Organic Housekeeping Chapter 8

Hazardous Materials, Fire Safety, Home Maintenance and Automotive Care

Make sure you know where your local Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility is and use it.
Let's start with Prevention:
When dealing with chemicals, no loose clothing and pull your hair back. Own a fire extinguisher. Keep flammable items away from the stove. Keep the handles of pots and pans toward the center of the stove so they don't get bumped or kids don't grab them, and don't let electrical cords dangle off the side of the counter. Don't leave hot pans on a synthetic counter, it can melt. Use pot holders made of cotton or wool. Prevent grease fires, don't overheat oil but if you have a grease fire, smother it with the pot lid, no water or anything else on top of it. The cabinet above the stove should not have anything that kids might want. Keep the oven clean and empty. If there is an oven fire, leave the door closed and turn it off.  Read the instructions of any new appliance before using it. Practice safe canning techniques. No metal anything in the microwave. Furnace needs cleaned once a year. Chimney should be inspected and cleaned once a year. Malfunctioning gas appliances can produce carbon monoxide. Fix them and use carbonmonoxide detectors. Don't overload outlets. Check smoke detectors monthly. Sprinkler systems save lives and only costs $2 per square foot, a lot less then cleaning up a fire will cost.

A Fire Fighter's Dream Home:
     Floor: non flammable- stone brick, concrete, or ceramic tile. Safe but not hard as rock- wood, bamboo, cork and linoleum produce less toxic smoke than other choices.
     Carpet: Natural (less toxic smoke)- coir, sisal, seagrass, jute, hemp and cotton- wool is a natural fire retardant
     Fabrics: choose cotton, wool, linen, ramie, hemp, bark cloth, cashmere, camel hair, alpaca, qiviut, angora, silk or leather whenever possible; leather and wool are most fire retardant

Cleaning wood decks- hose it down, sprinkle baking soda everywhere, use long-handled brush to scrub, wait 10-15 minutes then rinse off.

Car Care: Clean squashed bugs and scuff marks off with a paste of baking soda and water. Remove tar with olive oil, let soften then rub off with cloth that was dipped in olive oil. Use a clean cloth to wipe off olive oil. Light spray of vinegar and clean rad to wipe seats and belts. Polish chrome with crumpled news paper. Keep trash bag in the car.