Chemical Free Products

[HarvestMoon]

I have been actively trying to minimise the amount of chemicals we use in general for a while now.The j&j thread got me thinking about it all again and i'm wondering what products people use?
Cleaning products are obviously one of the easiest to substitue with good old vinegar and bicarb.
What about personal hygiene products though? I am limited financially so try to do it as cheap as possible.. I buy a lot of the organic care, natures orangics products like shampoo, soap, face wash, moisturiser, etc.. The ingredient lists on these products look a bit iffy though. Does anyone know if do contain less chemicals/what harmful chemicals they do contain? I'm also sold by the fact these products aren't tested on animals.
I've been buying the 'Radox sensitive zero' body wash for a while... it contains no propylene glycol, parabens, phenoxyethanol, phthalates, colurants but does contain sodium laureth sulfate which i read somewhere recently that you should avoid.
Dedodorant is something else i've been wondering about. Can you actually buy an aluminium free brand that stops you from stinking? I've tried ' Body Crystal' that you can buy from the supermarket but it did me no favours.
So what brands/products do people use? Where do you buy them from?

[WorkingClassMum]

The entire world is made up of chemicals - evry single thing you breath or touch, even yourself is a matrix of chemicals

Even vinegar (acetic acid) and bicarb (sodium bi carbonate or HCO3)

vinegar and bicarb mixed gives of carbon dioxide and leaves you with a carbonic acid which breaks down very quickly to give you water...

So really the question is that you want to use more naturally occuring benign products that have a less detrimental impact of the environment and your health

Even over use of vingar and bicarb is 'bad' for the environment

I do use bicab, vinegar, oils like euclyptus and lavendar, borax, metholated spirits and also elbow grease and microfibre

This is will be an interesting threard, as many people have a lot of 'eco' solutions, but please remember that to overuse any product is also a waste

Good Luck

[brogeybear]

So you want to reduce your use of carcinogens and heavily toxic chemicals, yes?

For deodorant I use a crystal rock, and honestly, it is the best I have ever used at preventing bad odour!
For cleaning, I use Enjo.
I don't use shampoo or conditioner.
Soap, I buy olive oil based soaps from a semi-local hand made soap shop.
I do not use cosmetic products such as make up, cleanser, toner, moisturiser anymore. I find the olive oil soap cleans nicely whilst allowing my skins natural oils to remain balanced.
Toothpaste, I use one called Chicco I think.
Toothbrushes, I use eco friendly bamboo.

[HarvestMoon]

So you want to reduce your use of carcinogens and heavily toxic chemicals, yes?

Yes, i guess this is what i was trying to say. I do relize its impossible to cut chemicals completely out of your life... thats why i said i would like to minimise.
Certain products are always going to be worse then others. I'm just wondering which are the least toxic/most environmentally friendly/best products to buy?

[brogeybear]

Go for things with few ingredients and few "big names". Numbers are usually bad and anything
PEG- is evil.
If you want a brand recommendation, I highly suggest Alchemy & Akin products.

[jennibear]

For most of my cleaning i use a brand called 'Nature direct'. All Natural product, works wonderfully!!
http://www.naturedirect.com.au/

For eveyrthing else i use Earth choice mostly. I use cloth nappies and and earth choice washing liqiud and i use 'ecogenisis' nappies and baby wipes
http://www.ecogenesis.com.au/

[Tam-I-Am]

Earth's choice seems to be one of the better products, but in actual fact they use palm oil, which is destroying Orangutan habitats. Orangutans are a very endangered species, so they're literally contributing to this beautiful species becoming extinct. Some of their products also contain sulphates and parabens, so they're not as innocuous as they seem, unfortunately!

[earlgrey]

I am wanting to try murchison hume products for cleaning

[Leeee]

i use an aluminium-free deoderant called free and easy. the blue and white bottle contains an aluminium compound as the active ingredient, the green and white bottle is the one i use. should be able to find it at any decent chemist.

eta: it's a roll-on.

eta eta: this one

[HarvestMoon]

Earth's choice seems to be one of the better products, but in actual fact they use palm oil, which is destroying Orangutan habitats. Orangutans are a very endangered species, so they're literally contributing to this beautiful species becoming extinct. Some of their products also contain sulphates and parabens, so they're not as innocuous as they seem, unfortunately!
__________________

I have heard this about Earth choice products. They would still have to be one of the more ethical products out there though. I was using Aware laundry powder but found it to be complete and utterly useless once i bought a front loader so i switched back to earth choice. I was thinking about trying soap nuts but with a front loader i wonder how well they would work?

i use an aluminium-free deoderant called free and easy. the blue and white bottle contains an aluminium compound as the active ingredient, the green and white bottle is the one i use. should be able to find it at any decent chemist.

eta: it's a roll-on.

eta eta: this one

Do you find it stops you from stinking? I have 2 very physical jobs so i need something thats going to work well.