Imagine transforming into a toxin-free home without causing friction among your loved ones. I just wrapped up another cohort of Toxin Free in 3 and the question, “How can I get my family on board?” came up a lot.

It’s easy to implement changes if you have young ones and you’re the only one calling the shots. That used to be my experience! But in the past few years, everything has changed now that I have a husband and teenagers. Teenagers tend to have a lot to say about the products in your home. It’s important to them to be on top of trends and if a classmate has that cool new perfume, they want it too.

So today, I’m giving you my honest tips for navigating resistance to change in your household. Here’s the thing: gradual changes are key and compromise is non-negotiable. At the end of the day, everyone has to have autonomy over their choices. So if you have to look at a toxic shampoo in the shower, you might just have to grin and bear it every now and then.

In this episode, we’re chatting about: 

• Why it’s important to be ready to educate your loved ones about your toxin-free home choices
• How to introduce change in baby steps 
• Ideas for gifting healthier products to introduce change to friends
• The power of preparing before a shopping trip

1. One Thing at a Time

The first one is one thing at a time and do it on a trial basis. When I moved in with my husband, we struggled to adjust to our different lifestyles. He loved his products, and they were not clean products whatsoever. I had to wake up every day, go into the bathroom, and see them everywhere. 

I approached him and offered to pay to replace all his products with clean versions. That did not go over very well because I was proposing an upheaval of so many products. He suggested doing one thing at a time, and it worked perfectly for us. We replaced one product at a time and we did it in a way where I didn’t expect that he would love it. I gave him time to try it out and tell me how he liked it. It had to be a noncommittal environment.

Replacing everything at once is very overwhelming. It makes people feel like they’re giving up everything and it’s too much at once. It’s also the idea of a shorter time and not committing to something forever. You can try it and see how it goes. It makes it fun to try new toxin-free home products.

Let’s be honest – sometimes when you’re switching from conventional products to natural products, it takes time to find the things you genuinely like.

2. Educate Your Family

My second tip is to educate your family. Share what you know and what you’ve learned from this podcast! It’s a lot easier when you’re approaching, say, your husband, who’s not quite open to this. 

If you say, “I want to try these new products. I want you to try these new products because they’re safer and toxin-free,” it’s not going to resonate. It doesn’t mean anything to them yet. 

But if you were to go to your spouse and say, “The products in our home are contributing to these health issues that I’m having,” they might be more open to hearing you out. Consider sharing this podcast or an episode where I deep dive into a product causing hormonal issues or that has cancer-causing ingredients. You can explain that these products are contributing to your health issues, which means they’re also contributing to your spouse’s health issues. 

Bring them along on that educational journey. If they understand why they’re switching household products, they are more likely to be supportive. At a minimum, they’re much more likely to be willing to try. In my personal experience, I have found that talking to my husband this way works well.

3. Do the Work Up Front

When I first approached my husband, I found products I knew were toxin-free. I read reviews and talked to other people. I found a woman who had purchased a product for their husbands and their husband liked it. 

Men love the Jackfir line. They love some of the Primally Pure men’s products (code WENDYKATHRYN for 10% off). They also love the Just Ingredients men’s because many of those products are one-for-one. They smell very similar. You can find more options in the men’s section of my shopping guide. I did the work upfront and gave my husband products I knew he would like.

With my daughter, I knew I had to find options at Sephora and Target. Shopping in places like those and being a part of what their friend group is doing is important to her. I can go to Target with my daughter and show her the better options. Good Chemistry is a safer synthetic line of perfume at Target. 

I did my work upfront to find toxin-free home products for my daughter. It’s not my favorite and not the best, but I’m good with it, and better is better. I’m not forcing her to buy the brands I prefer. I’m giving her cleaner options that I’m comfortable with her buying with her friends.

This is a personal journey and not everyone will come along with you. If you have:

• Educated and shared why it’s important
• Made it simple
• Given them an opportunity to try new things
• Tried to compromise and bought things that were better but not great

… and they still want their conventional products, for me, at the end of the day, I just had to be okay either way. I had to know this was my journey and I’m the only person that can decide for me to live the way I want to.

If you’re listening to this and you have some other tips and tricks to create a toxin-free home your family loves, I would love for you to share them with me in my Instagram DMs. I hope this episode was helpful to you!

If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please:

• Leave a positive review or rating wherever you listen
• Shop toxin-free products on my Toxin Free Shopping Guide
• Download your free Tossing the Toxins Guide
• Post a screenshot, share what you loved, and tag me on Instagram @wendy_toxinfreeish
• Want to ask me a question to get answered on the podcast? Leave me a voice message here.

Related Episodes:

Episode 8: Toxin Free(ish): How to Prioritize What Matters Most

Episode 25: Stop Obsessing: Navigating a Toxin-Free Lifestyle with Balance

Episode 28: Going Toxin-Free on a Budget: The Power of Non-Toxic Living

Episode 41: The First Three Steps to Creating a Holistic Lifestyle You Actually Love