Asthma and Cleaning

For many years now I have been advocating that western society has been working with the wrong cleansers to keep their homes clean.  In a recent news article, my concepts have been confirmed.  The constant use of disinfectants around the home is stopping our children from building up immunities.

Fifty years ago, cleaning was done with soap and hot water.  No one considered cleaning with disinfectant as that was only used in hospitals and for bathing wounds.  In hospitals removal of all germs was necessary, but in the home, as long as it was cleaned regularly and food was protected and not contaminated, the majority of people remained healthy.

Talk to your grandparents and you will discover the amount of work put into scrubbing and cleaning the home.  The products used were simple, and hot water was a must for killing any nasty virus.

To cut down on the number of hours required to keep a property clean, time saving products were introduced.  TV had taken over from the radio, and people could see how easy it was to clean with these new products.  Over the years, these products and household surfaces have improved in such a way that now we can spray a product and wipe over most surfaces in our kitchen and bathrooms instead of scrubbing to make everything clean.

During the past twenty to thirty years the incidence of asthma, especially in children, has risen.  And, according to the article I read, scientists are discovering that when children are brought up on a farm, or have pets in their house, there is less likelihood of that child developing asthma.  What does this mean?  Bacteria in dust generated by animals, helps build up immunity in children.

Obviously, when a child is born, there is always a fear that it will develop something bad, and that is why we sterilize bottles and any thing that comes in contact with baby.  But as children grow the atmosphere around them is what their bodies have to learn to adapt to.  By using disinfectant to clean, the home atmosphere becomes unnaturally sterile; so much so that when the child goes outside there is no resistance to any of the germs and bacteria they come in contact with.

So, the answer?  Yes, we do need to clean our homes, and remove the dirt and germs, but having a sterile home is not a help to any child.  Regular cleansers and good old hot water and soap are the answer.  Use them and be assured your home will be clean, and your children still safe.

Julie Finch-Scally

The Guru of Cleaning®

Author - Stinking Cleaning