Natural and Non-toxic Floor Cleaner

Whether you’re someone who has the privilege of having maids to clean your house or you do it yourself, using non-toxic floor cleaners should be of paramount concern to anyone who cares about health. Most of the floor cleaning products on the market today are incredibly toxic when breathed in. Even ones that claim to be “organic” (what does that even mean when the components are chemicals?!) or less-toxic are still, just plain toxic.

You think that opening all the windows help? That only allows some of the fumes to escape. The fact is that using those harsh, toxic chemicals to clean your floors may be removing dirt and grime but they’re also effecting human health. I remember one instance when my floors were cleaned with one of the big name brands (diluted with water as per their instructions) and I got one good whiff of the chemicals whirling around the house. Not one hour later I was face first in my bathroom sink vomiting, with continued nausea and a pounding headache.

I knew what the cause was immediately. To rule out any other possibilities though (food poisoning for one), I put myself at risk again a week later and entered the exact same situation, walking into the living room that had just had its floors cleaned with that name brand cleaner. Unfortunately, I got sick again, this time within half an hour.

Talking with a group of friends, I discovered I was by far not the only one to have this issue. Worse yet, some friends with children were at their wits’ end having had to eliminate chemical cleaners all together for fear of their children’s health. They began cleaning their floors with just water which didn’t quite do the job of getting rid of all the dirt and oily residue, particularly in kitchen areas.

I remembered something I’d grown up with, something I’d seen countless times throughout my life and wondered why it had taken me all those years to put two and two together. 


Chinese restaurants throughout the world use hot tea to clean their tables as tea cuts through grease (one of the big reasons we drink tea so much). Such a novel idea!!

I was so excited by this idea that I tried it myself- filled a bucket with hot water and threw in a few tea bags. For an extra “special” scent, I also threw in a few lemon halves, squeezing the lemons before tossing the whole halves into the hot tea water. Would you believe the floors had never been cleaner?! The whole house smelled very faintly of lemony black tea; it was fantastic!

The best part of all- I didn’t get sick. In fact, that faint scent was so delicious I took extra strong whiffs. I was thrilled at the prospect of never having to buy another bottle of chemical-laden toxic floor cleaners and never having to get sick from those fumes again. 

Buy yourself a big box of inexpensive tea bags, black or green is fine, filled that bucket with hot water, toss in a few tea bags (and the lemons if you like) and let it steep for just a minute before using. Your floors and your health will thank you.