It's true what they say -- your entire life changes when you become a mom. When I found out I was expecting my first last year, my husband and I were over the moon, but being pregnant also changed the way I thought about what I put in and on my body. Now I was in major mama bear protection mode, and I was determined to rid my home of anything that could potentially harm my growing family. I swapped a ton of my beauty products for natural alternatives and stopped using chemical-ridden hair dye. I thought I'd done a total clean sweep of all of the products that were laced with harmful chemicals until I happened to glance at the back of the tile cleaner I was using to scrub my kitchen. It didn't have the ingredients listed, and after doing a quick Google search, I was totally freaked out by how dangerous some of the ingredients in my cleaning products were. They had to go!

I'm a self-confessed clean freak, so I wanted to find natural cleaning products that would actually clean. After doing extensive research, I found cleancult, a line of natural cleaning products that are not only safe to use, but are also 90% plastic free and biodegradable, which is better for the earth, too. After browsing their site, I saw that cleancult had just about every kind of home cleaning need I could think of- dish soap and all-purpose cleaners, to laundry products and hand soap, all packaged in cute milk cartons, and with ingredients I actually recognized. Rosemary extract, aloe vera, coconut oil -- they are free of parabens, phthalates, and artificial fragrances, and some of the products are blended with essential oils. I'd never used natural cleaning products before and didn't know if they would clean as well as I was used to. So I decided to start with just a few products first to see if they worked. I chose the multi-purpose cleaner, dish soap, and foaming hand soap.

When my new set of cleaning products arrived the next week, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they cleaned my kitchen. The all-purpose cleaner was my favorite because I could use it on a bunch of different surfaces. It worked just as well as the generic store bought products I had been using for years, but it smelled way better, like actual oranges, because of all the essential oils. I used to hate that chemical smell of my old cleaning products, and once it was gone I just felt more assured that my surfaces wouldn't be toxic for my family.

I loved that my cleancult products are good for the environment, too. They send you one glass or plastic bottle that you keep, and then they send product refills separately, so you don't have to toss tons of plastic into the ocean whenever you need more soap. The refills are delivered in zero waste milk carton cardboard containers every month, and they even have an easy monthly refill plan, so my refills are sent to me without having to think about running out to the store or ordering more. Knowing I'll never run out of laundry detergent or any of the essential products new moms can't live without is one less thing to worry about -- pregnancy brain is no joke!

I had my daughter Sophia 2 months ago, and she has completely transformed our lives. Raising her in a home that is totally safe and free of toxic chemicals and products that could potentially harm her is important to me, and cleancult has helped make that possible. I've expanded my plan to include laundry detergent tablets and dishwasher tablets, so I get almost all of my cleaning products from cleancult now. I know that I can't always protect Sophia from the outside world, but it makes me feel better to know that our home is a safe space for her to grow up.

UPDATE: Our friends at cleancult are offering readers a special discount. Follow this link to get 15% off your first order + free shipping!