Still, one cannot assume that anything glazed is 100% free from lead–it may meet a federal or California standard which allows a very small amount of lead. Since there is no safe level for lead, and this is well known, to me no anything that comes in contact with food should be allowed to have any amount of lead in it.

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Question from Mary Ann

I am searching for non-breakable stainless steel (or?) iced tea glasses for outdoor summer living and have only found a tumbler at Stash Tea. Also see that Sur La Table has Anodized Aluminum tumblers (like in the 50’s)–and I’m not sure about leaching from anodized aluminum. Can anyone tell me if these are safe to use?

Debra’s Answer

Anodized aluminum does not leach. Target carries those aluminum tumblers too, but don’t know if they are anodized.

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Question from Stephanie Mills

We would like to buy an RV. Do you have any recommendations for someone with mcs? We live in Northern California.

Debra’s Answer

Readers? Any advice?

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Question from Johanna

I have very sensitive teeth and have been told to use a non-alchohol mouthwash and sensitive toothpaste. Well, all the sensitive toothpastes I can find have nitrates in them. Even just using them once a day has caused severe migraines for me. My mouth hurts though! What can I do? Any nontoxic products out there that work very well at stopping the pain and stopping more gum recession? I am sure if I were to ask the pharmacist he would recommend a prescription for toothpaste with extra fluoride. I am sure this isn’t good either. Help…Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Readers? Any recommendations?

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Question from Christy

It’s all well and good to say that these products will change your environment , but what about the expense? We are a family of 6 on a very tight budget and buying reusable grocery bags, energy saving light bulbs and natural cleaners are just not in that budget! I understand that the start up to change your life is off set by what you will save in the long run, however still do not have the money for “start up”

What I have done is start to make my own using essential oils , vinegars, peroxide, herbs and many other items. I am always looking for recipes like the four thieves wash and I expected that your site would contain more of this type of info. Please consider that there are many like me who want to make these changes but only can in an affordable way.

Thanks

Christy

Debra’s Answer

I do consider affordability all the time. And there are some books on the Cleaning page of Debra’s Bookstore that have a lot of do-it-yourself recipes. I just posted a question about a very affordable laundry detergent sold at Costco. Recently I saw at Home Depot energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs–6 bulbs for $7. Reusable bags cost a few dollars. I actually SAVE money living green. (I make most of my cleaners, too.)

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Question from DB

We are looking for a safe finish on a wood chair for our 1 year old. We are looking at a few European imports, such as the Svan and the Stokke. Actually, we ordered an unfinished restaurant high chair, but it has been on back order for months. (It is coming from China and may not really be the best choice. We want to cancel the order.) We decided to put our two older children on regular chairs elevated by the “Kaboost”. This won’t work for the little one. She needs a safety belt. Currently, she is sitting on our lap;-) So, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Also, we purchased an unfinished table from Ikea. We polish it with beeswax and walnut oil. Should we be concerned about the kids eating off this surface? Sometimes I wonder what type of glue adheres the boards together. It never seemed to outgas any odor.

I find your site very informative and interesting. I have really enjoyed the articles. Thanks.

Debra’s Answer

Readers? What are your recommendations? Not having children of my own, I have no experience with this.

I’m not concerned about your children eating off the table from Ikea. Not all glues are harmful. If you don’t smell anything, it’s likely there are little or no VOCs.

Good for you with the walnut oil and beeswax finish!

Debra 🙂

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Question from Nancy

I have tried many brands of stevia in order to find one I both liked and that I did not react to. I also tried using the ground herb (the green powder) which doesn’t really dissolve well at all. Finally I found Sweet Leaf brand; I use their Stevia Concentrate. It has no flavorings,etc only water added; it has no after taste. I find since it’s a concentrate it goes further if I dilute it with water. As I don’t bake with it I can’t comment on this. I use it just for my coffee sweetener.

Debra’s Answer

What a great idea to dilute stevia! Why didn’t I think of that! That would make it so much easier to measure.

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Question from suzanne mikula

Hello Debra and readers!

I have a question about some Woodchip and Seagrass baskets which I was considering buying. The person selling them purchased them from World Market, but there is no information on the basket’s tags or on their website about the materials used to make the basket.

The person selling these baskets has the lightest (almost white) colored ones and said they don’t look stained, but bleached if anything. I called World Market, but since they don’t have the light colored basket in stock, they can’t tell me about it’s materials. I tried to do some research on Woodchip material online, but couldn’t find much. Any advice? I love baskets but I’m wondering how one goes about telling which kinds are non-toxic and which aren’t. I know one way to tell is by smelling them; but is that always a reliable way to tell whether something is toxic or not? In the case of these baskets, I cannot smell them, unless I buy them, and if smell may not a reliable method, what is? Even if wood looks unstained or isn’t painted, could it be chemically processed in some way? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Suzanne

Debra’s Answer

To the best of my knowledge, the thin strips of wood used to make baskets are not toxic, and neither is seagrass. Might they be treated with something? Yes. Are they? We have no way of knowing because nobody has the information.

If they were treated with a toxic wood preservative, it is likely you would smell it.

I myself have at least a dozen baskets in my house and have lived with baskets for many many years. I tend to stick with the natural color baskets, or those that look like they have natural vegetable dyes, as painted baskets DO often have toxic fumes.

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Question from Tamara

I’m in a trial period of giving up refined sugars, but I’m also including any sweetener that is digested quickly (right now my okay list includes agave and brown rice syrup, though mostly I’m just avoiding sweeteners as much as possible). I assumed that fruit spreads, even those without added sugar of any kind, would be off limits because of fruit pectin. To me it seems fruit pectin would have a high glycemic index because of the way it is processed, and so isn’t very healthy. Thoughts?

While I’m here, any thoughts on the best sweetener for someone who wants a “whole food” sweetener that is also easy on the body and environment? Maybe agave or barley malt syrup?

Thanks for your response!

Tamara

Debra’s Answer

You bring up some interesting points that I actually hadn’t thought about. I hadn’t considered how processed fruit pectin might be (it sounds so natural, like “fructose”) but in fact, it is an isolated substance that is very processed, and mostly standardized with sugar (I’m assuming that’s refined white sugar). This is the problem with food labeling. Labels are only required to state the final ingredients used in the food product, and not the ingredients that are contains in the ingredients. So here, someone thinking a fruit spread is all fruit (because it is labeled as such), is actually buying a product that contains at least a bit of sugar.

So if this is the case, the pectin one would use to make one’s own fruit spreads would be that same pectin.

I think one needs to consider how much of a substance one needs to ingest before it becomes harmful, and that would be different for each person’s body.

Fruit spreads bring up another issue as well, and that is the concentration of the fruit sugar.

If one wishes to be “natural,” natural would be an apple, for example. An organic apple–whole and fresh in the state it is in on the tree. As soon as you cook it, it’s no longer in it’s natural state, and the sugars are concentrated. If you separate the juice from the fiber, again less natural and more concentrated. And then you cook that down, and it’s even more concentrated. But it is thought to be natural because it originally was an apple. But concentrated apple juice doesn’t exist in nature. Our bodies are designed for fresh organic apples.

When I started this website, I was looking for sweeteners that were a step away from refined and artificial sweeteners. Now, more recently, I’m wanting to eat whole, sweet foods.

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