Question from Wendy

here is a recipe I got from a homeschooling workshop. I use as our All Purpose Cleaner-have for about 5 yrs now. I was skeptical at first, I’ve tried a few recipes in the past but after outlaying the money for the supplies it never works and I wish I hadn’t (kind of like gluten free bread- seriously it’s easier just not to eat bread at all! LOL) Anyhow I had only used vinegar and baking soda for about 4 yrs prior to this, sucdessfully so I thought- I mean with some elbow grease, I could keep things looking not bad but then I could not get my water cooler clean. I was prepared to freecycle it just because it looked so nasty I could see moms gasping at it’s filthyness ;-( I had tried vinegar, baking soda, even gasp bleach with a mask! no improvement. I had just made this and sprayed it on, left it for a few minutes and 95% of the dirt came off. I was astounded and I’ve only used it ever since. You can add whatever essential oil in it that you want but i do prefer the tea tree oil.

I make this but multiply everything by 8 and it just fits in a big glass GALLON jar, then put into dollar store squirt bottles or glass syrup bottles that fit the sprayer.

It has worked amazing on everything, even dried gukky stovetop from yesterday.sigh. *be sure and use pure liquid glycerin SOAP not the plain liquid glycerin. I think I figured out it’s about 20cents per dollar store spray bottle to make.

Let cool then add 10 drops Germ Away essential oil from natural sense ***Aromateraphy Orono, Ontario 1-888-tea-tree ** this is from the original recipe…but I just use regular tea tree oil from the grocery store.

Debra’s Answer

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Question from chris

What is a good non-toxic varnish for wood bowls and plates?

Debra’s Answer

Take a look at Q&A: Wood Conditioner for Cutting Boards and Bowls. These aren’t varnishes, but various oils that protect and finish wood products used with food.

You can also finish wood food items with natural carnuba wax or beeswax, or shellac. Shellac is made from ground beetles, mixed with alcohol. When the alcohol evaporates, you are left with a very natural finish.

Personally, I would go with one of the natural oils or beeswax purchased from a local beekeeper, so you know there are no additives.

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Question from J.C.L.

In the late 1990’s, I was required to attend an OSHA lecture given by Monona Rossol, President/founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety, Inc., which provides health and safety services to the arts. I recall her writing the molecular structure of orange oil next to the molecular structure of an E.P.A.-regulated pesticide. They were identical. She said think of all the people spraying orange-based cleaners believing they were safe when the molecular structure was the same as a regulated pesticide.

I have never used citrus based products since. But I see in stores and on your web site that these types of products are still popularly considered and advertised to be safe.

Do you know anything about citrus-based products and pesticide (I don’t know which particular one) being molecularly identical?

(She lectured on this topic because citrus based solvent was being used as an alternative to low-odor solvents in art. I had used each solvent and both were so irritating that I was up at night coughing from them. I switched to other media.)

She said that just because something comes from nature does not mean it is a safe replacement for other materials. Many chemicals in plants can kill us.

Thank you.

Debra’s Answer

This is an important subject and I’m happy to have us discuss it here.

I am not a trained chemist, but have studied a lot of chemistry on my own in an attempt to understand the chemicals in consumer products.

So what I say here is my understanding, but may not be what a chemistry book says.

You brought up two points, which are each separate ideas.

The first was that the molecular structure of a natural substance can be the same as the molecular structure of a man-made substance. And an assumption was made that since the molecular structure of orange oil was identical to the pesticide that they were equally toxic.

I don’t agree with this. There is a lot more to a substance than it’s molecular structure. Let’s just look at molecular structure for a moment. There are, in nature, basic elements that make up all life. These are outlined in the Periodic Table of Elements. These elements include hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, etc. These basic elements are found throughout life, in plants, animals, our own human bodies, water, petroleum, and everything else. Every single material form can be broken down into these basic building blocks of life. [a really easy explanation of the elements].

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Over the weekend, my husband and I went to see “Food, Inc: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It,” and we were very glad we did.

Whether you have been eating organic for years or are new to organic foods, you’ll learn something from this very informative film. We learned more than we knew.

Through first-person interviews mixed with shots of real-life farms and processing plants, Food, Inc. clearly shows the difference between industrial manufacturing of food and organic agriculture.

Today, mega retailers like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart define how our food is grown and raised because they are the largest customers. Do you think you are eating better food because you’re not eating at McDonald’s? Think again. The only difference between the food you eat at McDonald’s and the food on your plate that you purchased at a supermarket is that you cooked it. The same food from the same processing plants goes to fast food chains and supermarkets. And that food is produced for profit, not safety or nutrition.

Food, Inc shows some unsavory footage, but it’s not too bad. What is great about this film is that you can see with your own eyes the difference between how industrial food and organic food is created.

At heart, this film is a feature-length commercial for organic food producers. Though the film reveals a side of the food industry that may make you want to never eat again, it also presents the solution: choose organic, eat seasonal, buy local, prepare your own food at home…all the things I have been writing about for years.

While Food, Inc begins with alarm, it ends with hope. It reminds us that we have power as consumers to change the system with the decisions we make every time we purchase food.

Worth seeing if you want to know what’s currently happening with our food supply.

For more information on the movie, visit the official Food, Inc website, where you can watch the trailer, find a local theater, learn more about organic food, and get a reading list.

And here’s the companion book: Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It

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Question from Mom

We are moving to the new house and had floor redone and water based coating (3 finishes) and rooms painted with low VOC paint. I am six month pregnant and have 3 year old daughter. How long should I stay out of house to prevent harm to a baby? Thank you

Debra’s Answer

I can’t give you a definitive time, as the amount of time it takes for a finish to completely cure depends on the conditions, but you want to allow time for the finish to completely cure and stop outgassing volatile vapors.

Heat will speed the process. I would say that if you heated the rooms for about a week, they should be safe at that point.

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Question from jhwmsls

I have an older refrigerator that I want to remove the rust from and repaint it (a new one is out of the question right now). I am allergic to chemicals. Are there environmentally friendly rust removers and metal paint available?

Thanks

Debra’s Answer

Oh, not that I know of.

Readers?

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Question from Nancy

We want to install bamboo flooring in our bedroom and they are click in floor boards so there would be no gluing needed. The brand name is Golden Select. However it has a foam underlay and so far I have been unable to find any specific information on the safety of this underlay. It would be a quality floor and quite reasonable as we could install it ourselves and we can purchase it locally. The sales rep from Golden Select told me: The glue used for gluing the underlay is called LS-688C and the chemical used in the foam underlay is called XPE. I have asked him for MSDS sheets but have not heard back (Golden Select is a Canadian company). I also wrote to another company that uses this structural adhesive LS-688C in cars but have not heard anything. I also wrote to the Chinese company that makes the XPE foam but have not heard back.

I am hoping you or your readers may have be able to offer some additional help or ideas.

Thanks very much Deb for all your good works!

Nancy

Debra’s Answer

This isn’t enough information for me to research this. They need to provide an MSDS to you.

Readers, any experience with this product?

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Question from Patricia

Hi Debra,

We’re planning on covering our basement concrete floor with DriCore subflooring. We will seal the floor with an AFM/Safecoat urethane after installation. The subfloor will become the floor, as it will not be carpeted or tiled. The DriCore MSDS, link here www.dricore.com/en/pdf/msds.pdf, says it has has phenol formaldehyde resin in the core. I talked with the manufacturer, (www.DRIcore.com and phone 1-866-976-6374) who said the panels are sealed with a water-based acrylic sealant. I will have my husband do all cutting outside, to decrease any chemical dust in the basement.

My question…will the formaledhyde offgas? From the MSDS information do you see any potential problems?

This is the only option that I found that will work for the present situation with our basement floor, whioh has very old red concrete stain that “runs” when it gets wet and leaves a powdery dust on shoe soles. We haven’t been able to get it washed off in the 24 years we’ve lived here. Half the floor is also covered with old lineoleum tile squares over the red stain. I don’t know if there is asbestos in the tiles. The other half was painted over the stain, and the paint is now wearing off. The DriCore representative said Dricore can be installed over the top of the present floor as is….that’s a huge selling point for us. I want to be as sure as possible that I won’t have problems before making this costly purchase.

Thanks for all the work you do to help us improve our health, Debra.

Debra’s Answer

I can’t give you a definitive answer without seeing the product, but in general, the idea seems like a good solution for basements.

I was talking with a client on the phone a few weeks ago about needing to put a subfloor in her basement, and the contractor was going to build a subfloor much like this, with plywood and a sheet of polyethylene. This product came up as a possibility, which is an easier way to accomplish the same thing.

The hazards noted on the MSDS are exposure to wood dust and formaldehyde. I’m not concerned about the wood dust because that would not be a problem except during installation. The formaldehyde levels given are below the accepted levels for industrial exposures and which cause cancer. However, if you are very sensitive, and you are covering a large space, they could be too much for you.

These panels do have a finish on them, however, not all finishes block formaldehyde.

Before you invest in this, check with AFM to make sure that the product of their you are using will effectively block any formaldehyde. And I would suggest that you get one of the panels and live with it before you have them installed in your basement.

If you were going to put another flooring on top, this would be less of an issue. You could always put down a sheet of foil that would block the formaldehyde completely, and then lay another floor on top of that. Or, if you laid a ceramic tile floor on top of this subfloor, that would block the formaldehyde completely as well.

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Question from Bonnie Johnson

Hi,

My remodeler wants to check into something called LG Hi-Macs for the counter tops in the kitchen.

Anyone with experience with this product? They sell it at Lowes and I am trying to stay ahead of all these projects before they start to stay well.

The man at Lowes said it was non toxic compared to Corian.

Bonnie Johnson

Debra’s Answer

There are four different Hi-Macs products, so I’m not sure which one you are referring to.

This is a solid acrylic plastic countertop. Their MSDS indicates no toxicity of the finished product, but I personally am skeptical about acrylic because I have read elsewhere that acrylic IS toxic.

Anyone have experience with this product?

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Question from Anne

Hi,

I would like to buy a pizzelle maker but so far I have only seen ones that are made with a non stick coating or aluminum.

Does anyone know if they make one with cast iron or anodized aluminum. I have been searching the internet but so far no luck.

Thank-you,
Anne Donahue

Debra’s Answer

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