From the day you get news that you’re expecting a baby, to the day they are born, all the way through the rest of your life; you will not stop worrying about the health and safety of your child! Of course, these concerns are far more intense in the initial stages of pregnancy and during infanthood.

As they grow up, you learn to live with the fact that you can’t protect your child from every bump and scrape they encounter out on the playground. However, when it comes to the health of your baby, the precautions begin at home.

Because the immune system of an infant is still developing, they become highly susceptible to allergens in the air; therefore, your home’s environment must be clean and free of chemicals to ensure that your baby is in the pink of health.

This leaves you with no other option but to maintain a clean home using safe cleaning products and methods.

While it’s not possible to completely eliminate chemicals from your home, the following tips will allow you to use alternative cleaners that will not only get the job done, but ensure that you aren’t leaving any traces of chemicals.

Baking Soda + White Vinegar

With these two, natural ingredients combined, you can clean various surfaces and areas of your home in a safe and efficient manner. In many ‘eco-friendly’ households, baking soda and white vinegar are used as alternatives to store-bought, all-purpose cleaners.

Some of the many areas that you can clean using these ingredients include granite counters, sinks, bathroom fixtures, faucets, oven interiors and stovetops. For greasy surfaces, a diluted solution that consists of more vinegar than baking powder is effective, while stubborn stains demand a pasty solution with salt added to it for more scrubbing power.

For daily cleaning, make a solution of baking soda and white vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle; use this to spray surfaces and wipe them down with a cloth or scrubber.

Be sure to shake up the bottle before every use some of the powder will settle at the bottom.

Castile Soap for Floors

Do away with harsh, chemical products that are used for floor cleaning because castile soap and water is all you need! For a safe and effective cleaning solution that will not release toxins into the air around your infant, use castile soap mixed with warm water in a bucket to mop your floor.

This solution can be used to clean various types of flooring including tiles, linoleum, marble and hardwood.

The strength of the cleaner will depend on the level of dirt and stains on the floor; however, we have come to find that a little bit of elbow grease is enough to get your floors squeaky clean again! You can also add a few drops of essential oil to your floor cleaner for a pleasant fragrance.

NOTE: When cleaning hardwood flooring with this solution, be sure to use a damp mop as opposed to a dripping one.

Laundry Detergent

Any residue of regular laundry detergent left on items that come in contact with your baby can cause skin irritation and rashes. In fact, harsh chemicals found in laundry soaps can also caught respiratory problems in infants over a period of time.

Therefore, it’s advisable to use laundry detergents that are specially formulated for washing baby fabrics and other items that come in contact with infants.

Some of these items include spit up towels, burp rags, baby bedding, blankets and cloth diapers. A few commercial laundry detergents that are recommended for baby fabrics include Rockin’ Green Classic, Molly’s Suds Powder, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and Puracy Natural Liquid. You can find these products on the shelves of most supermarkets or simply purchase them on Amazon.

Yes, when a baby comes along, a lot will change and that includes your choice of cleaning products and methods!  Don’t worry, however, you can do all you need with baby-safe products, and won’t need to sacrifice any cleanliness in your home.

Michael Hayes is the founder of Empire Maids NYC, a New York City based housecleaning service.  He can be reached at hello@empiremaids.nyc.