You bring up an excellent point – so what can one use around children to keep them safe from the harmful microorganisms and yet not expose them to harmful chemicals?

My first choice whether for young or old is always the good old baking soda and vinegar (not used together of course).
The thing about these two substances is that they are known to disinfect well while not being carcinogenic, or causing any asthma or allergies, etc. I mean yes today it is possible to be allergic to literally anything, but these two substances have the lowest toxicity if any compared to any other cleaners.
Now most people shy away from them because they are “not as” convenient as the typical stuff out there.

As far as more convenient, while still relatively safe cleaners go, Seventh Generation, Ecover, Dr. Bronner’s (more personal care based) are an alternative.

I have tried Seventh Generation and they are better, but by no means perfect especially where health goes, they are more concerned about the environment but one has to appreciate their scent free and dye free formulas.

I have not tried Ecover or Dr.Bronner’s but heard very positive feedback about both. (Ecover is on about the same lever as 7th Generation.)

There is one more company you may be interested in, it is called Shaklee:
http://www.shaklee.com/index.shtml

It is a company who was bought out by a couple whose child had severe allergies and health problems from cleaners and apparently one of its first purposes is to be totally safe for health. I cannot attest to this product as I have not examined their ingredients or tried it, but it was widely featured and approved, even on Oprah as a dynamic and different company.

I have had no experience with Melaleuca, but having looked at their site briefly, I could not find any ingredients or product write-ups. If they are based on tea tree oil that is a good place to start as it is anti-bacterial among other things.

Anyway – hope that helps!

Are there any cleaning products that you have experience with that you would recommend for a household with small children? I am concerend about the health hazards of most cleaning products. Is Seventh Generation recommended or Melaleuca? I appreciate your thoughts.

Yes there are some products we may “need” to make our lives better, but unfortunately most of what is on the market today is simply there to have a robust economy not to have a healthy population.

Just think too of how the circle works… population gets sick from irritation by the chemicals and that is where the pharmaceutical companies step in to do what they so call “help”. Well imagine we can avoid these two unnecessary middle steps completely if we take our lives and health into our own hands and not let others dictate how it will go.