This is a continuation of a post started last week on preparing for the MCS house guest. As I said last week, this information is based upon my experiences and my health issues. Mileage may vary for others. Please check with your future visitor for their specific needs, they’ll be glad you asked!
This week I’m going to cover house cleaning and laundry issues, plus a bit more.
House cleaning can be a real issue since most of the brand name products are full of fragrances, VOCs, and who knows what else. I generally buy all such products at Whole Foods or a local health food store. Although, I confess to using a brand name toilet cleaner because it does such a good job. Might not be a good idea b/c I can definitely smell it, but still – I like clean toilets, too!
If you’re like most of us, cleaning your house is on the list of things you’re likely to do before someone comes to visit. And that’s ok. If you can, choose some less toxic, less fragrant products. But if not, it works for me if you clean a few days in advance. (But I can’t stress enough that this approach won’t work for all.) That will give the chemicals some time to clear the air.
If you want more on cleaning products, see these 2 posts:
What about your linens – especially for the bed where your guest is staying? You can reference this post I wrote earlier on my laundry recipe. BUT, if you’ve been using scented fabric softeners or dryer sheets and scented laundry detergent then those smells may not come out. I’ve read that it can take 20 – 30 washings. And I believe it. What are your alternatives? It’s rather awkward these days to hang sheets outside. That may work for towels, which is good because any fragrance left in the towels will transfer to the person using it! Another alternative for sheets is to talk to your visitor. I have sheets in every size and I am not above traveling with them!
What about your car, though? Hopefully you don’t have any type of “air freshener” in your car. Or if you take it to a car wash they don’t use one in your car. If so, a few days of open windows in the sunshine are in order. And hope that it works.
That’s all for now, I do have a couple of other things I’ve thought of. Plus, I’ve found as I go about my daily routine I think of other things. So, tune in next week for part 3.
As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome!
The MCS House Guest
The MCS House Guest Part 3
[print_link]