Cleaning your house with natural products doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Most ingredients to make powerful, safe, effective cleaners can be found in the cabinets of most peoples homes. Here is a list of common household products and their uses.

Baking Soda – This can be sprinkled directly onto sinks and tubs before giving them a good scrub. Baking soda can also be used to deodorize sinks and garbage disposals. Pour ½ cup down the drain, trickle a bit of hot water to moisten, and let sit 2 hours, then flush with hot water. I like to put a lemon rind into the garbage disposal after this treatment. Turn on the disposal and it will smell lemony fresh!

Baking soda can also be added to laundry to deodorize and soften clothes. Add ¼ cup to wash cycle.

White Vinegar – Mix 1 part vinegar to 1 part water. in a spray bottle. Add 5 – 10 drops of your favorite essential oils and give it a shake – I personally like clove and lavender as these have powerful disinfecting properties. This concoction can be used to wipe down tables and counter tops, desks and doorknobs. Not to worry about the smell, it will evaporate and dissipate in a few minutes.

White Vinegar is a powerful disinfectant. It can also be poured directly onto mold or mildew in the shower. This will kill the spores.

Rubbing Alcohol –Mix 1 cup rubbing alcohol, 1 cup water, and tablespoon vinegar in a spray bottle to make an excellent glass cleaner. Also cleans chrome fixtures.

Vegetable oil and lemon juice – Mix 1 part lemon juice to 2 parts water into a bowl or spray bottle. Apply to wood furniture and polish off.

If none of these do the trick for you, don’t forget that we carry a full line of Naturally Safer cleaning products.  Go check them out!

I love my dog; a sentiment felt by most pet owners, I’m sure. He stinks, snores and chews pillows if he’s left alone too long, but he’s also loyal, trusting, and a great running buddy. He’s always there to listen to my problems, and he never talks back. My dog makes me feel special just for coming home at the end of the day.

Because I love my dog, my world was rocked when I took him to the vet for what looked very much like a tumor. It turned out to be an allergic reaction to a vaccine, but it caused me to spend a good amount of time researching cancer in dogs. Rocky is a Boxer, and as I found out, Boxers are particularly susceptible to cancer and stomach diseases. Since I would prefer he didn’t get either of these unpleasant conditions, I need to be very careful about the products I give him.

It turns out that cancer is rapidly increasing in dogs, and is now responsible for 46% of disease-related deaths. Prevention seems pretty straightforward; good, wholesome food and natural products…much like for people.

Lifekind has wonderful pet beds that are made from the same organic materials that our “people” mattresses and bedding are made from. I hadn’t realized how important this is until I came home one day to a yard full of a substance I later titled “radioactive fluff.” Honestly, that’s the best way to describe the mystery material that had been inside the pet bed Rocky had decided that day was a chew toy. It was blue, had the consistency of fiberglass, and I’m pretty sure it could glow in the dark. Whatever the stuff was, it wasn’t healthy, and it put me in the market for an organic pet bed.

I think I owe it to my dog to take the best care of him that I can. He trusts me, after all, to not knowingly have him eating chemicals and sleeping on radioactive fluff beds. It’s hard sifting through all the marketing claims and mystery ingredients put into modern pet food, toys, etc., but I think it’s worth it because, not to sound repetitive, I love my dog.

I’m sure many of us share treasured childhood memories, and one of mine is when my mother would tuck me in at night and say, “Sleep tight.” I now often hear myself repeating that phrase, which leads me to wonder where “sleep tight” actually originated.

History shows that the phrase “sleep tight” has always been used in the English-speaking world, and is associated with the rhyme “good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” The “sleep tight” part may refer back to when mattress foundations were made from ropes, which needed to be pulled tight to provide a well-sprung bed. The ropes were spread across the bed frame in a criss-cross pattern to form a sleeping platform. They would sag with time and weight, and had to be tightened periodically, hence the phrase “sleep tight.” This brings to mind why it’s important to know what type of foundation your mattress is on.

Most of us have had common commercial mattresses at one time or another. We may have told by a salesperson, “This price includes the set,” which we assume means we’re getting a box-spring foundation. I’m here to tell you that that’s not always the case. I speak to customers all day long who assume that the foundation they have now is a box spring, when actually it contains no springs at all – just thin wood. I call this a “faux” or “impostor” box spring.

Innerspring mattresses are designed specifically to be supported by a box-spring foundation. With a “faux” foundation, the innerspring mattress will lack proper support, which in turn will not provide the sleeper with the proper support. It becomes a vicious cycle. Some people try placing plywood between the mattress and the foundation, hoping it will do the trick. When it doesn’t work and the mattress becomes increasingly uncomfortable from lack of support, a chemically-laden memory-foam pillow top may be added. It goes on and on as the mattress dips and sags in an unusually short period of time. It’s only when the entire situation becomes unbearable that we’re forced to pay attention and purchase a new mattress. Sadly, if the underlying problem hasn’t been recognized the first time, the pattern is often repeated.

On a more positive note, we’ve come a long way in terms of technology from using a rope foundation that needs to be tightened to prevent sagging. We now offer platform-slat bed frames, which require no maintenance and allow natural rubber mattresses to have the air circulation they need without using a foundation. Yet when it comes to traditional innerspring, steel-coil mattresses, my biggest concern is that the general mattress buyer is often still unaware of the need such mattresses have for a steel-coil box-spring foundation to support them. Think of the two pieces as a team, working together to provide the perfect, comfortable support.

So when you find it’s time to replace that not-so-old, sagging mattress set, remember to look inside the potentially empty “box spring” that came with your mattress to see what’s inside.

I hope you always will “sleep tight”!

Wondering about the economic viability of purchasing an organic mattress? The federal government may be able to help.

H.R. 3382, The Home Improvements Revitalize the Economy Act of 2009 — or HIRE for short — was introduced on July 29 by Rep. Henry Johnson (D-Ga.). If passed into law, it will allow a tax credit of up to $500 and deductions of up to $2K through the year 2011 for the purchase of residential building products and furnishings (up to $4K for products that meet approved environmental standards – yay Rep. Johnson! .

The bill, which is reportedly enjoying bipartisan support, is making its way through the House Ways and Means Committee. To track its progress or for more information, go to govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3382.

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There are many types of yoga. Ashtanga, Iyengar, Bhakti, and Anusara are just a few.

Karma yoga is the discipline of action. It is thought by many that if your actions are pure and good, then positive things will come into your life. One example of Karma yoga is buying organic food. After cooking and eating a healthy meal, we benefit from feeling pleasantly full and satisfied. Our friends and family have more peace in their lives because they are relaxed after a good meal, and the farmer that produced healthy food receives payment. Conversely, when food is heavy in empty calories or toxins, the body feels heavy and may respond to life situations in a harsh way. In such cases we may have given our hard earned money to a farmer who sprays the land with pesticides and other potentially harmful products that affect both humans and animals.

It can be said that people have free will to decide if positive or negative actions come into our lives. Home products can be applied to Karma yoga. Making the choice to buy natural cleaners, organic bedding, and of course, sustainably made mattresses allows us and those we invite into our homes the opportunity to be healthier. Because of your life choices, your guests may learn about organics from talking with you. Then, they’ll go out and buy an organic product or two, and before you know it, America will be a model of sustainability and health. Now that’s good Karma!

-Sara, Product Specialist

I was first introduced to Lifekind by way of my own chemical sensitivity. I was searching for employment with a list of requirements that included a chemical-free work environment, organically based products, and a company with a conscience for helping others. I was thrilled when I learned about Lifekind and found that the company was based in my hometown!

It was only after reading Toxic Bedrooms, written by Lifekind’s president, Walt Bader, that I began to piece together a series of health problems that had plagued me for over two years. It began when I had purchased a new, conventional mattress. The day the mattress arrived I immediately experienced a burning sensation in my eyes and throat. Lucky for me, the mattress company agreed to remove it and replace it with a showroom model that they said had already offgassed. I still didn’t understand what might be in the mattress that was causing such difficulty.

The replacement mattress arrived, and even though it didn’t smell like fresh chemicals, it was so uncomfortable that I went out and naively purchased a memory-foam topper. However, when I removed the memory-foam topper from the plastic wrapping, the chemical smell was so bad I had to take it outside to air. Weeks passed, then months, and still when I went to smell the memory-foam topper it burned my eyes and nose.

With winter coming on, I rolled up the topper with disappointment and put it in the basement. By spring of the next year it had finally offgassed enough for me to place it on my horribly uncomfortable mattress.

In retrospect I realize that for over 20 years I had slept on organic cotton futons, and it had never occurred to me there might be something in a conventional mattress that would affect me so greatly and cause such health issues. But that was exactly the case.

Presently, I am a well-rested sleeper with two Lifekind mattresses. All of the health issues from my past have disappeared and I have found a new purpose in life, where I feel confident helping others in the transition to organic, chemical-free bedding.

-Kimberly, Product Specialist

A few years ago I purchased a Lifekind organic mattress to help reduce my exposure to chemicals in my daily life. As the days go by I become more aware of every product I use and how it might effect the environment around me.

When we bought our house last year I went even further and vowed to not allow any conventional mattresses or furniture to be purchased, along with removing all chemically based products from daily use. All of the food, personal care products, cleaning products, and mattresses in my home are completely natural or organic and free of toxic substances. Keeping toxins out of my daily surroundings provides a sense of serenity and has improved my quality of life.

The next step is to remodel our home to make it more energy efficient and to personalize the colors on the walls. I can assure you that the replacement products will be free of hazardous chemicals.

I am happy to be a consumer that supports the movement to reduce the amount of chemicals being used daily. It is really comforting to know that when I am at home I am in an area that is as natural as possible.

What can you do to change your environment to help benefit your well-being and those around you?

Stephanie, Sales

Sustainability — it goes beyond the buzz of being “green.” It’s more than buying recycled paper plates. That’s a great starting point, but to truly be sustainable, we have to think outside the box.

Living in the 21^st century has been such a radical change from the way our ancestors have survived. Civilizations that thrived for thousands of years used to garden and rotate crops to keep the soil fertile. Food was local, not neatly packaged in plastic and paper from thousands of miles away. We have been so conditioned to rely on our modern conveniences for survival. Without them, most humans would be clueless about how to survive.

Sustainability is a way of life. Looking at everyday lifestyle choices to see how they impact our world can really be eye opening. Simple steps to lessen your footprint on the earth – riding your bike, preparing food at home, or planting a food garden – are just the beginning.

Here at Lifekind^®, we strive to be a model of sustainability. We support our local organic bakeries and organic fruit stands on a daily basis. We recycle and minimize the use of office supplies, paper, and energy. Our raw materials for the products we carry are sourced from US organic farmers. The fact that our manufacturing facility is certified to be in compliance with the Global Organic Textile Standard is like icing on the cake.

Rowena, Product Specialist

This afternoon a package arrived from one of my customers in Sitka, Alaska. It contained all sorts of goodies, like healthy specialty teas, organic hot cocoa mix – and a can of real smoked Chinook Alaska salmon! Everyone gathered ‘round my desk to admire the surprise, marveling at the generous offering.

Although I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Alaska, I can sense the heartfelt spirit of the people who live there. It reminds me why I enjoy being involved with Lifekind. The people I work with are exceptional, generous and attentive to helping others. We all believe strongly in our connection to a more organic lifestyle, drawing experience through Lifekind’s commitment to making an enthusiastic difference in organic, chemical-free bedding. I feel like I’m making a difference, and I sleep better at night.

And when I consider the generous gift package from my new friends in Sitka, Alaska, I sense they’re now sleeping better as well!

Kim, Product Specialist