Water Based Cleaners are Best

I have a kid with asthma and because of that I tend to want to use water based cleaner. This is because stuff like Lysol, Febreze and Windex makes my kid wheeze. To tell you quite frankly I get headaches when I use this kind of stuff too.

If you are environmentally sensitive like my kids and I are then you need not despair. There are options for you.

Most of these water-based cleaners are inexpensive and homes.

For an inexpensive odor remover, mix baking soda in water and saturate the area where the spill has occurred. Let stand a few minutes, then blot with paper towels and allow to air dry. This is good for pet stains.

For fresh bloodstains, try soaking the area thoroughly first with super cold water. Avoid warm or hot water, which can set the proteins in the blood and make it permanant. It can also help to rub an ice cube over the stain, then rinse with cold water and clean or launder the item.

Hydrogen peroxide followed by a rinse with water is one of the best ways to remove bloodstains. Apply the hydrogen peroxide to the stained area, letting it bubble. Repeat this until stain is gone. Follow this scrubbing up by dabbing the area with water, then letting it dry. Or if the bloodstain is on clothing, launder it after first treating it with the hydrogen followed by the cold water rinse. Keep in mind that hydrogen peroxides has a limited shelf life; you may need to replace your bottle annually for it to be effective.

You can also try the 'milk cure' for bloodstains. Pour some milk over the bloodstain to loosen the blood, and then blot it up. Then give the item or the area on the rug a good rinse with water.

Yet another cold water cure for stains is to mix cornstarch and water into a paste, then apply it to the stained rug or fabric. Rinse with cool water and blot dry. Afterwards, use a brush or vacuum to remove the remaining cornstarch.

Some people have also had some success mixing meat-tenderizing crystals with cold water, and then apply this paste to the area. Let stand for an hour, then rinse in cool water.

Yet another homemade formula for cleaning urine and other organic messes: mix equal parts water and white vinegar with a couple squirts of gentle dishwashing soap. I find this gets most things out – even protein based stains sometimes.

Remember that when it comes to stains like urine that rubbing with ammonia sometimes works, but remember that ammonia smells somewhat like urine to animals, so your pet may try to mark on the spot. That is also why I like alternatives like baking soda and water. It just does not reek. Ammonia of course can smell up your house for days, even if it does get that bloodstain out of the carpet.

Is Bottled Fancy Water Bad For Kids?

Is fancy water hurting your teeth? Fancy water is any water that has something added to it. Some dentists will tell you fancy waters that have flavor added are no substitute for tap water. Apparently the concern is that these bottled waters don’t contain enough fluoride to adequately protect and maintain your teeth from decay. Most of them don’t contain any fluoride at all. Fluoride is actually added to city water at the water filtration plant. This is terrible on your kid's teeth. I don't really give my kids more expensive flavored waters more often. Only when it is hot.

A controversy has been raging about whether or not fluoride actually causes tooth decay for more than a decade. There are some people that think that the addition of fluoride to our water is part of a big conspiracy to keep our teeth rotten and keep dentists in business. Does your kid need fluoride? This is something that you might want to do in moderation. I don't know what to do because all of the messages are so mixed so I make sure my kids drink half bottled water and half tap water. The key is variety when it comes to water types. That way you are hedging your bets. They are not getting too much fluoride from the tap water or too much artificial flavoring or even sugar (!) from bottled fancy waters.

People who love bottled water are very aware of their health, and tend to want to sample the water “straight from the source.” They think that because they are drinking water bottle straight from an iceberg or bubbling spring that it must be pure because it’s fancy water. However there are absolutely no regulations, worldwide or otherwise, that determine the overall purity of bottled fancy water. So I really do worry about my kids.

Before I give my kids any kind of doctored up water I make sure I read the label. Nowadays they are pepped up with all kinds of things. Mostly these substances are uppers and include things like ginseng. Sometimes really toxic stuff is added like food coloring.

You also see weird things on bottled water labels like ozone. Have any studies been done on what that could be doing to a kid? Apparently this helps the body absorb water faster but are there really any studies regarding that. There is no scientific evidence to back up this claim that oxygenated water is absorbed quicker by the water.

Flavored fancy water, the ones that have a hint of orange or lime in their brew are the favorites of many people who get sick of drinking their water plain. You can also get a charge one day drinking caffeine water. However you can just drink a cup of coffee for much cheaper. I don't feel like giving my kids a cup of water that is as peppy as a cup of coffee. Waters sometimes have things added to them like ginseng, kola nut and other natural uppers. Is your kid acting like he needs to go on Ritalin? Maybe the culprit is the additive in the water.