Creating a low-tox home doesn’t have to mean a complete lifestyle overhaul. Some of the most impactful changes are also the simplest, and they add up over time. From the products we clean with to the air we breathe, reducing everyday chemical exposure can support better health for ourselves and our families.
Here are 10 low-tox swaps & strategies that help create a healthier home, focusing on practicality & sustainability.
1. Low-Tox Laundry Detergent & Cleaning Products
Cleaning your home may feel routine, but many conventional laundry detergents and household cleaners contain chemicals that linger in your environment and on your skin. Synthetic fragrances, surfactants, and other additives have been linked to skin irritation, respiratory issues, and long-term endocrine disruption.
Switching to low-tox options for both laundry and cleaning can make a big difference. For laundry, choose gentle, fragrance-free or naturally scented detergents and for everyday surfaces & cleaning, low-tox cleaners provide effective results without releasing harmful fumes into your indoor air. We like products by Truly Free, Mama Suds, and Pronounce.
By choosing safer cleaning products, you reduce chemical exposure for everyone in the household, supporting healthier skin, airways, and a cleaner, safer home overall.
2. Air Purifier for Cleaner Indoor Air
It is well known that indoor air contains higher concentrations of pollutants than outdoor air due to off-gassing from furniture, cleaning products, and everyday household activities. High-quality air purifiers can help remove particulate matter, allergens, mold, bacteria & viruses and VOCs from enclosed spaces. Improved indoor air quality supports respiratory health, sleep quality, and overall well-being. A worthy investment in both short and long-term health! Air Doctor is a great option for powerful HEPA filtration, and has a variety of options.
3. Water Purification
Just like the air we breathe, our tap water contains contaminants such as chlorine byproducts, heavy metals, PFAS, and pharmaceutical residues. Over time, consistent exposure to these substances can impact hormone balance and overall health, especially important for our growing, developing children. Water purification systems help reduce these contaminants, providing cleaner, safer water for drinking & cooking.
Countertop systems like AquaTru offer effective filtration without requiring permanent installation. They also have an easy-to-install shower filter! For bath filtration, Santevia offers an easy-to-use option which hangs over the bath spout.
4. Glass Food Storage Containers
If there’s a place to start, it’s ditching plastic! Especially in the kitchen where it touches the food we eat! Plastics leach chemicals such as BPA and phthalates into food, particularly when exposed to heat or acidic contents (think tomato sauce or vinegar-based foods). These compounds have been shown to contribute to hormone disruption and metabolic effects. Glass containers are non-reactive, durable, and low-cost way to reduce dietary exposure to plastic-associated chemicals. A simple, but impactful way to reduce your toxin-exposure.
5. Makeup & Personal Care Products
On average, women use about 12 personal care products every day, ranging from shampoo and lotion to makeup and deodorant. These products together may expose a woman to around 168 unique chemical ingredients daily. That’s NOT okay! Our skin is a highly absorbent organ, and many personal care products are applied daily for years. Conventional cosmetics typically contain ingredients associated with hormone disruption and cumulative toxic exposure. Choosing cleaner formulations helps reduce the body’s overall chemical burden while supporting long-term skin health. This is also an important consideration for our younger girls and teens who are exploring the world of make-up and personal care. Brands like withSimplicity prioritize safer ingredients without sacrificing quality & performance.
6. Pots & Pans
Traditional non-stick cookware is typically coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and some older or lower-quality non-stick surfaces may contain perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or other PFAS compounds. When heated to high temperatures, these coatings can break down and release toxins, which have been linked to thyroid disruption, liver toxicity, and developmental effects. Even lower-level exposure through food migration has raised concerns about long-term endocrine disruption and bioaccumulation. We also prefer to stay away from ceramic-coated brands; just one scratch ruins the pan and exposes the core.
Switching to cookware made from ceramic, stainless steel, or cast iron provides a safer, more stable cooking surface. Brands like Xtrema offer fully ceramic cookware free from PFAS, PFOA, and PTFE, reducing the risk of chemical exposure during everyday cooking.
7. Air Fresheners & Scented Candles
Please, y’all, ditch the air fresheners & (synthetically) scented candles! Synthetic fragrances found in candles & air fresheners are often composed of undisclosed chemical mixtures that release VOCs into the air. These compounds have been linked to headaches, respiratory irritation, hormone disruption, and even linked to certain kinds of cancer. Eliminating artificial fragrance sources can significantly improve indoor air quality.
Instead, consider essential oil diffusers, make a DIY simmer pot, use 100% beeswax or coconut-based candles, OR open the windows as a FREE, safer alternatives.
8. Choose Low-Tox Bedding & Mattresses
An investment, but a worthy one. We spend about 1/3 of our life in our bed, roughly 25-30 years of our life! Mattresses and bedding emit chemicals through off-gassing, particularly when made with flame retardants and synthetic materials. Because sleep involves prolonged exposure in a closed environment, these emissions may impact respiratory health and sleep quality. Low-tox bedding and mattresses help create a cleaner, more supportive sleep environment. If you cannot change everything at once, start by putting an encasement around your mattress or replace your sheets with organic cotton, which is what tends to touch your skin the most.
Look for materials like organic cotton, natural latex, and wool, along with low-emissions certifications.
9. Indoor Plants for Cleaner Indoor Air
Adding indoor plants is a simple, natural way to support a healthier home environment. Certain plants, like snake plants, peace lilies, and spider plants, can help reduce airborne toxins such as formaldehyde and benzene while boosting humidity and oxygen levels.
While plants alone won’t eliminate all indoor pollutants, studies show they can support air quality, improve mood, and even reduce stress, making them a low-cost complement to other low-tox home strategies. Read here for a more exhaustive list of indoor plants which support cleaner indoor air.
10. Take Shoes Off at the Door
Shoes can carry pesticides, heavy metals, and environmental pollutants into the home. These contaminants accumulate in household dust, where they are easily inhaled or ingested, especially by children. A simple shoes-off practice can significantly reduce indoor toxic load.
Creating a designated space by the door makes this habit easy and sustainable.
A low-tox home isn’t about perfection; it’s about reducing unnecessary exposures where possible. Even small changes can meaningfully lower your overall toxic burden over time. Start with what feels manageable and build from there.
We also created nook, an app which takes the guesswork out of low-tox living. Simply scan products, nook analyzes them, and offers low-tox swaps. We’re on a mission to make low-tox living easier for everyone!
We believe informed, intentional choices are the foundation of a healthier home and a more supported life, one thoughtful swap at a time.
Please know that some of the links in this post are affiliate links. As professionals and independent bloggers, we thoroughly test all of the products we discuss and only endorse those that meet our high quality + morale standards. Any compensation received is used to continue our website as a FREE resource.
