Reasons to Consider Using Natural Cleaners
Chemical cleaning products are designed to make our lives easier, but they come at a price. Just look at the list of ingredients and care instructions on any given product to see how volatile and harmful they can be to our health. While we don’t give these risks a lot of thought now, they may take on greater importance during a crisis. Here are a few reasons to consider learning how to make and stock up on natural alternatives instead.
Safety
Storing chemical products needs to be done carefully, and in accordance with manufacturer instructions. Some need to be kept in areas where temperatures are stable whereas other products may need to be kept in well-ventilated areas. Most household cleaners also come with warnings about keeping them away from children, pets and the need to wear hand or eye protection while using them. All of this translates into extra details that you need to incorporate into your preparedness efforts in order to minimize risk during and after a crisis. Chances are that a lot of us in such a situation will not be able to store and monitor products as we do now.
Spills, potential contamination of supplies, the risk of ingestion or injury from caustic chemicals and lack of services available to deal with exposure are all examples of potential challenges that we can face. Natural products don’t contain these types of chemicals. They can be made as needed or stored without having to worry about the risks.
Health
One of the biggest, yet least discussed risks comes from the effects of exposure to these products. This is particularly true if they become ingested or caustic chemicals come into contact with the skin. Most products will give basic instructions on how to provide immediate aid to slow the progress of the effects of exposure. However, many products also tell us to seek immediate medical attention, call 911 or a poison control center as well. Consider how these services may be unavailable or inaccessible during the aftermath of a crisis, and it’s easy to see why the health risks of having chemical cleaners around may dramatically increase.
Shelf Life
It’s not always easy to stock up on chemical cleaning supplies for a long-term period of self-sufficiency due to their shelf life. Some products can last for years whereas others will start to degrade after a few months. This can not only render a product useless, but degradation can also alter its chemical composition and produce compounds that are more dangerous. Others are so caustic, that they can eat away at the walls, bottom, tops and caps of product containers. The last thing you want to do is build up a stockpile of products that may expire and create all sorts of potential risks down the line.
While I’m not saying that all cleaning products are inherently bad, and we should never use them, but it is important to consider safer alternatives that can be just as effective. Many recipes involve the use of basic household ingredients that most of us have on hand now, as well as in our survival stockpiles. Knowing how to combine some of these basic items to keep your living area clean in the aftermath of a crisis is a skill that can be worth its weight in gold.
Take a closer look at natural cleaning alternatives, try some different recipes and improvise as you go. You will be amazed at the abundance of options that are out there, and they can do the same thing as their chemical counterparts at a fraction of the risk. While some of them will require a little bit more “elbow grease”, this is a small inconvenience compared to the potential benefits that natural alternatives can provide in a long-term survival situation.
