Nontoxic Cleaning Made Easy: DIY Holistic Hacks with McKenzie Sonnenberg of Simple Clean Home
#29 Nontoxic Cleaning Made Easy: DIY Holistic Hacks with McKenzie Sonnenberg of Simple Clean Home
Non-toxic cleaning doesn’t have to be expensive, overwhelming, or take over your entire weekend…and this episode will show you exactly how to keep it simple!
We’re joined by McKenzie Sonnenberg of Simple Clean Home, and we’re breaking down how to switch to DIY non-toxic cleaning products that actually work, without spending hundreds of dollars or filling your cabinets with “green” products that don’t deliver.
We get into the reality of greenwashing in the cleaning industry, the hidden ingredients to watch for (like synthetic fragrance and ethoxylated compounds) and why a lot of “natural” cleaners aren’t as clean as they claim.
McKenzie shares how you can replace an entire cabinet of cleaning products for around $25 using simple staples like castile soap, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide, plus the exact beginner-friendly swaps you can start this weekend.
We also talk about:
the 3 must-have non-toxic ingredients every home should have
how to make a clean all-purpose spray in under 5 minutes
the truth about vinegar vs. hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting
how to avoid the “non-toxic tax” and save money long-term
the products you can stop buying immediately
And, so much more! Whether you’re a busy parent, just starting your low-tox journey, or just ready to simplify your routine, this episode will help you clean your home with fewer products, less money and a whole lot more confidence!
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:05 First DIY swap (and why it failed—hard water matters!)
05:01 Greenwashing explained: why “natural” labels can mislead
06:54 Ingredients to avoid (fragrance + ethoxylated ingredients)
10:10 The “non-toxic tax” (why clean products cost so much)
12:24 $25 vs $350: breaking down real cost savings
19:33 Easy DIY all-purpose cleaner (beginner recipe)
20:37 Vinegar vs hydrogen peroxide: what actually disinfects
29:39 Most underrated product (again, it’s a must-know)
31:18 Rapid-fire myths: do natural cleaners really work?
Mentions
McKenzie’s Simple Clean Home Guide
Slow Death by a Rubber Duck: The Secret Damage of Everyday Things
Green Enough: Eat Better, Live Cleaner, Be Happier- All Without Driving your Family Crazy
Transcript
Marguerite Buer (00:00) So what do think is the most underrated cleaning product? McKenzie (00:03) hydrogen peroxide. those are the biggest ones to look out for in cleaning products if I replaced everything, every cleaner you could think of with a DIY version, it would be about $25 that you're spending versus all of the same stuff a non-toxic brand came out to like $350 and this And honestly, it doesn't take hours I think as a mom, when you know something's possible and you know it's better, why wouldn't Marguerite Buer (00:31) So thank you so much for joining was so excited to have you on because you actually inspired me look into DIY cleaning and especially being a mom, know, moms are like so busy. So it's always kind of felt overwhelming to me. So I'm really, really excited to have you on. And I think our listeners are gonna be excited wondering, did you just ease into DIY cleaning or was it more of like we're all in kind of thing? McKenzie (00:57) It was definitely like a easing in. DIY was not on my top to-do list of things. Especially like just getting started out in the non-toxic space. You know, all there is to learn. It's a lot. So I definitely eased into it. You know, we started kind of down the self-sufficient route when I became a stay-at-home mom it was kind of at the bottom of the list at point. Marguerite Buer (01:19) Right. Yeah. I totally get that. That sounds similar to us too. Like it was right around in COVID and when we had our first, our two children during COVID, which was really fun, right? that's when you really started looking into things to see what we were putting all over our surfaces and you know, what the kids, the kids might touch, you know, as they were born and then grew a little bit older, but we eased in and then went full speed. Yes. ⁓ yeah. So it was definitely like, it was very interesting. McKenzie (01:25) Yeah. Yeah exactly. Marguerite Buer (01:45) Say the least when you start looking at the ingredients it kind of gets a little scary. Yeah, it does. McKenzie (01:50) Yeah, and it's funny how a lot of people I talk to COVID time is kind of like when people's eyes started opening like maybe we need to start looking into things. Marguerite Buer (01:59) Right, exactly. I know for me, it was when we would get our food, we tried to clean all the outside surfaces. You know, we were just being extra, extra careful, especially because she was pregnant and then we had a little baby. Those are the days. Right. And knowing that that was going near our food was something that made us eyes wide open and start paying more attention. I totally forgot about that. Yeah, we used to. my God. During COVID, we used to get delivery and we would like wipe down all the boxes. McKenzie (02:10) Yeah. Yeah, I remember that being a thing. Marguerite Buer (02:28) Yeah, it was a little crazy. So weird. Wow, I totally forgot about that. another thing too that I wanted to mention, which I'll just ask you now is one thing that I learned in COVID is you don't need to clean so much and antibacterialize every single thing, which was something I was not aware of until then. So McKenzie (02:44) Yeah. Marguerite Buer (02:48) it's crazy. McKenzie (02:49) Yeah, and actually the CDC does say that soap and water is enough for, you know, daily cleaning. So yeah, we really don't need all the sprays that are like, here kill 99 % of germs like all day every day. Marguerite Buer (02:55) All right. Yeah. I mean, we need some germs too to have a healthy immune system. So what was the first swap that you tried and did it actually go well? McKenzie (03:07) Yeah. Yeah. So because we started kind of down a, I would consider it like a homesteading route just kind of that style. I don't know. A big thing was like a laundry detergent, you know, make a year's worth of laundry detergent and it's so cheap. So I was really excited to try that and I tried it and that was a big disappointment for me. And I know it can be for a lot of people. Marguerite Buer (03:35) Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Laundry detergent is a hard one. So what was it that made it a disappointment at first? Was it just the fragrance or? McKenzie (03:45) I mean, initially it was exciting. it seemed like it was working. I did miss the smells. that's still a hard one. I really like the smell of things. but yeah, just after a few months, it just didn't seem to work. which I later figured out we have hard water and that really affects laundry detergent and dish detergent. if you have hard water. you really have to be mindful of that and what you use. Marguerite Buer (04:11) And how do know if you have hard McKenzie (04:13) have strips that you can get on Amazon that you can test your water. But also, there's signs, like if you have, white deposits on like your shower glass, build up around your, fixtures, your water fixtures. you can put like Castile soap. I just did a reel on this. You can put Castile soap in a a jar with your tap water and shake it and if it bubbles and stays then your water is more than likely soft but if the bubbles go away really fast or the water just stays cloudy then you have hard water. Marguerite Buer (04:47) okay. We need to do that. Yeah. Let's do the test. Yeah. We have a shower filter, but we don't have a filter around our whole house yet. Goals. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk greenwashing just for any listeners who may not know what this is when we're going to the store and looking for cleaners and some say all natural or green. What does that actually mean? Greenwashing. McKenzie (04:55) Yeah. it's an easy way for cleaning products. Well, any products really. Their marketing says, we're clean, we're green, eco-friendly, safe for your families. But their ingredients tell a different story. they're still using ingredients that some of the worst offenders are using like Dawn and Tide and all those. Marguerite Buer (05:29) Yeah, there's a lot of loopholes because there's not a lot of regulation and well, even outside of cleaners, like most personal products, there's not a whole lot of regulation going on. So there's a lot of sneaky ways to do things. McKenzie (05:31) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and when you're not familiar with that stuff, I mean, when I first started, I didn't know how to read a label. just looking. I literally relied on packaging to say non-toxic. If it said non-toxic, I believed it. Marguerite Buer (05:56) Yeah, because that's what it should be. We shouldn't all have to be experts on label reading. Yeah. So what are a couple of ingredients to look out for in conventional cleaners to avoid? McKenzie (05:58) Like, why shouldn't I? Right, yeah. I think there's two. I mean, everyone has differing opinions, but fragrance, just because it can literally be so many different things, we don't even know. It can be thousands of different combinations of chemicals. And not all of them are bad, but that's just the thing. We don't know all of what is in it. It's kind of, the unknown that you just can't trust, I feel like. Marguerite Buer (06:36) Right. McKenzie (06:38) And then the other one, I would say the biggest one that I look out for is ethoxylated ingredients, which is basically just how they're processed and manufactured. They can end up being contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which is a known So that's definitely ones that I look out for. And basically that's going to be stuff that usually ends in like eth, E-T-H. So like sodium laureth sulfate, that would be considered ethoxylated and that's a really common surfactant in cleaning products, laundry, dish, soap, all of that. So those are the biggest ones to look out for in cleaning products because cleaning products rely on surfactants. Marguerite Buer (07:05) Okay. McKenzie (07:26) to do the cleaning. Marguerite Buer (07:27) and that's what kind of makes it soapy. McKenzie (07:30) Yeah, yeah, exactly. It gives it all the bubbles that we're used to. Marguerite Buer (07:34) Right, right. I think that's found a lot in shampoos too. McKenzie (07:38) It is, yeah. Marguerite Buer (07:39) So who do you think would benefit the most from changing their cleaners in the house? would it be kids, pets, people with allergies, just everyone? McKenzie (07:48) to me, literally everyone, I mean, we're, we're breathing and in this, the air every day, like touching the surfaces every day. indoor air quality is like a huge factor as well. which that's kind of where the fragrance comes in and, just that kind of off gassing after you spray something, the fumes that you smell. So I just. Marguerite Buer (07:51) I think so too. McKenzie (08:12) I mean, anyone children, those are going to be like the ones that it will actually benefit the most. Marguerite Buer (08:21) Yeah, I think so too. McKenzie (08:22) because they're more susceptible, yeah, to things. Marguerite Buer (08:25) think that that's important too is that the air quality and you know what you're inhaling and those those fragrances, because that was one thing that originally when we started non-toxifying all of our cleaning solutions, I missed that and I didn't think things were clean. And then after time now, like if somebody comes in our house who has just used Tide on their clothes, I can smell it and it almost makes me feel ill. Yes. It's kind of weird. Headaches. McKenzie (08:41) Yeah. It's very strong and you don't, like you said, you don't really realize until you've taken it out and then you introduce it again. Like housed it, especially like the plugins, like the wall plugins. I loved those. And I remember when I worked from home before I became a stay at home mom, I had one in my office and I would get headaches by the end of the day. And I just thought it was. Marguerite Buer (09:01) Right. Exactly. Yes. ⁓ McKenzie (09:19) I don't know, I didn't know why, And now I know that it was from that plugin that was sitting there, like I was breathing it in all day. Marguerite Buer (09:21) Working. Yeah, so bad for you. know I miss plugins too. And I also miss Bath and Body Works candles. Yeah, they were so good. And Febreze. We got dogs here and Febreze was like just the best thing in the world. Now I would be so upset if we sprayed that around our house. McKenzie (09:33) Yeah. Yeah, I know, but it's worth it. Marguerite Buer (09:48) It is. Once you get used to it, it's no big deal. McKenzie (09:51) Yeah, but it is that initial like we're so attached to that. I mean, I think most people just grew up with that stuff. It's just normal. And that's just what we see as normal and what clean should be like. So yeah, detecting from that's hard. Marguerite Buer (10:00) Yeah. Yeah. Totally. mean, it's all we know. So you mentioned something that I found the way you explained it was just so understandable on your Instagram. You mentioned something about non-toxic tax. Can you talk to us a little bit about that? McKenzie (10:10) Mm-hmm. safer products that are out there, it's just crazy that, we have to pay like two to three times more when we want to have safer products for our families. And so I just kind of like, why? Why is I understand. They go through testing. If they're actually good products, they're going to have certifications. They're going to have to go through testing. How they're sourcing their ingredients matters. So all of that adds to their bottom line and their companies. So they need to make money as well. But, know, it just kind of gets you thinking like we're paying for all of that marketing, all of all of that extra stuff. when in reality, the ingredients they're using are usually as simple as like castile soap. And that's so easy to buy and cheap that we can literally do this ourselves. So it's like the non-toxic taxes, you know, are you gonna pay more for all of that just for the convenience or do it yourself, save some money for, the same amount of clean. Marguerite Buer (11:27) Right. Yeah. exactly. That made so much sense to me because I do buy the non-toxic cleaners. I have two of them that I love so much and they are really expensive. And one, I actually kind of waste a lot of because it's a disinfectant and it has to be like it expires after two weeks. And I only use it in the bathrooms, which I'm not cleaning every single day. So most times after two weeks, have a McKenzie (11:47) Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (11:55) half a bottle left over. McKenzie (11:58) Yeah, no, I completely get that. I know what you're talking about. It's hypochloric acid because it has a shelf life. It loses its effectiveness fast. So yeah, that money wasted is real. Marguerite Buer (12:12) Yeah, totally. So what does this actually look like cost-wise? Do you save a bunch at once or is it a little bit over time, noticeable changes over time? McKenzie (12:24) Yeah, I think it depends, you know, like how all in you go at first. so I actually did because I was very curious about this as well when I first started. Like, how much is this actually saving me if I make it like if I'm going to put in the effort and time to make things is it actually saving me money? I have 30 to 40 cleaners in my guide. and I have them all like how much they cost to make a bottle to make, you know, a month's worth of dish detergent and stuff. So I took all those prices and compared them to just a regular non-toxic brand that's out there. And if I replaced everything, every cleaner you could think of with a DIY version, it would be about $25 that you're spending versus all of the same stuff a non-toxic brand came out to like $350 and this Marguerite Buer (13:19) Wow, that's McKenzie (13:20) is this is for one, you know Not the refills. This is like one bottle of all-purpose spray Not when you run out you're buying it again. So if you had to buy it, you know four times throughout the year that all of that stuff that could easily be up to like a thousand dollars a year. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (13:43) most of the people who come to you for help or who buy your guide, are they more interested in saving money or becoming healthier, more non-toxic around the house? McKenzie (13:53) Yeah, I can't say that I know definitively because I really hear both sides. a lot of people are just tired of spending the amount of money they are on the non-toxic brands. So I think, yeah, there's just both. And then there's ones that are just getting into non-toxic and they're interested in the DIY route. See how it goes. Marguerite Buer (14:13) Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. definitely. So what do you think is one DIY swap that saves the most money right away? McKenzie (14:21) I think because the disinfectant you're talking about, when you buy that whole system, that's a that's a lot upfront. Hydrogen peroxide is like a dollar at the grocery store and literally that that will do all the disinfecting. Now the main thing, I won't say all because if there's something like norovirus that you might have to bust out bleach for but really like every other thing hydrogen peroxide is it. Marguerite Buer (14:50) Yeah. Okay. I would have guessed something like laundry detergent just because you know, from shopping for it formerly, it was so expensive just to buy like a tub of it or whatever you call it, you the pods or something. McKenzie (14:59) Yeah, yeah. And if DIY detergent will work in your water situation, definitely that's going to be a money saver. I do not make our detergent anymore. I've had some formulas that I, don't mind, but it really ends up being the same amount as another non-toxic brand that I use. So. I do go for the detergent route, I do go for brand. Marguerite Buer (15:24) Okay, what brand do you use? McKenzie (15:26) I like Truly Free and Root and Splendor. And yeah, Truly Free I like, they work in hard water and they have the smell. if you miss the smell, that's the smell. It's just like a light smell that kind of, it's not overpowering, but if you miss the smell, it's there. Marguerite Buer (15:30) Okay, I haven't heard of root in Splendor. McKenzie (15:48) Root and Splendor, they use enzymes, so they're really good for like, if you have kids, heavily soiled clothes that need enzymes to break that stuff down. So two different kind of needs there, but those are my two that I Marguerite Buer (16:06) Okay, we do have some truly free. I gotta check out the root and splendor. Yeah, sounds about right. Our kids go to like a farm school, so they're outside all the time. They come home just filthy. Yeah. They're happy as can be, but they're filthy. Yes. So outside of money, the other thing that would probably overwhelm a lot of people, myself included, is time. where's the lowest effort place to start? Like that doesn't... McKenzie (16:14) Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Marguerite Buer (16:31) take hours of time to do this. McKenzie (16:34) And honestly, it doesn't take hours ever. once you get your stuff together, it can really be such a quick process. I have a quick clean caddy that that's where my guide starts. You build a quick clean caddy. It's the cleaners basically that you're using the most frequently on a day to day basis for most of your cleaning tasks. Marguerite Buer (16:38) Yeah. McKenzie (17:00) And literally, you could make these in like five minutes or less. They're very quick. Marguerite Buer (17:08) That's awesome, because that's one thing I think would be intimidating. It was for me in the beginning too. It's just how long it takes to put it together and then you think you're doing all this mixing and balancing, but it's really not that complicated, McKenzie (17:20) Yeah, and that's, I mean, that was me too, because when you don't know much about something, it feels bigger than it is. And then it's like, once you actually just kind of do it, it's like, ⁓ okay, I made that a bigger deal than it was. Marguerite Buer (17:36) if somebody wanted to switch like this weekend, what are the only things that they actually need to buy? kind of like what you're just talking about, a beginner toolbox. McKenzie (17:45) Okay, so definitely castile soap. That's gonna be everywhere. You're gonna use that everywhere. Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Those would be like the three, the three main ones. And then isopropyl alcohol. That would be... Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (17:59) Okay, so those are all very, very cheap. which ingredient do you think is the most versatile? McKenzie (18:06) probably Castile soap. because you can clean with it and you can do personal care items. I make hand soap with it, like a foaming hand soap. So yeah, that's going to be the one that is the most versatile for your whole home. Marguerite Buer (18:21) as a beginner, can I ask a question? What is Castile soap exactly? McKenzie (18:26) yeah, it's basically like the truest form of soap. it's the oldest version of soap. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (18:32) This is just the basic original form of soap. Cool. we actually use the Dr. Browner's Castile soap. or no, have Blue Land hand soap right now, but in the kitchen it's the Castile soap for hand washing. And then we also use their bars a lot. Right. Yeah. In between, we kind of mix it up. We have like someone that I get, McKenzie (18:49) Yeah. Marguerite Buer (18:52) bars of soap from locally and then whenever I don't have a chance or she's running low or something, then we will get the Dr. Browner's Castile soap. But it's kind of drying for the skin sometimes though. McKenzie (19:03) It can be, yeah. I actually use Whole Naturals, the brand. They add some oils in there that aren't as drying. But then also if I'm using it for like a hand soap, I'll add, jojoba oil. or fractionated coconut oil. There's another one I can't think of right now, but yeah, there's stuff you can add to it to help with that. Marguerite Buer (19:26) Okay, that's good to know. those are the types of recipes that you have in your guide too. Yeah, could you give us like a super simple recipe that somebody could do like tomorrow? a DIY recipe? McKenzie (19:30) Yeah, yeah. I think the easiest one to start with and in my opinion, to actually feel like, okay, I can do this and it works. things are still getting clean is just an all purpose spray and it's with Castile soap. It'll just be a teaspoon of Castile soap and distilled water and like a 16 ounce spray bottle. Marguerite Buer (20:00) so easy. McKenzie (20:02) But yeah, one to two teaspoons. You really don't want to use more than that because you can start to get streaking and spots that are going to make it seem like it's ineffective. So really the less, in my opinion, is better. Less is the more. Marguerite Buer (20:19) Less is more. McKenzie (20:21) Yeah. Marguerite Buer (20:21) that's funny though, because you think more would make things cleaner or something, Speaking from like a basic level, but that makes a lot of sense that then it just becomes streaky. And I would assume that's something that could be used on any surface, right? So it's like the perfect one to start with. McKenzie (20:25) Yeah. filming. Literally, yeah. Yeah, so I was just gonna say vinegar you'll see a lot of All-purpose sprays that are like vinegar mixtures, but it's truly not all-purpose the vinegar is very acidic It should not be used on stone surfaces. It can etch stone So I don't use vinegar at all but that's just something worth noting. you'll see all purpose phrase with ingredients that truly aren't all purpose. Marguerite Buer (21:03) Right. I was going to ask you about that too, if the cleaners are safe for marble or granite, because I know vinegar is definitely not. So, because steel soap is though. McKenzie (21:12) Yeah. Pistil soap would be, yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (21:16) I this is kind one of the things that gets a little bit confusing to me you can't mix vinegar and baking soda. I know like even when I'm cleaning our produce, the berries I do in vinegar and then everything else I do in baking soda, you got to keep them separate. So I could see that being the same thing in cleaning too. McKenzie (21:30) Yeah. It is, yeah. And it's basically because baking soda and vinegar neutralize each other. Like the reaction they are doing is actually a neutralizing reaction. so putting them together is not truly a great cleaner, especially if you're mixing it and then spraying it or something like that. But separate, yeah. Like if you did one and then the next, like you followed it up with vinegar or something, that would be a little different, Marguerite Buer (21:44) Okay. Gotcha. I was thinking you were gonna say something like it would explode or something like that, like a chemistry experiment. I'm glad you're just neutralizes the effect. McKenzie (22:10) Yeah, yeah, it's just not cleaning, not adding cleaning power. Marguerite Buer (22:13) Yeah, gotcha. So when it comes to disinfecting, a lot of people say vinegar, but would you say hydrogen peroxide is probably a better choice? McKenzie (22:23) Yeah, I know vinegar, I think it can kill some things, but it's not to the level that hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl alcohol would be. those are ingredients that are actually used in EPA registered disinfectants. Like the main ingredient. in some of those is hydrogen peroxide. That's what is doing the disinfecting in those I would trust hydrogen peroxide over vinegar. Marguerite Buer (22:51) Okay, that's what I figured too. Does it have to be food grade or does it matter? McKenzie (22:56) No, the 3 % is generally enough for household surfaces to disinfect at a level that a home would need disinfecting. Marguerite Buer (23:07) Perfect. if someone should get rid of like one thing out of their house, like immediately that's super toxic, but a very common cleaner, what would you say it is? McKenzie (23:16) I mean bleach is gonna be a big one. Definitely, because the toxicity but just the fumes alone the fumes from bleach are pretty bad. Marguerite Buer (23:19) Yeah, I was going to say that too. Yeah, definitely. I can't believe I used to clean like my bath. because obviously our parents didn't know. I used to clean the bathtub with like Ajax and bleach and then take baths in it later. Like that's so crazy. You used to so proud of it too. Yeah. Look how clean this is. It's beautiful. It smells great. It's so crazy. the antibacterial index or whatever. Okay. Let's do rapid fire. All right. McKenzie (23:37) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (23:55) Okay, so these are just a couple of questions that you can answer within like 10 seconds. If you can, Okay. Favorite cleaning hack you swear by. McKenzie (24:00) Hopefully. the dishwasher filter I don't know if that's really a hack but It needs to be done and there's so many people that don't do it or know that it needs to be done But it affects how clean your dishes are getting especially when you switch to natural stuff Marguerite Buer (24:19) Right. Are you talking about cleaning the filter often? Yeah, okay. And it's just usually right down on the bottom in the middle. I think that's where ours is. Because I take it off and clean it every so often. McKenzie (24:22) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's usually it's just a twist off. Yeah, you can just rinse it out. I do it like once a week. I don't do like a deep clean. I just rinse the filter and put it back and that's it. Marguerite Buer (24:33) Yeah. That's a good idea. And that's good to do in your washer too, right? McKenzie (24:43) It is, yep. Cause same Marguerite Buer (24:45) which I don't even Yeah, it's a good hack. Have you ever done that? need to do it more often, not on the dryer or washer. I've never done that on the washer either. but not the washer. Whoops. Small steps. Okay. Cleaning tasks you secretly enjoy. McKenzie (24:59) like when something is like really dirty and just the satisfaction of seeing the stuff, you know, wipe off. So yeah. Marguerite Buer (25:07) Yes. Yeah. So that I actually have a question. Can I ask a side question here? Yeah, of course. So one of the things I enjoy, it's no fun at all, but I love the result and just it can be therapeutic almost is cleaning like baseboards and chair rails. How about it? So what ⁓ would you just recommend that the general spray like the Castile, the Castile soap, water spray for that? Because you know, it's like a painted wood surface. Yeah. McKenzie (25:22) ⁓ yeah, please. Yeah, Yeah, and a microfiber cloth. I don't know what you guys use, those are my go-to. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (25:40) Okay, great. That's good to know. Yeah, no, it's a weird one, but I actually like it. No, I get it. Well, I love vacuuming too, which by the way, this is not a non-toxic tip by any means, but it is money. you know the Dyson vacuums that are like $500? I love them. I love them. But like a few months ago, Carl, for some reason, had the ShopVac in here and I started using that and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah. This is way... McKenzie (25:52) Yeah. Marguerite Buer (26:06) way better. It rolls around. It's easy to use, right? You get the right attachments. You can do all the same stuff. That was satisfying on the baseboards. You can do it for under 100 bucks too. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't move as easily like as you know, the stick vacuums, of course, but it definitely is satisfying vacuum all the things that you normally wouldn't. McKenzie (26:08) I dunno. Well there you go. I'm gonna have to... I can see that. Marguerite Buer (26:30) Most overrated cleaning product. McKenzie (26:32) Okay, this one is not a toxic cleaning product, but in my opinion is overrated for cleaning essential oils. the crunchy people are gonna hate me for that, but I for cleaning, I don't notice a big difference. I do enjoy the smell of some of them. I'm very particular on those. I really just keep a few basics for cleaning. Lemon is definitely one. But in a lot of stuff like dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, stuff that it's just going in the machine and rinsing away. To me, it just feels like a waste of money and essential oils are not cheap. So I just, I don't know. I just can't, I can't do that Marguerite Buer (27:09) Mm-hmm. Yeah. McKenzie (27:18) with a simple. Marguerite Buer (27:18) Yeah, I get that. mean, know, essential oils I feel like are a little bit controversial too. Like it's like 50-50. Some people love them and some people are like, no, thank you. Yeah. McKenzie (27:28) Yeah, just for cleaning. Therapeutic wise, I know there's lots of benefits, but just specifically for cleaning, I don't think you need them. Marguerite Buer (27:38) I was actually going to ask you that about lemon. Do you use like real fresh lemon juice or do you just use an essential oil McKenzie (27:44) Yeah, I do use lemon essential oil. Sometimes, yeah, and sometimes I use like a pre-mixed, like citrus burst. It smells really great. It's like lemon, lime, orange. and those do actually have cleaning benefits, degreasing and just lifting grime. So for like the all purpose spray, I do use it and the dish soap, not dishwasher detergent, but like dish soap I'll use it in. but overall, I just don't think you need 10 to 20 oils for cleaning. Marguerite Buer (28:13) Yeah. Right, you probably don't even need like 10 to 20 cleaners, which that's another thing back to the do we really need a bathroom cleaner? Well, I guess we kind of need a glass cleaner, like bathroom cleaner, glass cleaner, kitchen cleaner, like, yes, it's like, oh my gosh. McKenzie (28:24) no. Stainless steel. Yeah. All the specialty things that we've been told we need, but really when you look at the ingredients, I mean, they're pretty similar across products. Marguerite Buer (28:49) Yeah. Yeah. It's good marketing. Yeah. I mean, I know what the cleaner we use you just spray it and let it sit for like two minutes and then it comes right off. Like if something stuck to the counter. So there's no need for Goo Gone or whatever. I love it too that we have these non-toxic cleaners because now our kids are McKenzie (28:59) Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (29:07) three and four years old and we're getting them into cleaning and you feel a little bit more comfortable with them holding the spray bottle and you know, maybe spraying a little too much or touching it. And they waste it. They waste it. They waste it a little bit. Yeah. There's like thousands of sprays. That's why I was like, put them to work. Well, that's why I was like, uh, I should probably look into some other options because I cannot have my daughter going through half a bottle in two seconds. McKenzie (29:15) Yeah. So yeah. Yeah, I like what you're doing here, but... Yeah, give her the Castile soap option. Marguerite Buer (29:38) Yes. Right. Okay. So what do think is the most underrated cleaning product? McKenzie (29:43) hydrogen peroxide. Because I mean, a lot of people don't know that it can be used for cleaning. I mean, it's in the first aid aisle, so... Marguerite Buer (29:46) I think that's underrated. Right. Right. I think that's underrated in a lot of different areas. I actually use Mitrogen peroxide mouthwash. Yeah, for sure. Okay. One habit that keeps the house cleaner. McKenzie (29:59) Yeah. Yeah, I've heard of that. Yeah. for areas that get dirty quickly, like sinks, just a nightly wipe down, non-negotiable, just rinse it out, clean it out. So nothing builds up. I think that's the key especially with non-toxic cleaning, not to let things build up for weeks and weeks or months. Just try to stay on top of getting those wiped down when it happens. Marguerite Buer (30:31) That's a good tip. Yeah, the daily maintenance is it's important too. And then when you do want to do the deep clean, it's a little bit easier because you don't have that huge build up or like on the stovetop, you know, where you get all the little stuff that has splashed out or whatever. It's a little bit easier to manage. Definitely. Yeah. And who wants to come? I like how you say nightly too, because he wants to come downstairs in the morning to make breakfast and then have like a dirty sink. What is one thing that you will never, ever, ever, ever. McKenzie (30:39) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (30:59) ever buy again. McKenzie (31:01) ⁓ man. probably the sprays. Just all purpose sprays, glass sprays, any of the sprays, they're just, you don't need them. Once you have your DIY stuff. Marguerite Buer (31:11) Yeah. Right. That's a good one. Okay. So true or false, vinegar cleans everything. McKenzie (31:21) else. Yeah. Marguerite Buer (31:22) Kind of talked about that one, but ⁓ bleach is the only way to disinfect. McKenzie (31:26) false, with the exception of probably norovirus. Marguerite Buer (31:31) Natural cleaners don't work as well. McKenzie (31:34) Definitely false. Marguerite Buer (31:35) Essential oils make cleaners antibacterial. McKenzie (31:38) Mmm. I'm gonna go with false. just I don't know for sure but I would have to see like scientific studies to really be like, okay, I believe it. Marguerite Buer (31:52) Yeah, yeah, for sure. DIY cleaner spoil quickly. McKenzie (31:57) That could be true and false depending on the formula you use and the water. Distilled water is key. Marguerite Buer (32:07) Yeah, Natural cleaners are always more expensive. McKenzie (32:10) Well. Marguerite Buer (32:12) Very false. Yeah. And you need a ton of different products to clean your home. McKenzie (32:17) Definitely false. Marguerite Buer (32:20) That's fun. What do you think about paper towels as part of the cleaning process? McKenzie (32:25) Yeah, I don't use them really much at all for cleaning. That was actually one of the first things like in our self-sufficient, let's not go to the store as much, you know, trying to cut back on paper towels. That's when I started using microfiber cloths and I really was like, wow, why did I ever use paper towels for cleaning? Like those are just terrible for cleaning with how they break apart and So yeah, just, I rarely use a paper towel. We do still have them, but I don't keep them out to where they're like, anyone can just grab them. I make it a little harder so they're not as convenient. Marguerite Buer (33:01) Yeah. That's a good idea. I like that. then microfiber towels, you can buy a huge pack of them for pretty cheap, right? And do you wash them or do you just discard them when you're done? McKenzie (33:14) Yeah. I mean, I wash them and I do deep cleaning regularly of them. And if I use it on, like I have specific ones, like green typically is for the gross stuff. Just, it's just easy in my mind, green gross. Anything where I'm like, I don't want to use that on any of my regular surfaces. So I keep those separate and then I Marguerite Buer (33:34) Yeah. McKenzie (33:43) wash them on like hot and put hydrogen peroxide in the wash and treat those a little different. Marguerite Buer (33:51) Yeah, that's just a great tip though. I wouldn't mind incorporating that into our house a little bit more. Well, it's also better for the environment. Paper towels are, well, they're expensive, very chemically and they're very expensive and they're just so incredibly wasteful. I do use, we have like these organic, I don't know if they're great for cleaning or like worthy enough for cleaning, but I have these little organic cotton like washcloths almost just for wiping down the counter and stuff, which I use probably about 50 % of the time when I remember. And those, I like those a lot, I've been trying to get the kids to use the dish towels now to dry their hands because this is not where I shine when it comes to paper towels and non-toxic living. McKenzie (34:30) Yeah. Marguerite Buer (34:30) Definitely not. Toilet paper I changed though, but yeah, paper towels, no. I was just, curious, is the best cleaner that you can make for like your shower? McKenzie (34:42) So that'll be, well, what specifically? Like, soap's gonna build up afterward. Marguerite Buer (34:47) I was thinking about thinking about the glass, right? Yeah, the buildup on the glass. I think ours is tiled. Sometimes the tile gets stuff, you know, little film on it or whatever it is. McKenzie (34:51) ⁓ yeah. Yeah, so. Yeah, the film. So that's actually something you would not want to use just a castile soap spray on. You'd want to get something gritty like a baking soda paste with a non scratch sponge and do like circular motions. Techniques matters. ⁓ But also vinegar. I don't personally use vinegar, but just spraying vinegar on it. I use like citric acid. Marguerite Buer (35:10) Gotcha. Yeah. Okay. Now that's cool. McKenzie (35:23) I do a mix of water and citric acid, but the acidic cleaners are what's really going to help with mineral deposits like in your shower. Marguerite Buer (35:33) Okay, great to know. Thank you. tell us about your guide. McKenzie (35:37) it's called simply clean naturally. it's kind of just like a start to finish. Like here's what you can do to get started. all the basic ingredients we talked about, building the quick clean caddy and then like the order and kind of swap plan because I don't think laundry should be the first. swap just because it's so tricky and It can kind of be discouraging it can make you think well, this isn't working like Non-toxic cleaning just isn't gonna work for me, you know so I kind of give a practical plan on how to go about swapping and have like 40 a little over 40 recipes that are in there organized by room. So, I mean, you don't have to use every single one, but it's just, you know, whatever situation you need, you have something that you can make so you don't have to buy. Marguerite Buer (36:36) Right. Okay. So it sounds like it's really easy and organized too, which is great. Yeah. Like an encyclopedia on how to clean your house in a non-toxic way. You just got a reference. Like at any moment you think about something, you could pull up the guide and know what to buy, how to mix it and where to use it. That's awesome. McKenzie (36:41) Yeah, that was... Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I actually, I still use it. Like I don't have my stuff, my recipes memorized. So I pull it out. Yeah. So. Marguerite Buer (37:01) Yeah. Yeah. That'd be a lot. Very cool. All right. So do you have any favorite resources or anything like that that you want to share? The guide. I know the guide. The guide, yeah. Check it out. McKenzie (37:14) Um, yeah, my guide is my favorite. It's so helpful. Um, actually I created it because I could not find anything on cleaning that was all in one. And when I do something, need tell me what to do, start to finish. I can't piece together 50 different things and stay sane. I'd say like just in general resources for like non-toxic living death by a rubber ducky. Have you guys ever heard of that? Marguerite Buer (37:43) No. McKenzie (37:45) Yeah, it's more of like science-backed stuff. Like if you need that kind of wake up call of what this stuff is doing, like all the household, know, pollution is not just a smokestack at a factory anymore, you know, it's inside of our homes. But they kind of do like experiments on their selves to... see how their body responds to things and then they test their levels, their blood tests to see what's in their system after using certain products. It's very interesting. Marguerite Buer (38:18) Wow, I gotta check that out. Yeah, death by a rubber ducky. Yeah, thank you. McKenzie (38:20) Yeah, yeah. And then, Green Enough, that's another book. it's written by a mom, just kind of like practical, you know, overall lifestyle. Eating, everything as a whole. Marguerite Buer (38:35) Okay, cool. Awesome. I'm going to check them out. And do you have any wellness tips? McKenzie (38:41) That's kind of funny. I'm not a wellness person. My husband is the wellness, I guess, guru per se. You don't want wellness tips from me. Marguerite Buer (38:49) Yeah. Okay, it's okay. Well, you gave a lot of good wellness tips today for cleaning. McKenzie (38:55) Okay, I'm Dr. Pepper and eat the gummy nerds and I'll get there someday. Marguerite Buer (38:59) Yeah. It's okay. ⁓ I know it's a lot. It takes a long time. It's taken us years to even, and we still are not, like we still have such a long way to go, it's really hard to overhaul your whole life. Yeah. In all areas. McKenzie (39:14) It is. And my, yeah, my main priority is like what affects our family, like the household. So when it comes to like things with me, I'm like, I'll put that on the back burner. Marguerite Buer (39:30) Yeah, yeah, unfortunately, I think a lot of people do that when they become parents, especially. I was just curious. So did you in your family there? Did you lead the charge on DIYing all the cleaning solutions? And if so, if they weren't on board, was it tough to get everybody in the house on board with it and make them comfortable with it and like get rid of that programmed idea? Like it needs to smell like this or look like this. Great question. McKenzie (39:33) Yeah. Yeah. My kids were pretty young. So actually it's interesting because that's just what they're used to now. Like my son is so confident in me that he makes a mess. He's like, you can make a potion for that. I'm like, wait. Yeah, he filled the potion. I'm like, yeah. And then my husband, he was ahead of me on all of this. Like he really... Marguerite Buer (40:10) That's awesome. The potion. That's perfect. I love it. So. McKenzie (40:23) kind of took charge on and made me see changes that could be made that I didn't realize were possible. So he kind of nudged me in the right direction. Not like, you you have to do all this, but just, it's possible. And I think as a mom, when you know something's possible and you know it's better, like why aren't, why wouldn't you? Marguerite Buer (40:31) So that's great. Right, Like in our house, she kind of, she led the charge and I was on board and I went with everything, but I missed things, you know, and I questioned it once in a while. But now, like when I think about what I miss, if you gave it to me or you asked me to use Lysol on something, I wouldn't be able to do it. Like I've got that conviction now. I've seen that you don't need it. everything that we can create in the non-toxic world is just, it works. It's better for you. And at this point, I don't want to touch it. McKenzie (41:12) Once you know, you know. It's just hard to, yeah, unknow those things. Marguerite Buer (41:16) Yeah. All right. So where can everybody find you? McKenzie (41:21) Instagram is really the main place and it's at simple underscore clean underscore home. Marguerite Buer (41:30) which I love your Instagram account. I highly recommend everybody to follow you because you have some really great tips and we'll repost some too, especially some that were referenced in here. But I just love that you're making it easy and accessible for people. And like I said, you totally reeled me in by making me feel like, ⁓ I can do this. Yeah, I think the guide is a really cool idea too. Yes. McKenzie (41:50) that's so awesome. Marguerite Buer (41:54) thank you so much for being on the show. McKenzie (41:56) Yeah, thank you guys for asking me. This was awesome. Marguerite Buer (41:58) enjoyed it, Mackenzie. Thank you.
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McKenzie Sonnenberg is the creator of Simple Clean Home, where she helps moms make the switch to safer, non-toxic cleaning without the overwhelm or high cost. After learning more about the hidden toxins in conventional cleaning products and spending way too much on non-toxic brand swaps, she became passionate about finding simple, effective DIY alternatives that actually work in real life. She now shares practical tips, vinegar free recipes, and step by step guidance through her digital cleaning guide and on Instagram at @simple_clean_home. Her mission is to help families create healthier homes with confidence.
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