Green Cleaners

These are my two favorite recipes for green cleaners that I use regularly at home. They are the first two recipes that I learned how to make when I became a C-3 leader* in Chicago and I have taught friends and classes of people how to make them.

Oh: Why would you want to make you own home cleaners?

Because cleaning products make up the bulk of our indoor air pollution. Even when they are dry or have dried, carpet deodorizers, window cleaners, tub and toilet scrubbers and disinfectants, and more, can interact with your nervous system, aggravate or activate asthma, irritate skin, eyes, nose, throat, lungs. Vapors and gases emitted from these products constantly release carcinogens into the air and may cause pulmonary edema, and inhibit reflexes. It doesn’t matter if these products cause only temporary headaches or dizziness, or short-lived skin irritation, or if you experience a fleeting slight narrowing of blood vessels or an momentary increase in blood pressure; UNLESS you know that cancer is has gone from 1 in 8000 to 1 in 2 people and Cancer is caused by irritation. Cancer is caused by irritation of an organ or a whole body system. Different cleaners irritate different organs and systems in the body.
Agh. We’ve made the connection. Enough said.
(Mafia Hairdresser will always get to the point quickly, unless I’m writing my “fictionistas.”)

Basic Cleaner:
½ teaspoon baking soda (or 2 teaspoon of 2o Mule Team Borax)
½ teaspoon liquid soap/cleaner (**this is the one I use the most)
2 cups hot water
Mix ingredient to together in a spray bottle and you can clean floors, countertops, kitchens and bathrooms and you will have no headaches, nasal or throat inflammations and your home will begin to smell cleaner and fresher. Add two drops of Tea Tree Oil for extra disinfecting. (I get my Tea Tree Oil at The Aveda Store on Michigan Ave. Tea Tree Oil is a natural disinfectant and there are other bacteria-busting essential oils that you can customize your cleaners with.)


Basic Window Cleaner:
½ teaspoon liquid soap/cleaner **
¼ cup white distilled vinegar
2 cups of water
Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and go. I like this on stainless too.
I had a room-mate who did not like the smell of the white vinegar (although the smell wouldn’t hurt him like a VOC laden product) so I switched to apple vinegar. That one was good, and once it dried, he couldn’t smell anything at all--and that is the point.




**Mrs. Meyers Clean Day http://tinyurl.com/yfdut67
Seventh Generation http://tinyurl.com/2p7up
www.Ecos.com

Try making your own cleaner. Or try buying the environmentally-safe and health-conscious alternatives to your toxic unhealthy old products.


Here are some links to more in-depth articles if you so desire to read on. You can always come back here once you start breathing easier.

This is from Care2.com, Healthy & Green Living: http://tinyurl.com/yodpym It has more recipes for oven cleaners and carpet cleaners and more. I love Care2.com

A wonderful article about VOC’s and Asthma: http://tinyurl.com/mlfr49
NaturalHomeMagazine.com

Did you know that some of the very grass roots looking websites are funded and operated by big corporations that make new healthier and environmentally friendly products? Go to green-clean websites and keep clicking. Companies like Johnson & Johnson know that you are interested enough to want to make your own green products which means that they know that you will be abandoning their old products.
Most makers of products that currently have VOCs and carcinogens are now making healthier and less environmentally toxic products. They are gearing up for their “regular consumers” demanding to have VOC’s and bad elements taken out of their old products. They just aren’t ready to stop making their old products because most people are not quite up to speed on why we all need to buy healthy and be more careful as to what we pour down the drain. I’m ok with that, right now; so long as I know and you know and we spread the good word.
Two more helpful cleaners:
Hydrogen Peroxide: Typically found in the medicine cabinet, this disinfectant can also be used as an effective bleach alternative in the laundry room. Because it’s also a powerful oxidizing agent, it works especially well on food, soil, plant, blood and other organic stains. Just make sure to spot test in a discreet area because, like bleach, hydrogen peroxide may lighten fabrics. For each average-size load of whites, add 8 ounces of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide after you have filled the washer with hot water.
Salt: Perfect for cleaning grungy ovens, this natural abrasive is also great for soaking up fresh carpet stains such as red wine, coffee or ink. Pour salt on the wet stain. Let dry, then vacuum.

* http://tinyurl.com/ygrbkk6 c-3 Chicago Conservation Corps I'm a graduate and you can be too!


Don't forget to supscribe to this blog and order Mafia Hairdresser, the novel at MafiaHairdresser.com on sale 1-1-11

Blackhawks Harris Club and the Cheese-Pretzel Cough

First of all, let me say how awesome the Harris Club at the United Center is. I posted a link (below) for the official brochure, but the finished room and décor is far more warm and ritzy than the computer graphic brochure depicts. Four of my friends were guests of Vienna Beef. They are generous sponsors of many of our Chicago sports teams.
The four of us snubbed the snow storm last night to watch the momentous Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars in overtime—no way were we going to pass up a chance to see a game in these special seats. And let me tell you, what a place to watch the game. We snacked on Vienna Beef hot dogs, complete with all the Chicago dog condiments, celery salt, pickles and tomatoes. We grazed on Caesar Salad, Braised Ribs, Prime Rib and snacked some more on cheese and pretzels. Jennifer, our waitress, kept us hydrated with cocktails and beer. And we had Bananas Foster for desert. Thank you, Vienna Beef!
Now for the real story.
My small band of four gluttonous drinkers were having the time of our lives. And we were acting like First-Time in First-Class kids. Each time Jennifer brought us a drink we bowed and tipped generously. We joked how terrible it was that some of the people in the $100+ dollar seats, just one row below us and behind a glass partition, felt the need to get up and get there own pizza. Pizza! De-classah….
We weren’t obnoxious and everyone around us had fun with us as well and we all watched the game as fans.
Then, at the end of the first period (around the time I was on my second helping of prime rib with extra horsey sauce), one of the two guys in Blackhawks jerseys to our left coughed. He must have had a little food in his mouth because something came out of his mouth and went over the little glass partition in front of him and landed on two other guys in the $100+ side. It couldn’t have been too gross because the two coughed-on guys turned around to see who threw or spilled food on them. They weren’t too mad. They just didn’t want it to happen again.
The dudes with the Blackhawks jerseys on my side of the partition immediately went into, it-wasn’t-me mode. And none of us in the “swells” section that saw the cough said a word either. It just goes to show ya how we of the upper levels stick together. But we jokey-snotties were soon going to question our communal silence by the second period.
One of the guys in the Blackhawks jerseys must have had a cold or something because he had a real big mouthful of pretzel and cheese and he had a cough spasm that buckshot his whole mouthful of food onto the $100+ers. About ten people below us in various rows stood up and they did look mad. (Fortunately the two gentlemen who were victims of the original cough were out of there seats getting pizza.)
The game between the Hawks and the Stars was just beginning to heat up. Point for point. A few nasty fouls. The tension in the air was great. But after the big chunks of yellow cheesy pretzel were blown from my section into the seats below, all hell done broke loose. From the middle of the second period, until we walked out of the building, the ten people who were affected by the rain of disgorge began pointing to us in our ivory tower. People with radios were called and mad people began lengthy dialogue with the FBI looking United Center security task force. They seemed to be calmed by having someone to talk to. They certainly couldn't get to any of us behind the glass. And I thought all was well when they were given green “Guest Comment” forms to fill out and return. They were also issued clear plastic bags in which to put their contaminated items into and the bags were then whisked away to what must have been an underground lab in the building for analysis. It was like watching an outbreak-terrorist movie. I think everyone wanted to get examined by a doctor immediately and lynch the perpetrators. Again, thank god for the glass partition.

And then the hats and free beers started coming.
And there it was. These people may have been a little mad, but they certainly wanted free stuff and whatever the United Center would give them if they claimed they were infected with H1N1 or Hepatitis A through Z.
And when the original ten began to get free hats and beers, the people around them seemed to recall how they had been affected as well, like they all had delayed post traumatic spittle memory recall. So then they all began to fill out green forms too and hats and beers followed.
To their credit, the two guys who were originally hit with cough-spew came back with their pizza, sized up the situation, and ignored the grabby gabby people around them and watched the rest of the game like true sports fans.
What happened to the two guys in the Blackhawks jerseys who sat next to us and caused all the extortionary procedures? They were nowhere to be found. They must have ran as soon as the pretzel left one of their mouths.
Since they were long gone and the fact that there was a little bit of orange evidence on the glass in front of their seats, none of us could really cover for them.
But we did put a good word in for the vanishing guys. All of us in the Harris Club who sat around the two fans told the United Center FBI that we didn’t think the guys projectiled any food on purpose. In fact, we were all sure that they were just embarrassed about coughing up dinner so they left. I hope they don’t loose their seats over a cough. Besides, the cough-ees were more than compensated. And most of them didn’t even watch the game after they were coughed on so I felt good about sticking by the guys in ‘our club.”
I loved the show, both on and off the rink that night. But I’ll tell you one more thing: I’ve been to Sox games, and Cubs games and Bears games. I’ve been in the plush seats and the bleachers. I’ve been spit on, puked on, spilt on and kicked and pushed. But everyone gets over that stuff at the games and gets on with it. We’re all drinkin and watching the game, right? This was only my second Hawks game. I was just surprised to see a few spectators acting like they came to sue and get free stuff rather than to see a sports game. I’m just glad they weren’t in my section.

Please subscribe to this blog.

I've written two novels and you will be the first to know when they are published.
I write about anything that “ Chicago’s Best Hairdresser ” might talk about.
(Thanks Yelp and Citysearch commentors!)

http://tinyurl.com/yjyugsq

Don't forget to supscribe to this blog and order Mafia Hairdresser, the novel at MafiaHairdresser.com on sale 1-1-11

A Hairdresser Remembers the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

I know it's a weird thing to talk about, a disaster that happened, back in 1986. But I'm a hairdresser and disaster comes up a lot. I listen to disaster stories from my clients all the time. Disaster will happen to us, around us, and can touch our family and friends. All of us, young and old will be affected by them and it will influence our future decisions and shape our characters. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded, it was one of those events that changed the way I thought and therefore changed the way I made choices, even up to today.

I had come into work that morning, at the crack of 11 a.m. (I’m not a morning hairdresser-person!) and there was a hush in our usually bustley busy salon, Jon-Don’s, located on Naples Island, Long Beach, California.

My co-stylist, Carla, who’s hairstyling station was next to mine, had tears in her eyes and knew instantly when I had come into work that day that I had not yet listened to the news because I had my normal morning-dumb smile on my face, happy to start my day.
When Carla told me what had happened, that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded shortly after lift-off with all seven crew members on board, I did not believe her. You see, she had actually had a dream the previous night and then told all of us at Jon-Don’s about it. She had dreamed that the Space Shuttle had blown up and told us about it the day before the actual event. And so when I walked into work in my usual peppy mood, I thought she was joking.

I don’t remember how long it took for the clients, my boss, and my first client to actually make me believe this disaster had happened. But it took a while. I really thought they, all the clients and co-hairdresser’s, were playing a joke on me. Space Shuttles just didn’t blow up, and I had played some pretty good practical jokes on my co-workers in the past, so…

Do you know what convinced me? It was the emotion and empathy that the clients and my co-workers had for the crew and their surviving families and for the larger ramifications of the tragedy itself. A teacher by the name of Christa McAuliffe was on board for a Teacher in Space Program. The clients in my salon actually wept for the children of the world that had no-doubt been excitedly watching the live television feed in the safety of their own classrooms. This was the day when space missions were not common and kids had no cell phones and cable was not common, so watching the Challenger take off on TV at school was a big thing. And no one ever thought that NASA’s space ship with a teacher would explode while taking off. Things like this were just not common! That day, the women in my salon cried and shook their heads for all the people that were affected by the tragedy and they stayed in the salon for hours after their hair was done. It was as if the salon was a part of where we needed to be to help, to mourn, to understand. That salon experience made me think of how I thought small town barber shops were: a place where men would hang out, discuss town policies, celebrate and mourn.

When the two planes struck the buildings in New York City, it was a work day, yet I was still at home. I think I even saw the second plane hit, almost live. I remember thinking I’ve got to get to work. My room-mate at the time thought I was crazy. She knew I had to take the Red Line Chicago Train, from the Bryn Mawr station and get off at the Chicago Avenue stop. She tried to talk me out going because the trains went underground for three of the last stops and the world was surely coming to end (for all she and I knew) and we had no idea if planes were going to be dropping from the sky directly onto downtown Chicago.

I did go to work that day. And I comforted clients and expressed my own horror and dismay. We all talked about what we knew about what happened in New York, and then DC, when that news came in. We cried and said our silent prayers for the survivors of the tragedy and for their families, as well as for the safety of ourselves and our own families.

Tragedies have taught me that we need to stick together and talk about the disasters that strike us. We as human beings feel deeply for our fellow men, women, children and animals, and we honor that by doing things like going to a hair salon and talking about it. Crying about an earthquake in Haiti and then laughing about Lady GaGa’s last outfit while getting your highlight touched up is so right. So good and healthy.

What made me think of this was a tweet posting of an amateur video recently found showing the Space Shuttle disaster. I watched it and I cried. And then I remembered where I was after it happened. And it was then that I realized that this particular disaster changed me. It was one of the tragedies that affected my life and had made me go to work on 9/11 and then do things like donate my time to Haircuts for Haiti.

I’ll always be at the salon when you need me.

If you appreciate this blog: Read on. And subscribe to this blogspot and comment. You can always get more inspiration, chuckles and good information from this hairdresser at MafiaHairdresser.com

http://tinyurl.com/ycwpna2 this is the video of the disaster.