For homes still using chemicals, watch this

[Kiwibird]

Came across a documentary on Netflix today called “Stink”. I think every bird owner needs to watch this. Even though most of you are good about not burning candles or spraying air fresheners, what OTHER toxic, harmful products are you bringing into your homes that are dangerous to you, your family and your birds (who are perhaps most sensitive of all)? Dish soaps, laundry detergents, shampoo even new clothing and furnishings.... all full of untested, unregulated, undisclosed chemicals. For years I’ve been called a nut and conspiracy theorist or simply looked at like I grew a second head for shunning these products (because they make me unable to breath and my eyes/nose/throat burn and skin itch) when in fact, I’ve been right all along! This crap is toxic, the government doesn’t care and it IS full of compounds harmful to humans, animals and the environment at large.

 

[noodles123]

So true- watching it now...I just went on a bit of a wild goose-chase when calling Kitchen-Aide to find out whether some specific products contained specific chemicals...It was difficult to get a straight answer, as much of the information was "proprietary". I was able to get enough to know that it was unsafe, and a few specifics (by the grace of one of the 4 people who attempted to "help"). That's for a food product...imagine cleaners etc....

 

[Kiwibird]

My sensitivities to these awful man made chemicals started as a little kid. I remember crying battles with my mother over not wanting to wash with soap because it made my skin itch to the point I’d scratch myself bloody and she just didn’t buy it was the soap. Perfumes, cleaners, home fragrances, laundry detergent odors etc... make me feel like someone hit me in the face with pepper spray. It’s a crapshoot being in public places because some people douse themselves in chemicals and it makes my whole respiratory tract burn (so does walking near certain stores in the mall and the cleaners aisle at the store). The worst personal example, though, was stick deodorant. I started wearing it because it was what everyone else was doing around that age. I did not previously have sweating or body odor issues. In short order, deodorant for teens was no longer strong enough and I had to start using antiperspirants, then MENS antiperspirants (as like a 14 year old girl), then prescription strength ones and even in the dead of winter, I’d be sweating uncontrollably despite reapplying the stuff several times a day. It was disgusting and so so embarrassing. As a newly minted adult, the recession hit and I decided to stop using deodorant because it didn’t work and was extremely expensive. Within weeks, I was no longer sweating and no longer had body odor problems. It literally caused the very problems it was meant to solve, problems I personally never would have had if I never used those products in the first place.

It was around that time I read a book about chemicals in our lives and just booted all of those products from my life. I don’t have any cleaners beyond white vinegar, baking soda and denatured alcohol. I don’t use shampoo/conditioner/soap/body wash/deodorant, no laundry detergents/dryer sheets... I do use an Un-scented all natural bar soap for dishes (which works fine BTW and is also effective if rubbed on most clothing stains) but that’s about it. In the summer, I might use a little essential oil spray and baking soda/cornstarch under my arms and that works just fine. My hair is healthy, shiny, thick and extremely long. Our clothes last a ridiculously long time and rarely fade or pill. People think they need these products, but they don’t. They’re toxic and often make the issues they’re designed to “solve” worse. I know one cannot completely do away with chemicals in today’s world, but seriously, you do not NEED all this crap these companies lead you to believe you do AND you save a TON of money not buying personal and home care products that poison you.

 

[noodles123]

My sensitivities to these awful man made chemicals started as a little kid. I remember crying battles with my mother over not wanting to wash with soap because it made my skin itch to the point I’d scratch myself bloody and she just didn’t buy it was the soap. Perfumes, cleaners, home fragrances, laundry detergent odors etc... make me feel like someone hit me in the face with pepper spray. It’s a crapshoot being in public places because some people douse themselves in chemicals and it makes my whole respiratory tract burn (so does walking near certain stores in the mall and the cleaners aisle at the store). The worst personal example, though, was stick deodorant. I started wearing it because it was what everyone else was doing around that age. I did not previously have sweating or body odor issues. In short order, deodorant for teens was no longer strong enough and I had to start using antiperspirants, then MENS antiperspirants (as like a 14 year old girl), then prescription strength ones and even in the dead of winter, I’d be sweating uncontrollably despite reapplying the stuff several times a day. It was disgusting and so so embarrassing. As a newly minted adult, the recession hit and I decided to stop using deodorant because it didn’t work and was extremely expensive. Within weeks, I was no longer sweating and no longer had body odor problems. It literally caused the very problems it was meant to solve, problems I personally never would have had if I never used those products in the first place.

It was around that time I read a book about chemicals in our lives and just booted all of those products from my life. I don’t have any cleaners beyond white vinegar, baking soda and denatured alcohol. I don’t use shampoo/conditioner/soap/body wash/deodorant, no laundry detergents/dryer sheets... I do use an Un-scented all natural bar soap for dishes (which works fine BTW) but that’s about it. In the summer, I might use a little essential oil spray and baking soda/cornstarch under my arms and that works just fine. My hair is healthy, shiny, thick and extremely long. Our clothes last a ridiculously long time and rarely fade or pill. People think they need these products, but they don’t. They’re toxic and often make the issues they’re designed to “solve” worse. I know one cannot completely do away with chemicals in today’s world, but seriously, you do not NEED all this crap these companies lead you to believe you do AND you save a TON of money not buying personal and home care products that poison you.

I never really paid much attention to chemicals (I used to smoke, and I certainly didn't care about what was in my shampoo etc---I figured we would all just die at once...) Then, I started working with kids and I got Noodles and when you are responsible for another life, it certainly makes you think twice about your choices and the potential risk they pose to yourself and others. There is no denying the increase in disease and, and the ridiculous claims that vaccines cause autism have been debunked repeatedly, but in the midst of all of the chaos about chemicals in our foods and worries about the contents of our vaccines, why has it taken people so long to consider that shampoos, clothing and hidden chemicals/fragrances/ plastics *the same ones that kill birds* may be slowly killing us as well..We wallow in them, ingest them, clean with them, bathe in them, sleep in them and inhale them....As usual, birds are the canaries in the coal -mines...and we (especially in the USA) are product guinea pigs (as these sorts of products aren't regulated by the FDA and the only support for their safety comes from self-serving studies conducted by the manufacturers who are selling the product! lol..SO sad....The price of ignorance, convenience, consumerism and instant gratification. I know I am part of the "machine" but it sucks when you hardly are given a choice. We should be able to easily find out the contents within a product if we ask, just as we are able to request nutrition contents for diet and food allergies...I don't even need to know amounts---I just want to know specific ingredients (and you can't tell me that ingredients alone are going to destroy some secret chemical recipe, when any lab can analyze the ingredients independently)...such ridiculousness.

 

[Kiwibird]

This probably comes as a shock, but I used to smoke too. Never a heavy smoker though, usually just a couple a day. All through my teens and into my early 20s when I started becoming more health conscious because I was having health issues (unrelated to smoking, though I’m sure it didn’t help) and issues with incompetent doctors and prescriptions making me sicker....

Honestly, while I certainly discourage smoking, I still don’t buy that smoking is any more dangerous than those cleaners and chemical scents, though it is certainly more demonized!

As for all the secrecy in the industry regarding formulations? It is 100% because they know consumers would be concerned about or stop buying the products. Just look at the poor kid in the documentary who’s allergic to something in Axe body spray specifically. He now has to go through life unable to avoid life threatening anaphylaxis because he has no clue what specific ingredient(s) he’s allergic to! Think about if a person with a peanut allergy had to just guess if a food product contained peanuts! Or that they never even knew it was peanuts in the first place.

 

[noodles123]

Exactly--- he has a deadly allergy and just has to guess where he may come into contact with this popular substance (yes, it's in Axe, but where else???) ugh.... At least a kid with a peanut allergy has some safe-guards (it's not like a business can be like "yeah, there are no peanuts in here" (when there really are)---They have to at least say that there could be peanuts (unless there 100% is no possibility)...The thing is, while a peanut can kill, it won't give the average person cancer, but even if you aren't allergic to these sketchy chemicals in Axe etc, they are still slowly poisoning us-- can you imagine an accurate caution label on shampoo or apparel: "This product is manufactured in a factory that processes mercury, cadmium and lead products. Trace amounts of cadmium may be present. Warning: this t-shirt contains x which has shown to cause cancer in humans and lab-rats"...lol!/eek!

 

[Flboy]

Oh boy! Here is a sample! FYI, I also am someone who can’t be around scents! As a child, I would black out every few weeks at the Sunday church service! Still can’t tolerate fabric softeners or deodorants!
[ame="https://youtu.be/15cMNneeF_w"]Stink! - Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Kiwibird]

Exactly--- he has a deadly allergy and just has to guess where he may come into contact with this popular substance (yes, it's in Axe, but where else???) ugh.... At least a kid with a peanut allergy has some safe-guards (it's not like a business can be like "yeah, there are no peanuts in here" (when there really are)---They have to at least say that there could be peanuts (unless there 100% is no possibility)...The thing is, while a peanut can kill, it won't give the average person cancer, but even if you aren't allergic to these sketchy chemicals in Axe etc, they are still slowly poisoning us-- can you imagine an accurate caution label on shampoo or apparel: "This product is manufactured in a factory that processes mercury, cadmium and lead products. Trace amounts of cadmium may be present. Warning: this t-shirt contains x which has shown to cause cancer in humans and lab-rats"...lol!/eek!

It’s shocking developing countries have stricter laws (even if thy have no means of enforcement) than a first world nation (the US) regarding chemicals their citizens get exposed to. And here in the US, unlike the developing world, we actually have the infrastructure and ability to enforce such laws, yet policy makers are more interested in lining their pockets with corporate bribes than protecting the people. It’s pretty sickening. My husband suggested writing the presidents office (local/state politicians here in Oregon are useless puppets for the highest bidder). I’m actually considering doing it. With the amount of hate mail they must receive, it wouldn’t be that hard to write in a more respectful tone that might stand out and perhaps even plant a little seed or spark a discussion. A lot of people, even ‘stubborn’ ones don’t know that pet birds are good indicators of household toxins that may not be acutely toxic to humans, but have heard the old canary in a coal mine adage so when you make the comparison, the light switch flips on:33::45:

 

[buurd]

I 've always gotten migraines from synthetic scents , since prepuberty, I guess. Even now, if I know Im going out, to whereever, chances are very high to assured, that I will be getting a horrible headache from chemical fragrances around me, to the point that it is debilitating.
Everything I buy is unscented, but I did notice that unscented fabric sheets are ...still slightly scented, at least when you put them in the dryer. When the clothes come out, they are not scented.
Now I am reading here that they are bad for you /birds altogether?

I did not know that. My birds are not in direct contact with any fabrics because they perch on things, even above the drapes.

So what do you use in lieu of fabric sheets then, as a softner? Borax? Does that do the trick?

 

[fiddlejen]

I 've always gotten migraines from synthetic scents , since prepuberty, I guess. Even now, if I know Im going out, to whereever, chances are very high to assured, that I will be getting a horrible headache from chemical fragrances around me, to the point that it is debilitating.
Everything I buy is unscented, but I did notice that unscented fabric sheets are ...still slightly scented, at least when you put them in the dryer. When the clothes come out, they are not scented.
Now I am reading here that they are bad for you /birds altogether?

I did not know that. My birds are not in direct contact with any fabrics because they perch on things, even above the drapes.

So what do you use in lieu of fabric sheets then, as a softner? Borax? Does that do the trick?

The fabric-softener chemical itself is the problem with dryer sheets. The fragrance is just icing on that cake. You can get unscented liquid fabric softener too; avoid it like the plague! I don't know what that chemical is, but it interferes with breathing

There are plastic spiky balls sold most everywhere for inside the dryer that work fine to soften your clothes. (People used to use tennis balls for the purpose.). Also there are wool ones, which I personally would never use since I'm allergic to wool, but I imagine there should work well.

Also you can put white vinegar instead of liquid-softener in your rinse cycle. It will rinse away clean with no odor.

That said, the other question is really, whether "softeners" are actually needed. I mean, so many people throw in those little sheets without thinking about it. Most clothing is soft enough to wear without adding any chemicals to "soften" it.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Thanks for this thread!