Are you ready to start living toxin-free but aren’t sure where to start? There is so much information (and misinformation) about living toxin-free. As an environmental toxins lawyer, I’ve heard it all. 

So, I’m going to make it super easy for you. This blog explains seven simple steps to start living toxin-free (ish). We aren’t out here trying to be perfect, but we are trying to make small, impactful changes for our health.

Let’s dive right in!

Why Toxin-Free(ish)?

No one can be living toxin-free 100%. There’s just no way to accomplish that, and you would probably stress yourself out trying to be perfect. There’s no need to put that kind of pressure on yourself. 

Instead, I am all about embracing your ‘ish,’ whatever that looks like for you. If you just can’t give up your hair dye, but you swap your plastic food storage containers for something more clean, that’s great! 

We want to focus on small but impactful changes toward living toxin-free. Make simple swaps to reduce exposure to harmful toxins while maintaining a practical and approachable lifestyle. Doesn’t that sound a little more reasonable than trying to swap literally everything in your household and life all at the same time?

So today, I will walk you through each step in beginning your journey of living toxin-free. We’ll start with the baby steps. I always recommend that people do these three stages first. They’re relatively simple to do and will make a huge difference in living more toxin-free. Next, we have the Level Up phase. Here, we’ll go a little deeper into the products you use daily for skincare, cosmetics, and personal care items. Finally, as a bonus, I’ll teach you how to master label reading so you can shop confidently and pick out the best non-toxic products in stores and online. And, of course, I have my toxin-free shopping guide that gives you Wendy-approved companies and products for living toxin-free.

Each step has resources and actionable swaps for making changes without overwhelming you. Ready to dive in?

Phase 1: Baby Steps

I talk about the baby steps in episode #41 if you prefer to listen on the go!

Step 1: Safer Home Fragrance Options

Get rid of all synthetic fragrances in your home, including room sprays, air freshener plug-ins, wax melts, scented candles or lotions, perfume, and fragranced trash bags. Anything fragranced you use to make your home smell good or put on your body needs to go.

Synthetic fragrances have a class of chemicals called phthalates, which makes fragrance smells stick around for so long. Phthalates are known endocrine disruptors. When they get into our bodies, they can block or mimic our estrogen, and that disruption of our hormones leads to a whole host of health issues, such as endometriosis, thyroid issues, infertility, and breast cancer.

I prefer to use pure essential oils in a diffuser in an intermittent setting. This helps the fragrance last longer. I would also choose botanical perfumes that use essential oils or natural fragrances to provide scent. Here’s a full list of my favorite botanical perfumes.

I did a whole series on the Toxin-Free-Ish podcast about fragrances. Check out the episodes:

• Part 1: Safe Synthetics in Perfume vs. Natural Scents
• Part 2: Understanding Fragrance Allergens and Reading Labels
• Part 3: The Link Between Fragrance & Infertility

Step 2: Clean Up Your Cleaning Products

Did you know that you’re cleaning your home with toxic chemicals? In a published study by Chemosphere, scientists tested 30 cleaning products that included a mix of multipurpose cleaners, glass cleaners, and air fresheners. The analysis detected 530 unique VOCs, including 193 with the potential to cause health harms, such as:

• Respiratory system damage
• Asthma
• Increased cancer risk
• Developmental and reproductive problems
• Infertility

That’s probably what you’re cleaning your house with! Fragrance-free options scored significantly better and safer in this study. That doesn’t surprise me because fragrances, which we just talked about, have phthalates. By choosing fragrance-free, you’re automatically taking away a significant amount of harmful ingredients. These products still aren’t 100% toxin-free, but they’re better. Go fragrance-free if you need to pick up a product quickly at the store.

Bleach isn’t great to clean with, either. When you’re around, inhaling, or touching chlorine bleach, that chlorine is getting into your system. It attaches itself to receptor sites in your thyroid, similar to how endocrine disruptors can attach themselves to receptor sites in your body, which can lead to hypothyroidism. 

You don’t need bleach or fragrance to disinfect and clean your home. There are some fantastic toxin-free cleaners on the market now that work! I love the company Force of Nature. They make a completely toxin-free, EPA-registered disinfectant that works as well as bleach and has zero harmful ingredients. The brand Thieves is my favorite for everyday cleaning. Use code SHAREYL for 10% off your first order!

Step 3: Detox Your Laundry Routine

A lot of people don’t think laundry detergent is something they need to be super concerned about, but it’s one of the things that you should be the most concerned about. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets leave behind a lot of chemicals, like fragrances and ethoxylated ingredients, which are cancer-causing. The toxins attach to the clothing, sheets, and towels you use every day. Then they’re absorbed into your skin when you wear and sleep on them. 

Even if you have hard water, you can use toxin-free laundry products. Laundry stripping helps remove the toxins stuck on your clothes. Here’s the recipe for you:

1. Fill a bathtub (or large tub) with hot water.
2. Add your clothes or linens to the water. Make sure they aren’t delicate.
3. Add the following ingredients:
   • 1 cup of Washing Soda
   • 1 cup of Borax (can sub with baking soda)
   • 1 capful of Thieves Laundry Soap (or any non-toxic laundry detergent)
   • 1 capful of Thieves Household Cleaner (optional, but really helps!)
4. Stir the mixture well to ensure everything is evenly distributed.
5. Let soak for 4 – 6 hours, stirring the clothes every hour to help agitate the solution.
6. Drain the water and move clothes to your washing machine.
7. Run a full wash cycle with just water—do not add more detergent.

Once you have fresh, clean clothes, let’s keep them that way! Thieves’ laundry soap is my favorite. It’s highly concentrated, and when you follow the laundry hacks in my Green Cleaning Guide, you’ll get amazingly clean clothes and spend a fraction of what other laundry detergents cost. 

I did a Spring Cleaning series on the podcast a while back. Listen to the episodes!

• Why You Should Ditch the Dryer Sheets
• Why You Should Detox Your Laundry Detergent

Phase 2: Level Up

Now that you’ve mastered the basics of living toxin-free, it’s time to level up your home!

Step 4: Toxin-Free Beauty and Skincare

Beauty and skincare products aim to enhance our appearance, but at what cost? Most products are full of junk that could cause some significant health risks. These toxins are often in makeup and skincare products:

• Parabens: Used as preservatives to prevent microbial growth and linked to hormonal disruption.
• Phthalates: Added for long-lasting fragrance but are endocrine disrupting.
• Heavy Metals: Lead, mercury, and cadmium are sometimes present and can cause reproductive issues.

Honestly, there are a ton of other chemicals present in beauty products, but these three are what you’ll find most often. Switching to non-toxic makeup is an adjustment, so this might be one of your ‘ish’ areas of living toxin-free. I personally don’t believe makeup is worth the risk to our overall health, so it’s a good thing we have a lot of clean options!

In episode #84, Jamie of evanhealy breaks down holistic skincare routines for every age group. I also had Irina from withSimplicity Beauty on episode #92 to share some clean beauty secrets. Both shared fantastic insight into the beauty industry and how they are working to change the norm.

Here are some of my other top picks for toxin-free beauty and skincare products. 

Step 5: Non-Toxic Living in the Kitchen

Maybe you eat the cleanest foods, but have you thought about what you’re using to cook your meals? Cookware, storage, and food packaging contain toxins that could leach into your food. 

PFAS, or forever chemicals, are everywhere. When you cook on them, those PFAS chemicals are transferred to your food, especially if you’re cooking on a scratched pan. These chemicals accumulate in your body over time and they lead to things like cancer, birth defects, and heart disease. We have so much science showing how terrible these chemicals are, so it’s really a common sense thing that we don’t want to be cooking our food on these pans. 

Plastic food storage is another issue. Products like Tupperware, water bottles, and Ziploc baggies can leach BPA, BPS, or BPF anytime temperature changes. Chemicals seep into your food if it’s sitting in a hot car or microwaved. I prefer to use glass storage containers or silicone bags. They’re reusable, last longer, and are toxin-free.

There are a lot of non-toxic options for cookware! My go-to is stainless steel for pots and food packaging. Cast iron works great, too, once you learn how to take care of it! You should always rotate the pots and pans you use so you’re not cooking the same thing on your pot or your pan every single day. Then, whether or not something is leaching becomes less of a concern.

Step 6: Reevaluate Personal Care Products

Deodorants, shampoos, conditioners, tampons, soaps, and more, unfortunately, have a lot of chemicals in them. Traditional personal care products have parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, and aluminum. We already know all the issues these ingredients can cause! 

Since you use these products every day, this is an important swap for living toxin-free. The more you use products with toxic ingredients, the more impact it will have on your health over time.

I have a lot of categories in my toxin-free shopping guide for personal care items, so go check them out! Primally Pure is my favorite brand. They have so many clean options and they smell amazing! Use code WENDYKATHRYN at checkout to save 10%. 

Step 7: Focus on Filtering Your Water

This step is an investment, so this might be an ‘ish’ for you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to filter your drinking water. The water you are drinking isn’t as regulated as you think it is. Tap water can contain traces of FPAS chemicals, lead, chlorine, and fluoride. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to be ingesting any of those!

You can check what is actually in your tap water at the Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database. It shows you what contaminants are in your tap water and compares the contaminant’s legal limit and the health risks associated with particular levels. This is my favorite resource!

This blog covers some of the best ways to filter your drinking water. I also have a section in my toxin-free shopping guide for water filters. Although this is an investment, it significantly affects your wellness since you’re drinking and using water in your house every day!

Phase 3: Master Label Reading

Ready for phase #3? Learning how to read labels helps you pick non-toxic products on your own. I would love it if you used my shopping guide, but I also want to teach you how to choose the best products when you’re out shopping. I don’t recommend the ingredient apps, though (here’s why.) 

Instead, listen to episode #85 about using a simple label reading method. The main ingredients you want to avoid are fragrances, preservatives, parabens, and ethoxylated ingredients. Download this free guide on 25 toxins to avoid and my 5-step label hacking method to help you learn how to read labels.

Start Your Toxin-Free(ish) Journey Today

Small, consistent, and impactful changes are how you start living toxin-free. Don’t try to do everything at once – you’ll get too overwhelmed! Take these steps one at a time. Feel good about the changes you’re making in your household and the products you buy. 

Bookmark this post as a reference as you start your non-tox journey. Explore the blog, listen to the podcast, and explore the following resources to continue learning. I’m here to support you living toxin-free!

Dive Deeper with Wendy’s Toxin-Free Resources

Ready to go deeper into your wellness journey? Whether you are at the very beginning of your journey or a seasoned toxin-free pro, I have resources that will meet you where you are.

• Be the first to learn about new healthy living resources, blog posts, and exclusive offerings and discounts by getting on my insider email list.
• Subscribe to the podcast for weekly episodes on living toxin-free.
• Find truly toxin-free products with ingredients you can trust – fully vetted by me and the very same brands that I bring into my home – in the Toxin Free Shopping Guide. Check out everything from my skincare, haircare, water filters, protein powders, electrolytes, and so much more!! 
• Download this free guide on my top 25 toxins to avoid and how to spot them on labels.
• Get a deep-dive education on how toxins are impacting your health with Toxin Free in 3. When you become a student, you get access to the full course, access to my private community, discounted 1:1 sessions, and live monthly Q&As with me!