Overhauling everything at once is expensive, overwhelming, and unnecessary. Most of the meaningful improvements to your home's chemical environment come from a small number of changes in the highest-exposure areas. This audit helps you find them.
Work through one room at a time. Flag what needs replacing. Swap things out as they run out rather than throwing everything away at once. This approach takes months rather than a weekend, costs less overall, and is significantly more sustainable.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is typically the highest-priority room because personal care products are left on your skin, used daily, and accumulate in your system over time.
Check your:
Daily moisturiser — If it contains (, , ), , or DMDM hydantoin, it's a priority replacement. Leave-on, high-use products have the highest cumulative exposure.
Deodorant — Conventional antiperspirants contain aluminium compounds. Standard deodorants frequently contain , , and . -free alternatives with simple ingredient lists are widely available.
Shampoo and conditioner — Look for formaldehyde releasers (DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15), , and . -free sulphate-free options are accessible and affordable.
Period products — If you're using conventional tampons or pads, switch to certified organic cotton or a menstrual cup. See the period products article.
Toothpaste — Check for (increasingly phased out but still present in some brands) and for SLS if you get mouth ulcers frequently (SLS is a common trigger). Fluoride itself is one of the better-studied and more defensible ingredients in consumer personal care.
/cologne — Daily application is one of the highest exposure scenarios. Consider reducing frequency or switching to simpler essential oil-based alternatives.
Items to remove immediately: anything with heavy in a leave-on product, any product you suspect contains a formaldehyde releaser based on the ingredient list.
The Kitchen
Cookware and bakeware
- Non-stick frying pan: replace if scratched, flaking, or more than 3-4 years old. Replace with cast iron, carbon steel, or stainless steel going forward.
- Non-stick baking trays and muffin tins: the same applies. Swap for uncoated stainless steel, glass, or ceramic.
- Non-stick rice cooker, air fryer, or waffle iron: often overlooked non-stick surfaces with significant heat exposure.
Food storage
- Plastic containers: replace gradually with glass, especially for hot food, acidic food, or anything stored in the microwave. Prioritise replacing scratched or old plastic.
- Plastic wrap in contact with food: switch to beeswax wraps or silicone covers for direct food contact.
- Canned food: regularly eating from canned foods means regular exposure to the can lining (often BPA or BPA replacements). Glass jars and dried/frozen alternatives are lower-exposure options.
Cooking oils
Replace vegetable oil, sunflower oil, and similar seed oils with extra virgin olive oil (low-medium heat), butter or ghee (high heat), or coconut oil (where appropriate).
Cleaning products under the sink
- Disinfectant spray: likely contains quats (quaternary ammonium compounds). Replace with diluted isopropyl alcohol for disinfection when genuinely needed.
- Washing-up liquid: check for and .
- Drain and oven cleaners: these are among the harshest household chemicals. Use according to instructions with ventilation, or explore enzymatic alternatives.
The Bedroom
The bedroom is where you spend roughly a third of your life. Most people underestimate its chemical environment.
Mattress — Conventional mattresses contain flame retardants (historically PBDEs, now alternatives including some still of concern), off-gassing from synthetic foams, and potentially other chemicals in the fabric treatment. Replacing a mattress is expensive. If you can't replace yours, airing it out thoroughly before use and allowing new mattresses to off-gas in a ventilated space for several days is meaningful.
Pillows and bedding — Conventional pillows often contain synthetic fills and treated fabrics. GOTS-certified organic cotton bedding eliminates pesticide residue from conventional cotton farming. Wool and natural latex pillows have clean profiles.
Air fresheners or plug-ins — Remove. See the air quality article.
Candles — Switch to beeswax or soy with cotton wicks if you use candles in the bedroom.
Electronics — A bedroom full of electronics maintains a degree of EMF exposure overnight. Charging your phone in another room is the most impactful change — it also removes the screen from your pre-sleep environment and eliminates the temptation of early-morning phone use.
The Laundry Room
Laundry detergent — Switch to -free. The in conventional detergent deposits onto all your clothing and bedding, where it off-gases against your skin continuously.
Fabric softener — Replace with a half-cup of in the fabric softener compartment. Softens laundry without synthetic chemical residue.
Dryer sheets — Stop using them. They deposit and quaternary ammonium compounds onto fabrics. Use instead for reduced static.
Stain removers — Many contain harsh surfactants and sometimes optical brighteners (which are fluorescent chemicals that stay in fabric). Simple bar soap on stains or oxygen-based (sodium percarbonate) removers are cleaner alternatives.
The Living Room
Furniture — Older foam sofas and chairs are most likely to contain PBDE flame retardants. If you have older foam furniture (pre-2010 especially), it may be worth eventually replacing. This is lower priority than many other changes.
Carpet and rugs — Synthetic carpet off-gasses VOCs, particularly when new. Conventional rugs can contain flame retardants and pesticide residue from the fibre source. Airing out new rugs thoroughly before use, and vacuuming frequently with a HEPA filter vacuum, reduces the exposure.
Cleaning products — See kitchen section. The same principles apply to surface cleaners, glass cleaners, and wood polish.
Priorities at a Glance
Do first (highest impact):
- Switch to -free leave-on personal care products
- Remove plug-in air fresheners
- Switch to organic period products or cup
- Replace scratched non-stick cookware
- -free laundry detergent and no fabric softener
Do next (medium impact): 6. Swap cooking oils 7. Replace plastic food storage with glass 8. Switch to beeswax or soy candles with cotton wicks 9. Open windows daily for 15-20 minutes 10. Check tap water and filter appropriately
Do over time (lower urgency, longer timeline): 11. Replace remaining non-stick cookware 12. Switch to organic cotton bedding 13. Address mattress when replacement is otherwise due 14. Audit furniture for flame retardants over time