safe-cleaning-products / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Green cleaning products
Healthy indoor air quality

6 easy steps to detoxify your home

1.) Leave cleaning solvents and bleach behind. The smell of disinfectants that we have been conditioned to think of as 'clean' are anything but. Along with being harmful to the environment in production and use, chemicals like chlorine bleach evaporate into the air in your home. Why not try the following non-toxic alte...

How to restore a cedar wood deck easily
Decks, porches and gazebos

How to restore a cedar wood deck easily

Restoring a weathered cedar deck easily, step by step  Cedar decking boards turn gray in a few short years if untreated, and can make your deck look much older and closer to the end of its life than it actually is. There are easy tips for restoring an old deck and bringing back the original color of cedar decking. Deck...

Saving Energy in Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs - Our Top Tips to Save Money
Natural swimming pools and ponds

Top tips for energy efficient swimming pools - reduce pool cleaning & running costs

Energy efficient & Eco friendly swimming pools - are they even a thing?!  The current global  situation puts renewed value on staying fit and healthy, and enjoying time with our families, mostly at home. In light of that, we’re going to assume that many people will want to relax in their own pool or spa, despite th...

Faulty Toilet Flappers Leak a Lot of Water - here's how to replace them
Bathrooms

Faulty toilet flappers are the leading cause of leaking or running toilets, here's how to fix them

Why fix a leaky toilet flapper? Another of the jobs that sat on my Honey-Do-List for quite a while longer than I care to admit has been to fix the leaking toilet flapper in the bathroom at the cabin - made worse by us being off grid and only having a relatively small amount of water available in our outside rainwater c...

Painting with zero VOC paint from Benjamin Moore
Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Choosing safe paints

There is a current trend towards limiting the production of solvent-based paints, replacing them with solvent-free or water-based paints. The move towards safe paint has led to a noticeable improvement in indoor air quality since the mid-seventies, and better even in the last decade. But paints based on petrochemical s...

Detergent-free eco friendly Laundry balls
Cleaning and maintenance

Do Laundry balls work?

While walking through a home show not long ago I came across a product that has always intrigued me, the laundry wash ball, some kind of magic bean that washes clothes without detergent. Curious but skeptical, I circled in for a closer look.  As the Ecohome Network is considered a trusted source of green building and h...

Smart Homes, Technology & UV can Help Reduce COVID-19
Cleaning and maintenance

Keep homes cleaner & safer with smart home features & UV light

Coronavirus or COVID-19 is changing how we live, obliging us to practice social distancing and promoting fervent hand-washing. Until the latest developments in biosensor testing devices for viruses allow rapid on-site and accurate verification of coronavirus infection, the cleaner we can keep the surfaces in our homes,...

Drywall and construction dust
Cleaning and maintenance

Tips for keeping air clean during renovations

Construction is a dirty business, and living in a home under renovation can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, it can also lead to issues developing that people didn't suffer from before. Air that is full of dust and chemicals can cause respiratory irritations even among adults who don't suffer from such...

Wash Clothes in cold water? Only if Washing Better! - © Robert J. Pierson
Hot water

Save money by washing clothes in cold water - Especially as it can wash better!

So, a little background story, I always called my mom "Laurence, the guardian angel of laundry", as she can always rescue any clothes she puts her hands on. She still wears many of the same clothing basics she's had since I was born, and I never understood how.  Recently, after much pestering, she finally told me one o...

Which wood is best for framing timber frame construction in homes?
Wall assemblies - new construction

Lumber choices for wood frame construction - choosing timber for framing & building homes

Framing lumber choices for building homes Framing lumber, also known as structural wood, is the grade of wood used for house framing (studs, Larsen Trusses for Double-Stud walls, headers, roof trusses and floor joists, etc. as well as in timber frame construction). Its technical characteristics make it perfectly suitab...

DIY Natural Earth Pigment Paint, Making it at Home is Easy
Healthy indoor air quality

DIY recipe for natural healthy paint

Making Eco-friendly paint at home is easy when you know how If you want to decorate your home with healthy No VOC paints and finishes, you're in the right place! If you’ve ever stepped inside a natural building or a home with natural paints or plasters, you can tell instantly. Natural earth pigment colors and textures ...