Cleaning House for Fertility: 5 tips to keep fertility harming toxins out of your home

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You’ve read all about fertility diets, and you know you are supposed to do acupuncture to beat infertility.  But, are you making sure that you are keeping your home safe from fertility harming toxins? There are many common household items that could be making you or your partner infertile. Here are three simple ways to make sure you are cleaning up the toxins and making your home fertility-friendly!

1. 1. Frequently eliminate dust by damp dusting and using a HEPA vacuum weekly.  Here’s the deal: it turns out that fertility-harming toxins like phthalates live in the dust in our homes. Phthaltes are endocrine disruptors  that are used in all sorts of household items, from plastics, to vinyl, to household cleaners that use “fragrance” or “parfum” in the ingredients. Phthalates are linked to decreased fertility in men and women, miscarriage, and pregnancy complications.    When eliminating dust, you need to make sure you aren’t just pushing it around, or breathing it in.  That’s why a HEPA filter vacuum is so important.  When buying a HEPA filter vacuum, make sure the details specify that filtration efficiency is at least 99.97% and that particles retained are as small as 0.3 micrometers (formerly microns).  Vacuums with HEPA filters do the best job of removing dust particles from your house.  We splurged on a Dyson a number of years ago and we still love it. I can’t find the same model on Amazon now, but here is their Dyson HEPA filter bestseller.   Here is Dyson’s statement about dust-removal.   For removing dust from wooden furniture, damp dust with old rags or with reuseable cloths, like microfiber dust cloths.
   2. Use household cleaners that are free of fertility harming toxins. Regular household cleaners have many fertility harming toxins- bleaches, ammonia, phthalates (found in “fragrance” or “parfum”), parabens (anything ending in “-paraben”), sodium lauryl sulfates (and related), glycol ethers, and triclosan (in anything “antibacterial”).  Stop using them and replace them now with fertility-safe cleaning products. Luckily the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a fantastic Guide to Healthy Cleaning that provides safety ratings for most major products.  Be sure to check your products there!  We love unscented Dr. Bronner’s for multi-purpose, and Good Natured for an easy cleaning spray. Of course, the best thing to do is to make your own cleaning products.  Apparently all you need to clean everything in your house is vinegar, baking soda, and water.  Buy yourself a nice glass spray bottle fill with half white vinegar and half water and you are in business.  Scrub counters, toilets, etc., with a little baking soda. You can’t go greener or healthier!  We, however, are not quite there in our household, and still like to purchase our cleaners.  Plus, my husband hates the smell of vinegar! Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the cleaning supplies we love.
   3. Change your air filters regularly. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on timing and frequency for changing the air filters in your heating and cooling system. Don’t forget to clean your vents also- but clean them yourselves, and don’t hire anyone who will use toxic chemicals when cleaning your vents!
   4. Washing your bedding weekly.  Dust and other tracked in fertility-harming toxins can build up in your bed- where you spend at least (I hope) 7-8 hours of every day. Make sure your wash your sheets in hot water and a safe non-toxic detergent every week.
   5. And of course, the best thing you can do is set your house up to eliminate places that collect fertility harming toxins!
      1. Choose hardwood floors over carpet to reduce dust collection.
      2. Choose blinds over cloth drapes/window dressings to minimize dust collection.
      3. Take your shoes off when you come into the house to minimize tracking in fertility-harming pesticides.

Click here to see all the non-toxic products we use in our house! Are you making a switch to safe cleaning products to protect your fertility?  Are you already cleaning with vinegar and baking soda?  Leave a comment telling us how!