The fact is that some cleaning products do more than just clean your house. Cleaning products, depending on the ingredients used, can be as harmful to people, especially to children, as they are useful around the house. Remember those anti-bacterial cleansers that boast 99.9% cleaning action? These cleansers breed their own kinds of trouble, so for the meantime you’ve got to understand how such products could be detrimental to your family’s health and well-being.

So how can a 99.9% effective anti-bacterial cleaning solution hurt my family, you ask? Well, it begins at 00.1%. A certain brand of cleaning solution can effectively eliminate 99.9% of bacteria from the entire bathroom floor. What becomes of the 00.1%? This surviving 00.1% becomes the super germ or super bacteria, and as a result it develops an immunity against the cleaning product. You get the picture. Long term use of anti-bacterial solutions breeds stronger organisms.

Anti-Bacteria No More

Sometimes it’s better for everyone in the house if you just stick with what you have in the house: no more anti-bacterial solutions and the like. Please, we’ve already covered their risks—reserve them for extreme conditions. Until then, you should use only natural cleaning products: vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. Believe it or not, these products actually work.

Vinegar, for instance, is an effective all-purpose cleaning agent. Mix it with water, pour in a spray container, and there you have it: a solution that will do well in most areas of your home. You can use it to clean the sink, bathtub, toilet and even the counter tops in the kitchen (see 25 other uses for vinegar). Lemon juice works in much the same way. Lemon juice is great for giving off that great shiny finish on most surfaces, especially copper and brass. Baking soda works well as an abrasive, but it’s most popular use is with an iron and ironing board. For more information regarding this article, read how to choose a cleaning product.