Cleaning Products for Home Daycare(non Bleach)

Sorry, I am required to use bleach in certain places by my County (diaper changing table for sure). We are not even authorized to use the Clorox wipes...sure wish they put enough actual bleach in them..the convience would be nice and would save me the overspray on my shirts! LOL

I still "bathe" toys in bleach in the sink, or I run them thru the washing machine (soft things) in a sanitize cycle for the super heated water, and also use my dishwasher alot..again the super heated sanitizing water.

For the non-county required bleaching areas, I would look for something allery friendly for sure...eco friendly type ones can be the right avenue often.

I ahve a hard time with fumey things myself. I actually will wear a mask when I do heavy cleaning on weekends (hubby worked in auto body for years so gets them for me still) as smells produce massive long lasting (several days) migraines for me....

Good luck!

2 moms found this helpful

Lemon juice and vinegar...also, tea tree oil.

Have you ever heard of or considered Norwex products? It's microfiber products that clean with only water and are proven to remove 99.9% of the bad bacteria. They clean with only water. The initial cost can seem expensive but considering you only use water, it's not only cheap but safe around kids too. If you want to learn more, check out my website: www.annettesnorwex.blogspot.com

I believe my daycare uses a vinager/water mixture. Im sure you could go online and look up some ideas. I think that is even better than bleach. Then like a previouse responce said add some tee-tree oil. I think that is kinda minty smelling so the vinager isn't so strong.

I use water, vinegar and alcohol (1 cup each) and works really well; it disinfects and the vinegar smell is not so strong.
Hope it helps!

Check out chartreuseproducts.com. Their products are certified organic, chemical free. They have 2 types of cleaning products, one all purpose and one for the bathroom.

Shaklee - they make a basic G which gets rid of germs and contains no bleach. Very very reasonably priced also.

What about the Method products? Are they approved for daycare use? I love Method and use in my house, but I'm not a daycare. I also like Seventh Generation.

I use a Sensaria all-purpose cleaner for most of my cleaning needs. It's supopsed to be all-natural and doesn't have much of a smell but does a really good job of cleaning. You'd have to find a person that deals it though and it's expensive but lasts a long time.

Use Melaleuca products. Gentle enough for kids, yet effective on germs. I have not had any asthma attacks since I started using these products and my nephew has been off his allergy meds and inhalers since my sister is using. They have a disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs. I liked the idea of the Method products and used to use them around my kids, but they are very strong smelling. Feel free to msg me if you don't know someone that can help you get these products.

When my mom was running a daycare, the only other product that the state allowed/approved for cleaning besides bleach was Pursue disinfectant from Amway. If you know of someone that sells it, you can try getting it through them, or I do have a website you can order it from http://www.amway.com/harmsgroup. Hope that helps!

This is great all-purpose cleaner:

In a spray bottle, mix 2 Tbsp Borax with 32 ounces of warm water. Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar, and 1/4 cup dish soap.

The vinegar acts as a disinfectant. The Borax adds the extra oomph that the dish soap needs to do its job.

Perfectly safe, and cheap. I've been using it for a couple years now for absolutely everything (countertops, floors, toilet surfaces, etc.) When you're done with the rag, throw it in the washing machine.

For glass or chrome surfaces, you'll need a separate spray bottle of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water.

Another key tip: NEVER use sponges-- because they rarely dry completely out, bacteria stays alive in them. Then, when you re-wet the sponge, the bacteria is re-invigorated and you spread new bacteria on surfaces you're trying to clean.

Melaleuca, tha'ts what we used in out Day Care and I have introduced it to others. I also had a family who after starting using the products her son was able to go off most of his asthma medicine. They also have a botanical distenfectant that is considered hospital strength.
ask me how,
S.

vinegar an water mix-vinegar is actually a better cleaning agent an sterilizes better than bleach.due to animals with mulitple health issues-this is all i clean with-its not the best smelling-but its safe,nontoxic,kills bad germs-

What about one of those steam cleaners, like the Shark or something like that?

Lots of people have suggested vinegar, but I personally can't stand the smell of vinegar....

7th Generation is pretty low-key and you can get it at Target! I switched from Lyscol to 7th Gen when I was pregnant and felt like the 7th Generation still actually cleaned (unlike vinegar, imo). I just read the posts about MN mandating bleach so since this is bleach-free I guess it won't work.....

Please do me a favor--tell the board about your experience with the children in your daycare reacting to the chemicals in your cleaners and post a "so what happened" to let us know. I'm just so curious to know how they would respond to that.

you should check with your licensor; when i was in business in MN, they REQUIRED i use bleach, and would even check my cleaning supplies. if i bought those disinfecting wipes, i had to add bleach TO them (though they didnt recommend that, nor did they tell me i "could" - especially do not if there is ammonia in the wipes)....
bleach water in a spray bottle and paper towels. and i was supposed to use antibacterial soap for handwashing too.